Strawberry Baked French Toast

The other day I looked at the calendar to see when Valentine’s Day would be. When I saw that it fell this year on a Saturday morning, I almost squealed with delight.

“I can make a Valentine’s Day Breakfast for us”, I thought. And then I realized I’d have to get up and cook on a Saturday morning instead of sleeping in.

Then I remembered some of those overnight type casseroles you can whip up the night before, like my Baked French Toast and I decided to try to come up with something different involving the colors of Valentines Day.

Never fear, for my brain came up with this overnight baked french toast recipe that you can easily throw together the night before and then just pop in the oven the next morning.

Translation….I CAN STILL SLEEP IN!

Bonus points for there being heart-shaped strawberries on top of it to go with the Lover’s Day theme!

To begin, you’ll need a loaf of french bread. I found this one already sliced into thin slices which was really nice to avoid the necessity of having to cut it myself.  Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray, and then layer the bread in.

Kind of press down on it a little to make sure it’s really packed in there.

Then get busy cutting an entire pound of strawberries into heart shaped slices.  (See my tutorial here).

Keep those little bits you cut out to make the top lobes of the hearts and just add them into the whole bunch of hearts. No wasting around here folks!

The next step is to make the “custard” to pour over the bread. To do so, you’ll need to crack eight eggs into a mixing bowl. Add in two cups of whole milk and 1/4 cup of sugar, and a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract into the bowl as well.

Whisk this up really well then pour it right over top of the bread.

Sprinkle your strawberries over top.

Then mix up one-half a cup of brown sugar with a teaspoon of cinnamon.

Sprinkle it over top of the strawberries.

Cover the entire thing with foil and put it into the refrigerator for at least eight hours or overnight.

You need it to set this long so the bread really absorbs all the egg custard.

The next morning, take your dish out of the oven and let set for around thirty minutes to just warm up to room temperature a bit.

Pour the cream and the cream cheese into a small bowl, and microwave it for thirty seconds.

Stir it with a spoon and microwave a bit longer if necessary until it’s pour-able.

Drizzle this over top of the strawberries in pretty swirly lines.

Then bake this for about 50 minutes, give or take a few minutes, depending on your oven.  The top should be lightly browning.

Let stand for about 10 -15 minutes to set up before serving and then enjoy this with your sweetheart or even your entire family for a strawberry and cream breakfast delight on Thanksgiving morning!

Overnight Strawberries and Cream Baked French Toast

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

60 mins

Total time

1 hour 10 mins

 

Author: Katie of Dishin & Dishes

Ingredients

• 1 8-oz. loaf French bread, sliced thinly
• 8 large eggs
• 2 c. whole milk
• ¼ c. sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 21 large carton fresh strawberries
• ½ cup brown sugar (packed)
• 1 t. cinnamon
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 4 oz. cream cheese

Instructions

1. Spray a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Lay sliced french bread in a tight flat layer, overlapping the bread to fit.
2. In a large bowl, whisk eggs with milk, sugar and vanilla until blended.
3. Ppour over bread.
4. Cut strawberries into heart-shaped slices (if desired for Valentine's Day)
5. Cover top of bread and egg mixture with strawberry slices.
6. Mix together brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over top of all.
7. Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.
8. Remove baking dish from refrigerator for 30 minutes to come to room temperature
9. Preheat oven to 350°F.
10. Pour cream and cream cheese into a medium-sized microwave safe bowl. Microwave thirty seconds, then stir, continuing to microwave for 30 second intervals and stirring with whisk until smooth.
11. Drizzle over top of french toast bake and bake uncovered, until casserole is lightly browned on top and just cooked through, 45 to 55 minutes.
12. Let stand for 10-15 minutes before serving.

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