Baked French Toast Filled with Fruit

Cut the bread into cubes. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray, Place half the bread cubes in the dish. Cut the cream cheese into small pieces & scatter across the bread. Sprinkle the fruit over the cream cheese.

{shown - 1 layer of bread cubes with cream cheese & fruit}

Cover the fruit with the remaining bread cubes. Combine the eggs, half & half, syrup & melted butter in a bowl & mix well. Pour over the bread cubes.

{shown - top layer of bread cubes, before pouring egg mixture over}

{beautifully done, golden brown on top}

Chill, covered for 8-10 hours. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Preheat oven to 350 & bake uncovered for 40-50 minutes. Serve with extra syrup.

The original recipe calls for just 1 cup of fruit either or. I like both berries so I used both & increased by ½ cup. It turned out so well I wouldn?t change a thing. Also, don't be alarmed that the egg mixture doesn't come up to the top. This is what causes the top bread layer to bake perfectly with just a tiny crunch like regular french toast. There is no soggy here. However, I do recommend pushing the top bread cubes down with a fork just once so they get moist.

You?ll also want to serve this with extra syrup just like regular French toast.