This baked Monte Cristo French Toast is the perfect breakfast for the Monte Cristo lover. Sweet, savory, and cheesy deliciousness in every bite.
Swiss cheese, ham, and turkey stuffed between two thick slices of French toast and topped with a sweet, berry syrup… seriously? What’s NOT to love?? These are so stinking delicious I can hardly contain myself! These are very similar to our Breakfast Monte Cristos, but they are actually easier and you can make a bunch all at one time. If you are only wanting to make just one Monte Cristo for yourself, I would suggest just making the breakfast Monte Cristo recipe but this recipe is MUCH easier for a crowd. Both recipes are fantastic. It really just depends on what method you want to use.
These only take a few short minutes of prep time and you are on your way. You can easily prepare these the night before and refrigerate overnight (they actually taste best when you do it this way). Each individual stuffed Monte Cristo French Toast is one serving… and believe me, it is FILLING. You can serve these with something lighter like orange slices or berries but honestly you don’t need much else! This is a pretty hearty breakfast as-is!
Unlike “traditional” Monte Cristos, these stuffed French Toast Monte Cristos are BAKED… which makes them somewhat healthier than the fried recipes.
For the syrup, you can use any kind of berry syrup. We used the Smucker’s Boysenberry Syrup and it was out of this world good, but really you can use any kind of berry syrup you like. As an alternative, you can top these with jam if you don’t have any berry syrup and you won’t be disappointed. My husband actually likes them better with jam than syrup so it is totally up to you how you want to make it!
Ingredients
- 1 loaf French Bread cut into 1-inch slices
- 8 Tbsp Whipped cream cheese
- 1/2 Lb. deli Black Forest ham
- 1/2 Lb. deli turkey
- 1/2 Lb. Swiss cheese
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 cup butter melted
- Berry Syrup we used Smucker's Boysenberry syrup
- Powdered sugar to taste
Instructions
- Spray 9x13 glass baking dish with cooking spray.
- Place 7-8 slices of French bread in the baking dish (try not to over-crowd and squish too much)
- Spread cream cheese over each slice of bread, then layer on ham, turkey, and Swiss cheese.
- Top with remaining slices of French bread (making "sandwiches").
- In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Pour over bread and let sit for five minutes, turn bread over and cover pan with saran wrap. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes (or even overnight).
- Drizzle melted butter over the top and bake at 400 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.
- Remove from pan and top with syrup and sift powdered sugar over the top.
- Serve immediately.
Equipment
- 9x13 inch pan
Nutrition
Angelina says
LOVE Monte Cristo sandwiches, and this version is much more ‘waist friendly’. If I wanted to serve these (savory) for lunch, would this recipe still work well if I left out the sugar & the cinnamon?
Favorite Family Recipes says
Yes, it just wouldn’t be quite as sweet. Hope this helps!
Heather says
HI, when you say, “turn bread over,” do you mean just flip the top piece or flip each sandwich in the casserole?
Favorite Family Recipes says
You will want to flip each sandwich. Sorry, should have been more clear on that. Hope this helps!
Heather says
Thank you! I ended up dredging each top slice through the egg mixture anyway before dumping the rest of the liquid all through the casserole. I also tore the Swiss into thinner strips so the liquid could permeate better. And I didn’t have cream cheese but mascarpone really worked out well in its place!
Nathalie says
I just made these for the first time. I have three very fussy kids and I just gave up cooking properly over the last years – too much hassle… They are eating better now (one of my teenagers now eats almost everything) and I am again on my search for recipes at least two of them will eat. And two of my kids loved these Monte Cristos! The were delicious. The only problem I have – the bottom was a bit soggy. Any tips on what I might do wrong? Could this just be because I did not turn them over after pouring the egg mixture over them? I tried to but my beautiful assemble threatened to dissolve into chaos…
Erica Walker says
Hi Natalie, so glad that this was a hit with 2 out of 3! I will consider that a win! Yes, you definitely want to turn them over so you get an even distribution of the egg mixture throughout the bread. All of the mixture probably settled at the bottom. You can also flip them and drain off the excess if there is any. Another way would be to reduce the amount of milk but then you risk it getting too dry. Hope all this helps! Welcome back to cooking! We hope you will be able to find more recipes here for your picky eaters!