French Toast Casserole

French Toast Casserole breakfast Quick and easy self saucing French toast casserole. Easy to make and perfect for preparing from the night before perfect brunch recipe, baked French toast French Toast Casserole Frech Toast

This baked French toast casserole is one of the easiest recipes you will ever make! I love it not only because it’s totally decadent and delicious but it requires zero sit time - don’t get me wrong I love a good overnight French toast casserole but sometimes you just want it now and this is THAT French toast casserole! Seriously decadent right out of the oven, crispy edges soft middle texture with its self saucing caramel sauce at the bottom - oh my!! I love to serve it with whipped cream and chopped nuts or fresh berries or other fruit - and for extra decadence drizzled of maple syrup. It the perfect breakfast casserole for brunches or slow morning when you are craving something sweet and delicious!

French Toast Casserole

Why You Will Love This French Toast Casserole Recipe

  • Easy and Quick To assemble
  • Bake immediately - no need for casserole to sit overnight or at all (although you can still make it overnight if you want to)
  • The caramel sauce at the bottom is AMAZING
  • The best way to make French toast for a crowd!

French Toast Casserole

French Toast Casserole Recipe Ingredients

  • BREAD: You are going to need a fairly large loaf of bread – enough to make about 6-7 cups once cubed. Use any loaf, like a French loaf, sourdough bread for a tighter sturdier crumb or ciabatta, challah or torn or cubed Texas toast for a softer lighter crumb which will soak up the custard faster. Feel free to use glute free bread if needed
  • BUTTER: I use unsalted and for this recipe it is melted or browned - I love to use brown butter for this recipe as it gives this French toast casserole even more flavor.
  • SUGAR: You will need brown sugar for the casserole and granulated sugar for the cinnamon sugar topping.
  • EGGS: You will need 6 large eggs. Eggs help bind everything together.
  • MILK: I recommend whole milk or even a combination of whole milk and heavy cream for a richer custard
  • RUM/BOURBON: The bourbon is optional but it adds such a delicious flavour to the custard and overall dish. I often swap it out for spiced rum too. If you prefer the recipe without alcohol - simply replace it with more milk.
  • VANILLA: Adds that signature flavor to all my sweet baked goods.
  • SPICES: I kept things simple with cinnamon and a pinch of salt but feel free to add more warming spices like nutmeg, cardamon or allspice.

French Toast Casserole

French Toast Casserole

Easy French Toast Casserole Recipe Instructions

  1. BROWN or MELT butter then whisk the sugar into it, and pour into prepared dish
  2. SPRINKLE cubed bread over top
  3. WHISK together custard ingredients, milk, bourbon/rum, vanilla and eggs
  4. POUR over bread evenly
  5. SPRINKLE with cinnamon sugar
  6. BAKE until golden
  7. SERVE warm dusting with powdered sugar and with whipped cream and fresh fruit and chopped nuts

French Toast Casserole Variations

  • Switch out the booze for the custard, with Amaretto, Frangelico or for a orange and spice twist use some Triple Sec or Cointreau
  • Use cinnamon swirl bread for the bread, or Tsoureki or or day old cinnamon rolls, or even doughnuts, croissants, or banana bread
  • If you want to use a non dairy milk you can like almond milk, cashew mill or oat milk
  • Add some crispy, crumbled maple bacon, either in the mix or over or served on the side - you can even serve it with cooked crispy crumbled breakfast sausage
  • Add some crunchy nuts like walnuts, pecans or you could do a combo - Candied maple pecans and bacon

Baked French Toast Casserole Make Ahead

  • MAKE AHEAD: This baked French toast can be made ahead so it’s more of an overnight French toast. Prepare as directed up to when you have to bake it then cover casserole dish with plastic wrap and store in the fridge overnight. When ready to bake remove from fridge and let it sit on the counter while you preheat the oven, uncover the plastic wrap and bake as directed.
  • STORAGE: Leftovers can be covered tightly and stored in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days. To reheat, place in a preheated oven at 350°F for 10 to 15 minutes, or until warmed through and re-crisped on top. Slices can be reheated in the microwave or toaster oven.
  • FREEZING: The fully cooked and cooled casserole can be frozen, although it’s better when fresh. But if you have leftovers to freeze, wrap individual portions in plastic wrap and then a layer of foil. Defrost the individual slices in the refrigerator overnight then reheat until just warmed through in the microwave or oven. If you are freezing the whole casserole wrap in plastic wrap and foil and place cooled casserole in the freezer and store for up to 1 month - thaw in the fridge overnight and place in a preheated oven at 350°F for 10 to 15 minutes, or until warmed through and re-crisped on top.

French Toast Casserole

More Favorite Brunch Recipes

Recipe

Servings: 8
Prep Time: 10-15 mins
Bake Time: 30 mins
Total Time: 40-45 min

Ingredients

  • 1 loaf of challah or French bread, (about 8 oz/225 grams) cut into cubes approx 6-7 cups
  • ½ cup butter (1 stick unsalted)
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 6 eggs
  • 1¾ cups whole milk
  • ¼ cup rum or bourbon (or replace with more milk)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1½ teaspoons cinnamon
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt

Cinnamon Sugar

  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 425°F and grease a 13x9 inch baking pan and set aside.
  2. Brown butter in a small saucepan pan over medium heat swirling pan ocassionlay until butter is golden brown with a nutty aroma. (or simply melt it in pan or in the microwave). Once browned or melted whisk in brown sugar and pour evenly into prepared baking dish.
  3. Sprinkle cubed bread in an even layer overtop the browned butter sugar mixture
  4. In a medium sized bowl or measuring cup whisk together the eggs, milk, rum vanilla, and cinnamon. Pour egg mixture over the top of bread cubes, ensuring that all the bread is evenly covered and saturated.
  5. Cinnamon Sugar: In a small bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle over bread.
  6. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until top is golden brown. Tent loosely with foil if the casserole starts browning too quickly.
  7. Remove from oven once done and let stand 5-10 minutes. Then dust with powdered sugar if desired and dig right in!

Recipe Notes

  • For less custardy cover with foil at the 20 minute mark and continue to cook a few extra minutes until cooked to your desired texture
  • Instead of pouring the custard over the bread cubes in the casserole dish, feel free to mix or toss the bread cubes and the custard together in a bowl first to saturate all the cubes with the custard.
  • No one likes soggy bread! French toast casserole is one of those recipes that has a lot of variables. Maybe your eggs are a bit bigger, or your bread was too fresh etc. There’s an easy way to fix soggy French toast, though. Just increase your baking time until the casserole has reached your desired level of doneness. Cover loosely with foil to prevent top from burning or browning too quickly.

French Toast Casserole