I’m so excited to finally share this raspberry stuffed french toast with you all! It’s perfect for a special breakfast (think Valentine’s day, Christmas morning, Easter, when company is over, etc) and the beauty is that it can be prepared ahead & frozen! So, the only work you have to do in the morning is just pop it in the oven!
This is actually a Dream Dinners meal that I made & served for the first time last Christmas morning. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to find the recipe anywhere and happily stumbled upon some Dream Dinners recipes shared in a BabyCenter Easter brunch post!
 Raspberry Stuffed French Toast
Ingredients:
- 1 to 2 loaves French bread (depending on size)- cut into 16 1-inch pieces
- 1/2 C (1 stick) butter (softened)
- 8oz (1 package) cream cheese (softened)
- 1 ½ C (about 1 jar) raspberry jam
- 4 C liquid eggs (or nonfat egg substitute)
- 3 C milk
- 1 C sugar
- 8 t ground cinnamon
- 3 C sliced almonds
- 1 C rolled oats
- 1 C brown sugar
- 1/4 C flour
- 1 t vanilla
Directions:
1. Spray one large baking dish with nonstick cooking spray (mine was a disposable 1/2 steam table pan, but you can certainly use a 9×13 or something comparable)
2. Put down one layer of bread in the pan.
3. In a small bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, and raspberry jam.
4. Spoon the entire jam mixture evenly over each slice of bread. Top with remaining bread slices.
5. In a large bowl, combine eggs, milk, sugar, & half the cinnamon (4 t). The pour mixture over the bread slices evenly.
6. In another bowl, combine brown sugar, sliced almonds, oats, flour, rest of the cinnamon, and vanilla. Mix with you fingers until it resembles crumbs. Then, sprinkle evenly over bread slices.
At this point, you have a few options. First up, you can cover and put in the freezer (for up to a few months)! I did that with the one I made last year (only it was only in the freezer a few weeks). If you do that, just let it thaw at room temperature before baking.
If you are going to want it within the next day or two, then, just go cover & refrigerate. I made this one on December 23rd & baked it Christmas morning. So, it sat (uncooked) in the fridge for somewhere between 36 & 48 hours before I baked it.
If you want to have it the same day, then just let everything soak together on the counter for 30 minutes or so. That way the bread has a chance to soak up all the flavors!
When you’re ready to bake, set the oven to 325â—¦F and bake uncovered for about 1 hour. You’ll want the egg mixture to be cooked (no longer liquid) and the crumb topping to start browning.
The outcome is delicious! I’m not a huge fan of “regular” french toast, but this is so good! Plus, I love that it can be a freezer meal, perfect for a fancy breakfast with no work that morning!
Enjoy!!!
Do you have any favorite “make ahead” breakfasts?
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14 Responses
Yum! Have you baked then frozen? I need a “casserole” dish for a youth group brunch and I was thinking about trying this, but we’re supposed to bake, freeze, and then take to a coordinator.
Hi Amanda! Nope, I’ve never done it that way. It should work. I think the only concern would be the bread getting too soggy maybe as it thawed! If you try it, let me know!! If you don’t want to risk it, I bake this breakfast casserole all the time & then freeze. It thaws beautifully! https://www.momendeavors.com/2012/09/easy-breakfast-egg-casserole.html
Good luck! 🙂
YUM-O I will be trying this one. Do you use eggs in a milk carton or fresh eggs. (About how many would it take to get 4 cups?)
I used liquid eggs in a milk carton. I’m certain you could just use beaten eggs (after all, that’s what you use in regular french toast), but I have no idea how many would equal 4 cups! Maybe 16? Would 1 egg be about 1/4C beaten? Not sure! If you experiment and it something works, let me know! Otherwise, just use some egg beaters or something 😉
LOVE French Toast! My Dad used to make this when I was a little girl. And I LOVE raspberries. Ohhhh, it’s a must try recipe!
Awesome, Aleta! Hope you enjoy! 🙂
This sounds awesome. I am making it now, but noticed you do not have the amount of brown sugar to use for the topping in the ingredients. Thanks much.
I also wondered how much brown sugar to use. Also when mine baked the topping did not melt as in the pictures. It stayed very dry. Any suggestions?
The brown sugar amount is fixed. Sorry about that. Also, not sure on the topping. It does start sort of dry.