Strawberry Nutella Cream Cheese French Toast Casserole

Strawberry Nutella Cream Cheese French Toast Casserole. Thick slices of brioche are smothered in nutella and layered with strawberries and cream cheese. The whole casserole is soaked overnight in a cream, sugar, cinnamon mixture and baked until hot and french toasty!

Strawberry Nutella Cream Cheese French Toast Casserole. Did you just hear the hallelujah chorus? Oh sorry, maybe that was just me after I took a bite. But really, this strawberry nutella cream cheese french toast casserole will have you singing, too.

It’s so good that it will wipe away all signs of the Monday Blues.

It’s so good that you’re going to eat the whole pan.

It’s SO good that…

Ok. Sorry. I’m done now, but it’s just that good 😉

I have another confession. Don’t worry, it’s not nearly as embarrassing as proclaiming my love for the Bachelor and Pizza Hut like I did on my golden oreo birthday bars post. Or maybe it is, I don’t know.

My confession is that I don’t like french toast.

Ahhh! I know! For somebody who has a rather large the largest sweet tooth, I am super picky with my desserts.

Donuts? Nah. Although, I took a bite of Trevor’s Blueberry Old Fashioned Donut from Krispy Creme the other day and I secretly liked it. I’m still in denial about it.

Pancakes? Cinnamon Rolls? Pastries? I could take ’em or leave ’em.

French toast casserole? I wouldn’t touch it was a 20 foot pole when I was growing up, but as a person who is constantly trying to better themselves ;), I decided to suck it up and try my hand at french toast casserole.

It couldn’t be just any old french toast casserole, though, it needed to be drool worthy french toast casserole that even I would enjoy! So what’s drool worthy and something that I would like?

Nutella. Duh!

Nutella makes everything better.

Nutella makes the world go round.

Nutella…

Sorry…again.

I didn’t just want to make nutella french toast casserole though, I wanted it to be even more delicious so I decided to use leftover brioche, which is like the best bread ever, and strawberries, because you guys know I’ve been obsessed with them lately (have you ever dipped your strawberries in the nutella jar – pure heaven), and what’s a french toast casserole without gobs of cream cheese?

And that, my friends, is how the strawberry nutella cream cheese french toast casserole was born.

Now I have some good news and some bad news.

The bad news: this is actually overnight strawberry nutella cream cheese french toast casserole. You’ll have to wait 8 hours from when you make this to when it’s in your belly.

The good news: this is overnight strawberry nutella cream cheese french toast casserole. Prepare this the night before and pop it in the oven first thing in the morning and enjoy! No dirty dishes, no messy kitchen! The only thing you need to do is sit back, sip on your beverage (mimosa) of choice, and veg out while the french toast casserole gets warm and french toasty.

Start by making brioche nutella sandwiches.  I used leftover brioche from my croque madame. Also, remember to use stale bread. Thick, sturdy, stale bread = not soggy french toast casserole. Take brioche slices and spread gobs of nutella on one side. Top with another slice of brioche and cut into 1 inch cubes.

Take half the cubes and layer the bottom of a greased non stick 8 x 8 inch pan. Top this layer with strawberries and cubed cream cheese. Now layer on the remaining nutella brioche cubes. Gently pat the casserole down to make sure it’s even! Set this aside while you make a milk/egg mixture.

Combine eggs, half and half, milk, brown sugar, vanilla, ground cinnamon, and a touch of salt in a measuring cup. Whisk until throughly combined.

Evenly pour the mixture over the casserole. Cover the pan with tin foil and set in the fridge overnight!

The next morning, remove the strawberry nutella cream cheese french toast casserole from the fridge while you preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes. The top layer should be nice and golden brown, but the casserole won’t be quite hot enough yet. Cover the casserole now and bake for another 20 minutes or until hot!

Cut and serve with a generous sprinkling of powdered sugar, an extra drizzle of nutella, maple syrup…or just eat it plain. The choice is yours!

This strawberry nutella french toast casserole will convert even the strongest french toast haters! I love that the top layer of the casserole is slightly crunchy, while the bottom layers get nice and soaked in the milk/cinnamon/sugar mixture. It’s sweet, it’s hearty, and it’s definitely drool worthy!

– Jennifer

French toast. Yay or nay? Show me the yummy!