I have been making a variation of this recipe for many years. It is by far the most popular brunch item that I make when entertaining. You really can’t go wrong with this French Toast Bake. The best thing to do is prepare this the night before and allow it to soak overnight in the fridge. Then in the morning you can pop it into the oven and have a fresh and hot breakfast or brunch delight!
Challah is amazing in this recipe, but you can also use store bought cinnamon raisin bread which comes out wonderfully. If you want to make your own challah, you can use the recipe posted on this side, but change the filling or leave it plain.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Chill Time: Overnight
Bake Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 8-10
Ingredients:
- 1 loaf of Challah Bread (you can also use cinnamon raisin bread)
- 8 eggs
- 2-½ cups of cream or milk
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 (8oz) block of cream cheese
- 1 cup of apples, diced and peeled (about 2 medium apples)
- ½ cup of raisins (optional if you wish to have more raisins than what is inside your bread) You could also use my bourbon soaked raisins which would be an awesome addition
Directions:
- Grease a 13”x9” baking dish with butter, set aside
- Add all 8 eggs, milk or cream, maple syrup and cinnamon to a bowl and whisk together. Set aside.
- Dice your loaf of bread into cubes of about 1 inch (no need to be perfect here!)
- Sprinkle half of your loaf evenly inside your baking dish.
- Take your cream cheese and add dollops as evenly as possible on top of the bread. I usually just break apart the cream cheese block with clean hands.
- Sprinkle your diced apples and raisins.
- Add the remaining half loaf of bread cubes on top.
- Pour the egg mixture on top of bread.
- Take a piece of plastic wrap and use it to cover the french toast while also pushing it down on top of the bread to make sure all is soaking in the egg mixture.
- Place in your fridge for at least 2 hours – but highly recommend you allow it to soak in the fridge overnight.
- Preheat oven to 325. Remove your dish from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature before placing a very cold dish into a hot oven. I usually place the dish on top of the stove while it is preheating to take the chill off!
- Bake for 45 minutes
- Serve warm and add maple syrup if you wish! Enjoy!Loading the player...
If you like this recipe, check out our other Breakfast Sweets recipes like Eggnog Pancakes
