Overnight Baked French Toast Casserole

easy recipeshot breakfastssweet breakfastsbreakfast

May 1

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Make a Sunday brunch that your family will never forget! This **Overnight Baked French Toast Casserole** is easy to prep the night before and bakes effortlessly in the morning! Have your family wake up to the incredible scents of cinnamon and brown sugar to this fabulous treat!

Want to try something new for a special Sunday brunch? This Overnight Baked French Toast Casserole is an excellent way to to do that, plus it could even double up as a delicious dessert. This was my first time making a breakfast casserole after I had wanted to for so long! After trying this French toast bake recipe, I really explored French toast in a different way! It’s so perfect with a nice hot drink. Has a French toast casserole been on your bucket list too? Well, this is the opportunity to check it off as part of your Live to Cook one-month challenge! Sign up to my email newsletter to get this free resource and get started on your cooking journey today!

Be sure to watch the video at the bottom of this post to follow along as I prepare the elements and assemble and bake the casserole! If you’re not already, I’d love it if you’d please subscribe to my YouTube channel and don’t forget to press the bell button to be notified when all of my new video recipes go live to go hand-in-hand with the written ones! Let’s get baking!

Why Make Overnight French Toast Casserole?

Easy to assemble: The assembly of this casserole is really simple to do!
Fun to make: Honestly this was quite fun to do! I loved the different elements involved in here and it looked so good going into the oven!
Perfect family meal: This casserole can feed many mouths for a very special meal! Unlike regular French toast where the breads are pan-fried, everyone can eat at the same time without any food getting cold!
Minimal hands-on time: While the bake time is quite awhile, the good news is that you don’t have to babysit the casserole, unlike with regular French toast where you need to flip and pay close attention. Here you can just bake it first thing in the morning and get the kitchen ready for the family while they’re asleep!
Budget-friendly: While it seems like we’ve got a fair amount of ingredients here, they’re all pantry and fridge staples, and lots of the ingredients are used in the multiple components in the recipe.
So delicious: I think this is the main reason why you’d want to make this! Honestly, I love the layers of the French toast here, and the crumble is sweet and crisp! You gotta experience this for yourself to have a breakfast of champions, and it’s a completely different experience from eating traditional French toast!

What Bread should I use for Easy French Toast Casserole?

A thick crust bread is the best option to use in our French Toast Casserole! For this recipe, I’ll be using fresh sourdough from a local bakery. I love to use sourdough in French toast because its thick and crustiness will allow the custard and toppings to hold well! Here are other options you can consider:

brioche bread
challah bread
Texas toast

If anything, you can use simple white sandwich bread, but just ensure that it’s thick enough so that it doesn’t get mushy! As I describe in my Make Cooking Fun!! free motivational guide to explore your potential in the kitchen and to spark creativity, I always recommend you use on hand! If there’s an old loaf of bread that needs to be eaten, then that’s actually the perfect bread to use! Older bread will be great to use for your casserole because drier bread is less likely to get soggy.

How to Prevent the French Toast Casserole from getting Soggy

The main reason why your French toast would get soggy is because you’ve soaked the bread for too long based on its thickness. To be safe, you want crusty bread that can absorb the custard and maintain its shape. If you notice the bread slices getting limp, then you’ve over-soaked it. If you’re working with softer bread, you could leave it out at room temperature to dry out so that it can hold the moisture better.

WHAT IS THE MOST COMMON MISTAKE IN MAKING FRENCH TOAST?

The most common mistake when making French toast is believing that the longer you soak it for, the more delicious the French toast will be. However, this does not apply if your bread is too soft, which is why a thicker bread is recommended. When you’ve soaked thin slices of bread for too long, you’ll get sogginess! Additionally, under-cooking and over-cooking the French toast can result in a less than ideal French toast. If you bake the French toast casserole at a heat that’s too high, the outside will be done before the inside has finished cooking. On the other hand, if you’re not cooking at a high enough heat, then you won’t get a lovely golden brown colour we’re looking for.

Why Is It that You can Soak The Bread For Longer in a casserole but not in regular French Toast?

The primary reason is while baking french toast in a casserole, you don’t need to handle the bread as often as when making a traditional french toast on a pan. Traditionally, the bread is dipped in the egg-milk mixture for a couple of seconds and then transfer to a pan to cook until golden brown. Bread slice that is over-saturated may come apart and be impossible to handle.

Since in a casserole, the bread will remain in the same vessel for the duration of the absorption and the cooking phase, there is no minimum requirement for soak time. The longer you soak, the longer the flavours can come together to deliver a tastier dish.

What Size is your casserole?

My KitchenAid casserole is 15 inches by 5 inches and is 4.2 quarts.

Tools Needed for Baked French Toast

Microplane (if grating whole nutmeg)
Measuring spoons
Measuring cup
Whisk
Mixing bowl
Casserole
Spatula
Sieve

Ingredients for overnight Baked French Toast Casserole

Don’t forget to scroll to the bottom of this post to see the FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD with all ingredient measurements and to save the recipe for later! The recipe card will also allow you to scale the recipe based on if you want to make this in a personal casserole or a huge casserole - all individual quantities will automatically be adjusted for you!

For the Custard

Eggs: An important base for our custard!
Milk: Whole dairy milk is what I’ll be using in this recipe. For a richer French toast, you could even experiment with half and half cream.
Spices and flavourings: We’ll use some ground cinnamon and nutmeg to add warm cozy spices into the custard. Additionally, vanilla extract and almond extract will add wonderful aromas to complement the sweetness here!
Butter: I like to use unsalted butter in my baking so that I can control the amount of salt. If you’re using salted butter, you won’t need to add more. You’ll want a stick of melted butter.
Sweeteners: White sugar and brown sugar will sweeten our custard.
salt: This is crucial to bring out all the sweet flavours that went in here!

For the Cinnamon Sugar Crumble

Butter: One square at room temperature.
Flour: You can use regular all-purpose flour or 1 to 1 gluten-free baking flour if you’re making this for someone who has a gluten intolerance.
Cinnamon sugar

FOR THE CINNAMON SUGAR

Cinnamon: 1 part cinnamon.
Brown sugar: 1 part brown sugar.
White sugar: 2 parts white sugar.

For the French toast casserole

Bread: A thick crusty bread will give the best results in holding the custard and not getting soggy. I’m using white sourdough in this French toast casserole recipe. Some recipes cut the bread into pieces and then add those to the casserole, but I like the idea of keeping the slices whole and layering that way!
Cinnamon sugar
Cinnamon sugar crumble
Brown sugar + molten butter: To coat the bottom of the casserole and to spread in between the layers of bread slices.
Powdered sugar: For garnish.

How to Make Easy Baked French Toast Casserole

Set the bread slices out on the counter for 30 minutes to an hour to allow them to dry out slightly.

In the meanwhile, prepare the egg mixture by whisking together eggs, milk, vanilla extract, almond extract, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

Prepare the cinnamon sugar by mixing all the ingredients listed above for it.

Also, prepare the mix for the cinnamon sugar crumble as well by mixing all the ingredients together and cutting the butter until it turns into pea sized granules and set aside.

Melt the 1/2 Cup of butter and 1 Cup of brown sugar and spread half of the mixture at the bottom of the casserole.

Then, arrange the pieces of bread in a single layer, breaking any slices of bread to fill gaps. Pour and spread 1 cup of the egg-milk mixture.

Sprinkle the bread with cinnamon sugar and add another layer of bread, 1 Cup of the egg-milk mixture, the rest of the butter-brown sugar mixture and a dusting of cinnamon sugar.

Let the bread soak in the layers for 4-6 hours or preferably overnight.

Bake uncovered for 30 minutes in the middle rack. Remove the casserole from the oven and evenly distribute the cinnamon sugar crumble over the top to make a thin layer - you may have extra crumble mix leftover which you can reserve for next time.

Bake for 15-25 minutes or until the crumble is browned. Once ready, the crumble should become crisp once cooled slightly.

Slice and serve warm with whipped cream and a sprinkling of powdered sugar.

Tips On how to Bake the best French Toast Casserole!

Since the bread will bake in the casserole itself, allow the slices to soak in the egg-milk mixture to absorb the most amount of flavour.
The level of sweetness can easily be adjusted so the casserole can fit your personal needs. I don’t think you’d need to add more, but feel free to add less if needed.
Salt, may seem out of place in this recipe, but it actually enhances the flavours to make ingredients like cinnamon, sugar, eggs, milk, vanilla and anything else you add to this recipe.
Get a dose of morning buzz with a teaspoon or two of instant coffee to this recipe, the salt here would make the coffee taste even better and more wholesome.

Serving Suggestions For French Toast Casserole

Beverages

Savoury Options

Making French Toast Casserole In Advance

As the name suggests, unlike regular French toast, you CAN prep the casserole in advance, allowing the bread to soak overnight. In fact, soaking the bread overnight will yield the best results here! Then, when you’re ready to bake, you just need to pop it in the oven! Even if you’ve got leftovers, the slices of French toast will not get mushy and taste incredible! You can store your leftover French toast pieces in an airtight container or just leave them in your casserole dish covered.

To reheat your slices of overnight French toast, simply reheat for about 30 seconds. You just want to warm the pieces up but not have them too hot, or else the slices will turn to mush.

Other Wonderfully Sweet Breakfast recipes!

WATCH HOW TO MAKE Overnight Baked French Toast Casserole HERE:

Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments! If you’ve tried this recipe, be sure to post it on social media and tag it with #cookingwithanadi and mention me @cookingwithanadi. Thank you!

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casserole, breakfast, sweet breakfasts, hot breakfasts

American

Yield: 12 slices

Author: Anadi

Overnight French Toast Casserole with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Crumblehttps://youtu.be/ZayOLQU4R0IThis easy overnight baked French toast casserole is the perfect make-ahead breakfast! This French toast casserole recipe will show how to make the custard mixture and which breads are the best to use for French toast casserole, paired with a brown sugar cinnamon crumble.2023-05-01

Overnight Baked French Toast Casserole

Make a Sunday brunch that your family will never forget! This Overnight Baked French Toast Casserole is easy to prep the night before and bakes effortlessly in the morning! Have your family wake up to the incredible scents of cinnamon and brown sugar to this fabulous treat!

Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 55 MinInactive time: 4 HourTotal time: 5 H & 15 M

Ingredients

For the French toast

6-8 sourdough bread slices, 3/4 - 1 inch thick
1/2 Cup milk
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
pinch of salt
1 Cup brown sugar + 1/2 cup butter (molten)
3-4 Tbsp cinnamon sugar (see below)
brown sugar cinnamon crumble (see below)
powdered sugar, for garnish

For the brown sugar cinnamon crumble

3-4 Tbsp cinnamon sugar
1/4 Cup 1 to 1 gluten-free baking flour
2 Tbsp cold butter

For the cinnamon sugar

Instructions

Set the bread slices out on the counter for 30 minutes to an hour to allow them to dry out slightly.
In the meanwhile, prepare the egg mixture by whisking together eggs, milk, vanilla extract, almond extract, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
Prepare the cinnamon sugar by mixing all the ingredients listed above for it. Also, prepare the mix for the cinnamon sugar crumble as well by mixing all the ingredients together and cutting the butter until it turns into pea sized granules and set aside.
Melt the 1/2 Cup of butter and 1 Cup of brown sugar and spread half of the mixture at the bottom of the casserole. Then, arrange the pieces of bread in a single layer, breaking any slices of bread to fill gaps. Pour and spread 1 cup of the egg-milk mixture.
Sprinkle the bread with cinnamon sugar and add another layer of bread, 1 Cup of the egg-milk mixture, the rest of the butter-brown sugar mixture and a dusting of cinnamon sugar.
Let the bread soak in the layers for 4-6 hours or preferably overnight.
Bake uncovered for 30 minutes in the middle rack. Remove the casserole from the oven and evenly distribute the cinnamon sugar crumble over the top to make a thin layer - you may have extra crumble mix leftover which you can reserve for next time.
Bake for 15-25 minutes or until the crumble is browned. Once ready, the crumble should become crisp once cooled slightly.
Slice and serve warm with whipped cream and a sprinkling of powdered sugar.