dessert Archives - This Celebrated Life

Raspberry French Toast Casserole. Cinnamon-coated bread, fresh raspberries, and tangy cream cheese, topped with a delicious brown sugar streusel. Oh and easily prepared the night before. In one bowl. You guys, it really doesn’t get better than this! Brunch just got elevated, and easier!

French toast holds a special place in my heart. When Jordan and I were first dating, he would come visit me in Seattle and made french toast for me and my roommates every time. It was so sweet and thoughtful! Now that we have a family, I’m all about taking the flavors of french toast that we love and making the process a little easier – by making french toast into a casserole!

How To Make: Raspberry French Toast Casserole

Let’s dive into the flavors, shall we? This raspberry french toast casserole starts by making a quick and simple cinnamon egg custard. Just like you would for traditional french toast. Secondly, we coat the cubed bread in the custard. Thirdly, we layer the soaked bread in a casserole dish with cream cheese and raspberry preserves, and let sit overnight. (I just ordered this beautiful ceramic casserole dish, and right now it’s on sale!)

The next morning, we make the brown sugar streusel, sprinkle it over the casserole, and bake! Then let your nose (and stomach!) go wild as you smell it baking, because let me tell you. It smells amazing. When it’s done baking, serve with your favorite french toast extras like maple syrup and fresh raspberries. Divine.

What Bread Should I Use?

Just like with traditional french toast, the type of bread that you use in this raspberry french toast casserole matters. My three favorites to use are Brioche, Challah and French Bread. These are all soft, spongy breads that are amazing at soaking up the custard for a delicious casserole. None of them should have hard crusts, you should easily be able to press into them with the pad of your thumb.

Fun fact: Did you know that french toast originated from a french recipe called “pain perdu”, which means “lost bread”. It was created as a way to use stale bread instead of throwing it out! This recipe uses fresh bread vs stale, but hey! Good to remember for when I forget to seal the bread bag, right?

Raspberry French Toast Casserole

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Author: Kirsten Bell
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 40 Minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
Yield: 12 Servings 1x
Category: Breakfast
Method: Baking

Print Recipe

Description

Delicious overnight french toast casserole! With cinnamon-soaked bread, fresh raspberries and tangy cream cheese, this will become your go-to breakfast recipe.

Ingredients

Scale

1 (1 lb) loaf of brioche, challah or French bread, cut into 1 inch cubes

8 eggs

2 cups whole milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 oz cold cream cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1/2 cup raspberry preserves

Streusel Topping

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

4 tablespoons salted butter, cubed

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Instructions

Butter a 9×13 casserole dish, and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the custard ingredients, eggs through salt. Add the bread cubes, tossing with the custard to coat. Spread about half the bread cubes into the bottom of the prepared casserole dish. Evenly top the bread with cream cheese cubes and raspberry preserves. Cover with the remaining bread cubes, and pour any leftover custard over top.

Cover with foil, and allow to soak for at least 3 hours to overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Stir together the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Rub the butter into the brown sugar mixture with your fingers until it resembles bread crumbs. Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the casserole.

Bake uncovered for 40-45 minutes, or until bread is lightly golden and custard is set.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes, and then serve with maple syrup, fresh raspberries, whipped cream, or extra raspberry preserves!

Want More Breakfast Recipes? Check These Out:

dessert,recipes,Summer

Lemon Blueberry Sheet Cake

posted on : June 25, 2020 posted by : Kirsten Bell 33 Comments

I think it’s about time for a new cake recipe, don’t you? And boy do I have a good one to share today! Lemon blueberry sheet cake! Easy, quick, fruity, light and delicious. Moist lemon cake with sweet blueberries, topped with a lemon glaze instead of frosting for a knock-your-socks-off sheet cake recipe!

dessert,One Bowl Recipes,recipes

Coconut Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats

posted on : May 28, 2020 posted by : Kirsten Bell 4 Comments

Super easy, super quick, super delicious coconut chocolate rice krispie treats. Made with flaked coconut, creamy coconut milk, and topped with chocolate. They’re soft, sweet, buttery, with perfectly delicious coconut flavor. And the best part? They’re incredibly quick and easy to make (think 15 minutes!). Whip up a batch this weekend!

dessert,Easter,recipes

Fresh Lemon Poppyseed Layer Cake

posted on : May 21, 2020 posted by : Kirsten Bell 1 Comment

This easy, moist and delicious lemon poppyseed cake is about to become your new favorite recipe! Light and bright cake full of lemon and poppyseeds, filled with creamy lemon curd, and topped with lemon cream cheese frosting. Basically? Heaven in a bite! (Or two, or three – I dare you to stop at one!)

dessert,One Bowl Recipes,recipes

Classic Blueberry Scones

posted on : May 7, 2020 posted by : Kirsten Bell 6 Comments

I have had a longtime love of classic blueberry scones! As a kid we were sometimes allowed to pick a special treat when my parents got coffee out, and I always chose a scone! Then I studied abroad in Great Britain, and that love of scones grew even bigger! Let me tell you – the Brits know their scones! So when I set out to create this classic blueberry scone recipe, I wanted them to be three things! Soft, buttery, and flavorful!

Ok now let me just say – I have had some really good scones, and I’ve had some really…not good scones. You know, those dry ones that you need to dip into tea to be able to swallow? Not good, my friends. But if that’s been your experience in the past, never fear! These classic blueberry scones are moist, fluffy, and full of juicy blueberry flavor! I guarantee you will want to make these again and again for breakfast, brunch, afternoon tea, and everything in between. Mother’s Day is this weekend, and these would be beyond perfect don’t you think?

These classic blueberry scones are so easy to make! I love to make them the night before, so that when we wake up on weekend mornings or special occasions, I can just pop them in the oven to bake! And sometimes that special occasion is a random Tuesday haha!

Steps To Make Classic Blueberry Scones:

Whisk together your dry ingredients in a large bowl, and set aside.
In a liquid measuring cup, measure out your heavy cream, vanilla and egg. Whisk to combine.
Cut butter into cubes, and cut into the flour mixture until it resembles pea sized crumbs.
Pour heavy cream mixture into the flour mixture, and stir with a fork.
Dust work surface with flour, turn the blueberry scone dough onto surface, and sprinkle with a bit of flour. Dough will be sticky! Pat into 1 inch tall circle, then cut into 8 pieces.
Set scones on a lined baking sheet (I love this one), and let dough chill in the fridge for 30-60 minutes (or overnight), and then bake!