This creamy stuffed Overnight French Toast Bake is easy to put together, a great way to use up leftover bread, and a decadent breakfast for special occasions. Packed with flavor and layers of gooey bread, jam, and cream cheese this french toast bake is going to be a family favorite!
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I love make-ahead anything, and though most of my recipes can be made ahead breakfast can get a little tricky to make ahead. This overnight french toast is the answer! Not only is it just delicious, it is decadent enough for a special holiday treat.
And yes, this tasted even better than it looks. Not too sweet, not too tart, packed with berry and extract flavor - the perfect start to any morning.
Why You'll Love This Overnight French Toast Bake
- Make Ahead Magic: Prep it the night before for stress-free mornings!
- Use Up Leftovers: Uses up leftover or stale bread beautifully.
- Your Fave Flavors: Customizable with your favorite jam flavors and extract flavors.
- Dreamy Textures: Perfect balance of crispy tops and custardy centers with layers of creamy, jammy goodness.
🍓 French toast is such a wonderful make-ahead breakfast, using up leftover bread and can be flavored with your favorite berries!
Recipe Ingredients
- Crusty bread — any kind, but must be stale and crusty
- Berry jam — any kind
- Cream cheese
- Half and half — substitute milk if needed
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Almond extract — Optional, but I love it with this flavor!
Optional toppings:
- Fresh berries
- Slivered almonds
- Chopped walnuts
- Chopped pecans
- Rasins
- Additional jam
- Honey
- Syrup
- Powdered sugar
- Sliced stone fruits
- Sliced banana
For the exact amounts needed, please see the recipe card below.
How to Make Overnight French Toast Bake
Step 1: Slice stale bread into 1 ½ inch slices. Allow to dry, if necessary. You may need to cut the slices of bread in half, depending on pan size. Combine milk, 3 tablespoons sugar, eggs, vanilla, and almond extract and whisk together.
Step 2: Spread each slice of bread with cream cheese. Repeat with jam.
Step 3: In a greased loaf pan (9x5x3 or similar), stand up the bread slices in a row, wedging pieces in any extra space. Pour egg mixture evenly over the top of the bread. Allow to sit for at least an hour, up to 12.
Step 4: Sprinkle the top with sugar. Bake in a preheated oven at 350° for 45-50 minutes. Top with powdered sugar and/or syrup, optional.
Recipe FAQs
If your overnight french toast is soggy, most likely your bread wasn't stale enough. If the bread is too wet, the french toast will be soggy.
Yes, you can leave the bread out overnight for french toast. Stale bread is best when making french toast.
The most common mistake when making french toast is using bread that isn't stale enough. This results in soggy french toast that falls apart.
Expert Tips
- Stale Bread: You'll want to be sure and use a STALE loaf of bread. That is the key!! If you just use regular old sandwich bread, this overnight french toast bake will be much too mushy. If your loaf isn't quite stale all the way through, just slice the pieces a bit early and leave them out to dry.
- Berry Jam: I used raspberry in this recipe, but really any berry jam would do just fine.
- Baking Time: The baking time will vary depending on how wet you want the middle of the overnight french toast bake. If the top becomes brown before you want to take it out, lightly cover it with foil.
- Bread Shapes: I cut my pieces of bread in half, they just fit better in the pan that way. The way you arrange your bread will depend on the shape of the loaf, to begin with.
Serving & Storing Suggestions For Stuffed French Toast
Baked french toast with cream cheese can be served on its own, or with any of the optional toppings listed above. It is great with blackberry syrup or blonde butter syrup.
This french toast bake overnight recipe can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
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Overnight French Toast Bake with Cream Cheese
Ingredients
- 6 slices bread (crusty bread, stale)
- ½ cup jam (any kind)
- 4 ounces cream cheese (softened)
- 1 cup half and half (or milk)
- 3 tablespoons sugar (plus extra for sprinkling)
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
Instructions
- Slice stale bread into 1 ½ inch slices. Allow to dry, if necessary. You may need to cut the slices of bread in half, depending on pan size.
- Combine milk, 3 tablespoons sugar, eggs, vanilla, and almond extract and whisk together.
- Spread each slice of bread with cream cheese. Repeat with jam.
- In a greased loaf pan (9x5x3 or similar), stand up the bread slices in a row, wedging pieces in any extra space.
- Pour egg mixture evenly over the top of the bread.
- Allow to sit for at least an hour, up to 12.
- Sprinkle the top of the french toast bake with sugar.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 350° for 45-50 minutes. The baking time will vary depending on how wet you want the middle of the overnight french toast bake. If the top becomes brown before you want to take it out, lightly cover it with foil.
- Top with powdered sugar and/or syrup, optional.
Notes
- This bake will become too soggy if regular sandwich bread is used. A crusty loaf of bread that has been allowed to become stale works best. If the center of the bread seems to moist, I let it set out and dry for a few minutes. This recipe is a great way to use up leftover bread!
- Use your favorite jam and extract flavors. I used raspberry and almond flavors here, and it was fabulous.
- Prep this the night before for stress-free mornings! It can rest in fridge overnight for up to 12 hours.
- Top with any of your favorites like syrup, powdered sugar, more jam, and even nuts and more berries.
Cheryl
Can I freeze this recipe be uncooked & bake later?
Alli
Yes you can. Let it thaw in the fridge before baking.
Sammi Windley
I've never thought to put jam in with french toast! Such a good idea