Mixed Berry Baked French Toast is a delightfully decadent breakfast for all occasions. Crusty bread, sprinkled with a variety of berries, soaked in a loose, sweet vanilla batter. It’s baked to near custard consistency, then drizzled with cream cheese icing.
Making breakfast for mom on Mother’s Day is a tradition as old as the holiday itself. Or at least is should be a tradition! Moms work hard every day, so a morning spent sleeping in and waking up to breakfast in bed is like a gift from God himself.
As a kid, I always tried to make breakfast for my mom and bonus mom around Mother’s Day. I usually tried to make some sort of scrambled egg type configuration with a side of cinnamon toast. Some years were definitely better than others. Bonus Mom still reminds of the year that I tossed a handful of dry roasted peanuts along with more than a handful of lemon pepper into the scrambled eggs. What can I say other than I was nine and thought that if I loved it, it would work in scrambled eggs?
Bless their hearts, both my dad and Bonus Mom did their best to (literally) choke down those dry-roasted-peanut-lemon-pepper-blanketed eggs. Of course, by sparing my feelings, I figured that I was on to something awesome with this new egg recipe. So, I eagerly offered to make them for my mom the following weekend for Mother’s Day. I can only guess that Dad must have tipped her off, because Mom had a sudden hankering for pancakes.
Once I became a mother myself, Bacon Slayer took on the Mother’s Day breakfast duties. Now, I love my husband more than anything but I was a little worried because until that point, he’d never made me breakfast. He can grill the bejeezes out of stuffed lamb burgers or any other meat and have it turn out perfectly every time. He also makes the best grilled cheese on the planet. But breakfast? Making breakfast really wasn’t his thing. So naturally, he blew my preconceived notions of his breakfast capabilities right out of the water by making individual baked apple pancakes one year.
Show off.
I mean, it was no peanuts in eggs but at least he tried, right?
This year, I’m hoping that Bacon Slayer will be inspired to make this Mixed Berry Baked French Toast casserole. All he’ll have to do is cube bread, sprinkle it with berries, pour the vanilla batter over it, then refrigerate it.
Did you hear that, Honey? You make the french toast casserole the night before, so you can sleep late on Mother’s Day!
In the morning, the casserole is baked to a near-custard consistency in the time it takes to swig a cup of coffee and read the newspaper. Drizzled with cream cheese icing,
Mixed Berry Baked French Toast is a delightfully decadent breakfast for Mother’s Day or any occasion.
♥♥♥
Kirsten Kubert
Yields 12
Crusty bread sprinkled with a variety of berries, soaked in a loose, sweet vanilla batter before baked to near custard consistency. Drizzled with cream cheese icing.
6 hr, 25 Prep Time
45 minCook Time
7 hr, 10 Total Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 1 ¼ lb. (18 oz.) loaf of day old Italian style bread, sliced into bite-sized cubes
- 8 eggs
- 2 ½ C. 2% milk
- 1/3 C. granulated sugar
- 1 Tbs. vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ C. frozen mixed berries (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries)
- 2 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 2 Tbs. unsalted butter, softened
- 1 C. sifted powdered sugar
Instructions
- Lightly spray a 9”x 13” x 2” glass baking pan with baking spray or smear lightly with soft butter. Arrange the cubed bread in an even layer the prepared pan; set the baking dish aside while preparing the custard.
- Whisk the eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon together in a large bowl until well blended. Pour the custard mixture evenly over the cubed bread, ensuring that all visible surfaces are moistened. Place a lid on the baking dish and refrigerate the French toast for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight, to allow the bread ample time to almost fully absorb the custard.
- Once the custard has been mostly absorbed by the bread, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Scatter the mixed berries over top of the French toast. Bake the French toast for 45 to 50 minutes or until the custard is cooked through but the bread is not dry.
- While the French toast in the oven, prepare the icing by blending the cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Gradually mix in the powdered sugar, and continue mixing until the icing is smooth.
- Once the French toast is done, transfer it to a wire rack to cool slightly for about 10 minutes. Drizzle the icing over the French toast before serving.
- Leftover Mixed Berry Baked French Toast may be stored tightly covered in the refrigerator for two days.
Notes
Prep Time: 25 minutes (plus 4 to 8 hours chilled soak time), Cook Time: 45 to 50 minutes, Total Time (active): 1 hour 15 minutes
♥♥♥
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