Berry Cream Cheese French Toast Casserole

Berry Cream Cheese Maple French Toast Casserole... its a mouthful I know.  But a delicious one I think you'll be happy you made.  I made this for Christmas Eve Brunch and combined a few different ideas and recipes I found online.  I saw some basic french toast casserole recipes and I saw some with cream cheese and others with fruit in the mixture.  I couldn't decide which to make because they all sounded so amazing.  So I combined them all!  And I happened to think it was great.  There are only two changes I'll make next time.  One is to just cube all the bread so the top is more even across the whole dish and not just the front piece in each row and two is to put the cream cheese mixture on all the pieces because it was definitely better than the slices I left plain.

Berry Cream Cheese Maple French Toast Casserole

Ingredients

Cream Cheese topping
Light whipped cream cheese
Frozen mixed berries
Vanilla sugar (plain sugar will do too)
1 tablespoon lemon zest

Casserole
1 loaf challah or french bread (day old is preferable)
6 eggs
1 cup half and half
2 cups skim milk
1/2 cup maple syrup (plus more for serving)
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Topping
3 tablespoons vanilla sugar (regular sugar will also work)
1 teaspoon cinnamon

 

1. Put 1/2 cup frozen berries in your food processor and let them thaw.  Add vanilla sugar, a few tablespoons water (if needed) and lemon zest and pulse until they are a smooth jam like consistency.  Reserve a few tablespoons of the jam mixture and the add the cream cheese to the food processor and mix until combined.

 
2. Butter a 9x13 glass pan. 
3. Cut bread into slices or cubes and fill pan.
4. Drizzle cream cheese mixture over cubes and mix or spread the cream cheese mixture on the slices of bread.

 
5. Mix the eggs, milk, maple syrup and cinnamon together.
6. Spoon egg mixture over casserole until all bread is wet with mixture.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.
7. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Dizzle the reserved jam mixture over the casserole.  Lastly, combine the vanilla sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the top.  This will help it form a nice golden crust on top.
8. Bake for about 45 minutes or until it looks set and the top is brown.
9. Serve and enjoy!

(Photo is prior to baking. Once it came out it was eaten before I remembered to snap a pic!)