With a long weekend ahead, this Almond Berry French Toast Casserole will be the perfect breakfast for your Sunday morning! Filled with fresh berries, and the great taste of almonds, it’s delicious plain, drizzled with maple syrup or covered in waffle sauce. Everyone will love it!
Berries for breakfast!
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Isn’t fresh fruit one of THE best things to eat for breakfast?
Yeah, you can eat your eggs, bacon and hash browns, but it’s the fresh fruit that I love having more than anything else at that time of day.
If it’s breakfast for dinner, that’s another story. The fresh fruit doesn’t fit for me. That meal has to be more of a savory one.
But in the morning, I’m ALL over it. Parfaits, a simple bowl of fruit, crepes with fruit, pancakes topped with the stuff.
Yup, gotta have it in the morning. No ifs, ands, or buts!
SAVE THIS ALMOND BERRY FRENCH TOAST CASSEROLE TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD!
One of my favorite things to make for breakfast is French toast. It’s always been one of my favorite things to eat, so over the years, I do believe my family has eaten their fair share of it. They’ve come to love it, too, especially Cameron.
It’s most definitely one of his favorite foods. I wonder if he’s found a place in Philadelphia that makes a great one.
If you’re in the Philly area or have been and can recommend a place I’d love to be able to pass that on to him, so let me know!
I absolutely fell in love with this Almond Berry French Toast Casserole when I made it. It was just so doggone tasty! And you can say, “oh Lynne, you’re just saying that because you made it and want us to make it, too”. Nope.
I’d come up with the idea to combine the almond flavor with the fresh fruit and had been mulling it around in my head for a while until it came to fruition.
LOL see what I did there – FRUIT-ion?? I couldn’t resist. It was just so appropriate, right?
Yes, the Almond Berry French Toast Casserole is quite delicious, but I must say that it’s even BETTER when drizzled with Miss Mary’s Grandma’s Waffle Sauce! No joke.
I mean, you don’t have to put it on. You can eat it plain or with maple syrup, but OMG, is it that much better with it! I really think you’ll agree. This sauce is just like magic! I tasted it a few months ago when I was at Mary’s house and it literally changed my life. For the better, of course.
Now I just want to put it on everything! Well, maybe not pot roast, but all breakfast carby things. haha
Do it. You won’t be sorry.
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Frankly, I can never have enough ideas for French toast. When I came up with the idea for this Almond Berry French Toast Casserole, I was browsing the web for similar ideas and saw these wonderful recipes from other bloggers.
When I was growing up, my aunt made THE best Cinnamon French Toast, like this one from Jenny at Honey and Birch. I could never figure out why my mom didn’t use cinnamon and never wanted it any other way after eating it at my aunt’s. It was seriously life-changing. haha
These Cranberry-Orange Baked French Toast Cups from Allie at Baking a Moment will surely be a hit on Thanksgiving or Christmas morning. I can’t wait to make them. YUM! Bring on the holidays!!
So while looking for delicious French toast recipes, I came across this wonderful idea from Dara at Cookin’ Canuck. They’re Savory French Toast Bites with Bacon. And while you probably wouldn’t have them for breakfast, they’ll make a great appetizer! I love the idea of cutting them into bite-size pieces for guests. I’m excited to serve them both at holiday parties and for those upcoming game days.
How to Make this Almond Berry French Toast Casserole –
- Use 12 cups of bread cubes. This recipe, as well as my other Baked French Toast recipes all, use about 12 cups of cubed bread. I most often use a loaf of French or Italian bread, but a Challah or croissants taste delicious as well.
- While mixing the batter, be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. The almond paste and cream cheese will stick to the sides and bottom, so you want to make sure everything is mixed together really well. These silicone spatulas are my absolute favorite! They’re all one piece and are really sturdy.
- I’m not nuts about the seeds in raspberries and if you dislike them as well, they can be omitted altogether or you can use just 6 ounces instead of the full 12.
- The recipe can be divided in half and placed into an 8 X 8-inch baking dish.
- When baking, I like to place a cookie sheet on the rack underneath the Almond Berry French Toast Casserole. As it bakes, it will expand and will just make clean-up easier should anything fall out of the pan.
- I use this raw sugar, but you can find it at your local Walmart or favorite grocery store. And it’s not imperitive that you use it, it just adds a nice little texture and sweetness.
Almond Berry French Toast Casserole
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 8 ounces almond paste
- 8 large eggs
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 12 cups bread cubes
- 1 pound strawberries diced and divided
- 12 ounces blueberries divided
- 12 ounces raspberries divided
- ½ cup sliced almonds
- 2 tablespoons raw sugar
- Waffle Sauce
Instructions
- Prepare a 9 X 13-inch baking dish by spraying it with cooking spray.
- Beat the cream cheese and almond paste until smooth, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add 4 eggs and mix until incorporated. Scrape the bowl and add the 4 remaining eggs. Mix well again.
- Add sugar and vanilla.
- Gradually add the milk and cream and mix until thoroughly combined, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- Place half of the bread cubes into the prepared baking dish. Add half of the strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries.
- Repeat with remaining bread cubes, strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries.
- Mix the batter again and gently pour over the entire baking dish. I find that using a ladle is the easiest way to do it.
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight for at least 8 hours.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350° F. Remove the plastic wrap and sprinkle with the sliced almonds and raw sugar.
- Bake for 45-55 minutes. 45 minutes will give you a softer, slightly unfinished middle whereas 55 minutes will be firmer. I usually bake ours for about 51 minutes.
- Serve plain, with pure maple syrup or with this delicious Waffle Sauce from Barefeet in the Kitchen.
Nutrition
If you like this Almond Berry French Toast Casserole then you’ll enjoy…
Peaches and Cream Baked French Toast
Chocolate Croissant Baked French Toast
Strawberry Stuffed Mocha French Toast
And of course, you can’t forget the BACON!!!!
Make your bacon THIS way and it will come out PERFECTLY every time!
Comments & Reviews
Can this be made without any almond products for someone allergic to nuts?
Regina, you can definitely omit the almond paste and the almonds, and just make the cream cheese mixture as directed.
Enjoy it!
Can we just double the cream cheese amount if we omit the almond paste? Or just leave it out altogether?
Rebecca, I would just omit the almond paste altogether and leave the amount of cream cheese at the 8 ounces called for. The other baked French toasts I have on my site only have the 8 ounces of cream cheese and they are delicious as is.
Enjoy it, and please leave some feedback to let me know how it was without the almond paste. Thanks!
This was amazing! My family loved it!!
Joyce, I’m SO happy to hear that! Thank you so much for letting me know.
Do you bake the bread cubes before putting in the french toast casserole?
No, Tanya, no need to bake them! They’ll bake up just find with the egg custard mixture when you bake the entire dish. Enjoy!