The Ultimate Maple Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast Casserole
Lightly scented with maple syrup, topped with lots of cinnamon streusel, and bursting with a sweet cream cheese filling, this is as good as you’ll ever need a French Toast Casserole to be, and then some. Be sure to serve with maple syrup and maybe a dusting of confectioner’s sugar, if you like.Â
- Yield: Serves 8 to 12 1x
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1 (12 to 14-ounce) loaf of Brioche or Challah, cut into approximately 1-inch pieces
- 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 4 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
- Salt
- 8 eggs
- 2 1/3 cups half and half
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar (dark or light is fine)
For the Crumb Topping
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar (light or dark is fine)
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 8 tablespoons (one stick) SALTED butter
Serving Suggestions: Maple syrup
Instructions
- Spray or butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Add half of the bread pieces to the pan.
- In a medium bowl, combine the soft cream cheese, powdered sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, and a pinch of salt. Stir until smooth.
- Dollop big rounded spoonfuls of the maple cream all around the pan, on top of the bread. Add the rest of the bread to the pan.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, half and half, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and the ¾ cups brown sugar. Pour this over the bread/cream in the pan, and push everything down a little bit, ensuring all of the bread gets some love. Cover and place in the fridge for at least 4 hours and up to 24. Typically doing this the night before you plan to bake is best.
- When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Adjust a rack to the middle position.
- For the topping: In a medium bowl, combine the ¾ cup brown sugar, ¾ cup flour, the cinnamon, and the salted butter. Using your fingers, work the ingredients together until the butter is broken up and you have a very wet sand-like topping. I leave some big clumps, and some small – no strict rules here!
- Scatter this topping all over the casserole and bake, uncovered, until puffed and bubbling, about 45 to 50 minutes. Serve with maple syrup.