Easter Brunch is a special meal and this breakfast bake fits the bill! In this dish, french toast meets carrot cake for a breakfast so delicious you’ll think it’s dessert.
Top it with a drizzle of glaze, cream cheese frosting, or whipped cream for a perfect Easter breakfast.
No reservations, waiting in line, or waiting for service, plus, we love that this casserole can be made the day before while you are busy with other festivities! We love this sweet take on traditional breakfast strata!
What’s in a Breakfast Bake?
BREAD Sweet cubes of cinnamon bread are layered with other ingredients for a classic French toast bake with a twist!
FRUIT A sweet mix of carrots & pineapple is dotted with sweet raisins. So colorful for Easter, and super tasty!
CREAM CHEESE With a citrusy cream cheese mixture, this is one breakfast bake that truly has it all!
EGGS & SWEETENER It’s all smothered in a creamy mixture made from eggs, milk, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Storing it overnight lets the liquid gets soaked into the bread and softens the raisins.
TOPPING This Easter Breakfast is baked to crispy perfection with a topping of pecans, coconut, and even more brown sugar.
Variations
What’s so fun about this recipe is that it’s so versatile! Get creative with this Easter season classic, it’s so good.
- Instead of raisins, try dried cherries, cranberries, or chopped dried apricots.
- Switch out the pecans for walnuts, and use shredded sweet potatoes instead of carrots.
- Add a handful of mini chocolate chips or coconut to the topping, too!
How to Make an Easter Breakfast Bake
Easter brunch is so easy with this sweet and fluffy recipe! Perfect to make ahead and it can bake while the kids are doing an Easter hunt!
- Place cubes of cinnamon bread in a casserole dish (per recipe below).
- Sprinkle carrots, pineapple, & raisins over bread crumbs.
- Mix cream cheese, brown sugar, & orange zest in a small bowl and dot overtop.
- Pour the custard mixture over the entire casserole and refrigerate overnight.
In the Morning
- Remove casserole 45 to 60 minutes before baking.
- Bake uncovered, 45 to 55 minutes. Let rest 15 minutes before serving.
Best Breakfast Bakes
- Sausage Cheddar Breakfast Strata– so cheesy & flavorful
- Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole – a 5 star recipe
- Blueberry French Toast Bake – easy to make
- Overnight Breakfast Casserole – with bacon
- Breakfast Frittata – ready in 40 minutes
- Hot Cross Buns – an Easter favorite
Did your family love this Easter Breakfast Bake? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Easter Breakfast Bake
Ingredients
- 12 slices cinnamon bread cut into 1-inch cubes, about 12 cups
- 1 cup carrots shredded
- ⅔ cup crushed pineapple drained and squeezed very dry
- ½ cup raisins
- 8 eggs
- 2 cups milk
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Cream Cheese Mixture
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
Topping
- ¼ cup chopped pecans
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 2 tablespoons flaked coconut
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Leave your bread out for a few hours or place it on a tray at 350˚F for about 8 minutes to slightly dry it out.
- In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese mixture ingredients until fluffy.
- Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer half of the bread cubes in the pan. Sprinkle with half of the carrots, pineapple and raisins. Dot with the cream cheese mixture. Top with remaining bread and the other half of the carrots, pineapple, and raisins.
- In a bowl, stir together the eggs, milk, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Pour over the casserole, cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
- Remove the casserole from the fridge about 45-60 minutes before baking. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Mix topping ingredients together in a small bowl. Sprinkle over casserole just before baking.
- Bake uncovered 45-55 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean and casserole is set.
- Cool 15 minutes before serving.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Breakfast, Casserole, Dessert
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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This was sooooo delicious! 3 out of 4 of us went back for seconds :) We have some food sensitivities here, so I swapped in gf bread, almond/coconut milk and goat cheese instead of cream cheese and it was still so tasty! My husband has never been a fan of French toast bakes, but he commented several times on how good it was. Thanks for the awesome recipe!
You’re very welcome Amy!
It would be helpful if you could provide a hint for ‘squeezing crushed pineapple dry’. Thanks so much.
I’d recommend draining, then either putting the pineapple in a tea towel and squeezing it, or in a fine mesh colander, and press on it. Enjoy!
Thank you.
Could you use some of t pineapple juice in place of some of the milk? I’m putting this together today for tomorrow.
I’ve only tried the recipe as written. I’m not sure how substituting pineapple juice would change the recipe. Let us know if you try it Michelle!