Strawberry Cheesecake Overnight French Toast Bake
To me, there’s nothing better than an easy overnight breakfast. I’m sure if you have kids and you’re the cook in the family, you 100% agree. There’s nothing like that feeling of waking up on a Saturday morning, knowing I have 378 things to do, and knowing that all I need to do is turn the oven on, and put breakfast in the oven.
It’s Spring time (well, almost) so I wanted to make something that felt indulgent but a little more like Spring. I also love cheesecake so any chance to incorporate that creamy feel of cheesecake is a done deal for me. The combination of the butter crisp baked bread with a custard like filling topped with fresh strawberries is pretty much a game changer. This will be your go to weekend breakfast!
Entertaining tips:
This is the perfect main for a Brunch party. It’s good enough to be the standout dish while easy enough so you can enjoy yourself too!
Make any of these along side for the perfect brunch menu.
Recipe
Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
1 loaf brioche bread
1 stick of butter, melted
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 cups milk
2 eggs
4 Tbsp granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
8oz room temperature cream cheese
1 cup strawberry jam
Fresh strawberries for topping (*optional)
Directions:
Cut brioche into about 1” cubes and set aside.
In a 9x13 baking dish, pour butter to cover the bottom. Swirl it around a bit so it greases the sides as well.
Add maple syrup and stir so that there are syrup swirls throughout. Set dish aside.
In a large bowl, add milk, eggs, 2Tbsp sugar, 2 Tbsp strawberry Jam, 1tsp vanilla extract, and ground cinnamon. Whisk to fully combine. Set aside.
In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, the remaining 2 Tbsp sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla. Using a spatula, cream together.
To build the bake, add 1/2 the brioche cubes to the baking dish, making sure to spread the cubes out to cover the bottom of the dish.
Spoon 1/2 of the cream cheese mixture over top in about 1/2 Tbsp size dollops.
Spoon the jam on top in about the same sized dollops.
Top with the remaining bread and repeat steps 7 and 8.
Pour milk mixture evenly over top.
Gently press the bread down so that it’s all able to soak up the milk.
Cover with aluminum foil and transfer to the fridge for up to 24 hours.
When you’re ready to eat, pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Remove from fridge and bake covered for 20 minutes.
Remove the foil and bake uncovered for another 30-35 minutes.
Drizzle with maple syrup and serve warm.
Enjoy!
