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A delicious, warm from the oven Overnight Baked French Toast Casserole is the crowd pleasing breakfast that you need this holiday season!
Slices of crusty french bread are dipped in an egg batter then layered in a baking dish and topped with a cinnamon sugar crumble. This gorgeous breakfast treat is perfect for holiday brunch, Christmas morning or just when you want to impress your family on a Saturday morning.
The cinnamon sugar topping gives the top crusts of the bread a deliciously sweet crunch, while the custard keeps the insides tender and moist. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, or douse it in maple syrup – you make the call!
HOW TO MAKE BAKED FRENCH TOAST
You’ll need to gather a few basic ingredients to start this baked french toast recipe.
- 1 loaf french bread or baguette – you can slice and layer like I did, or you can cut the bread into cubes. Either way works with this recipe.
- Custard base – eggs, milk, cinnamon, sugar and vanilla are whisked together. The bread is soaked in the mixture to keep it moist and form a crust.
- Optional additions – sliced fresh fruit, dollops of sweetened cream cheese or even crumbled bacon can be added to this baked french toast!
The main component of this recipe is the bread. You’ll want to keep the slices or cubes as uniform as possible, and be sure to give them a few seconds to soak in the liquid. You can use any size loaf you like, and it doesn’t have to be days old. Leave it out for a day and that night you’ll be good to go. If you want the slices to fit in the dish like mine did, I bought this loaf.
Can you make french toast the night before?
The answer to this is a resounding YES! I love to make Overnight Baked French Toast! The bread has a lot of time to absorb all of that custard liquid and the result is incredibly moist and chewy insides. Combined with the crunchy sweet topping, this Baked French Toast is the best breakfast or afternoon treat you’ll ever meet!
You do want to make sure to cover the casserole dish with foil in the fridge to avoid any flavor contamination with other things that might be in your fridge. You can slide the cold casserole, covered, right into the oven. It will take about 40-50 minutes to bake.
More great breakfast ideas here:
- Caramel Apple French Toast Casserole
- Creamy Blueberry Baked French Toast
- Homemade Waffles
- Strawberry French Toast Bake
Baked French Toast
Ingredients
French Toast:
- 1 loaf french bread or baguette sliced into 1-inch thick slices
- 8 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Topping:
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Grease a 13×9-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, granulated sugar, vanilla and salt.
- Dip the bread slices in the egg mixture to coat (let them soak for a few seconds) and arrange side by side in the baking dish.
- Pour remaining egg mixture evenly over the bread.
- In a small bowl, whisk together brown sugar and 1 tablespoon cinnamon. Sprinkle evenly over the bread.
- Cover tightly with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or for at least 4 hours before baking.
- To bake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Remove casserole from the refrigerator and slide into the oven.
- Bake covered for 40-45 minutes or until golden. For a more golden and crunchy top, remove the foil halfway through.
- Serve immediately, dusted with powdered sugar or topped with warm maple syrup.
Notes
Nutrition
Made baked French toast recipe as printed. Love, love it!! Thank you for the recipe.
You are so welcome Debbie! Thanks for stopping by.
Can you freeze this to use at a later date? Cook first or No? If so.
You can freeze either before or after baking. Either way, you’ll want to defrost before baking or reheating.
How long can this stay in the refrigerator? I was hoping to make this the morning before so was planning for 24 hours. Would that be too long?
Hi Karen, I wouldn’t leave it longer than 24 hours.
Hi! Would it be okay to use sourdough bread instead?
Yes you can use sourdough bread. Keep in mind the tanginess so as long as you don’t mind that you should be fine.
Hit of the entire brunch. Made night before and doubled the recipe.
Nice! Thanks for stopping by Karen.
Hello – This sounds delicious. I always add fresh orange zest and I intend to make this recipe this afternoon to eat tomorrow morning. Hoping for some leftover, though, so I’m wondering if it would be best to re-heat in the microwave or the oven. Don’t want it mushy or too dry.
Also, have you tried challah bread?
Thanks so much ?
Hi Sharon, you should be able to reheat in the microwave. Just wrap it in a paper towel to keep it from drying out.
Easy and so delicious! Served this as a part of our daughters bridal shower with warm syrup and powdered sugar. It was a big hit- Thank you for sharing!
You are so welcome Jill! Thanks for stopping by.
Thanksgiving Morning! Wish me luck. I’m putting this dish in the oven to serve at our Family brunch! ?☕?
Enjoy!
Making this recipe for family here from Norway. I will let you know how they like it. It smells really good!
Thank you Kristy! WOW! all the way from Norway, thank you so much for stopping by.
Hi, I’m excited to try this recipe this weekend. I have to bake another recipe at the same time and it calls for 375 degrees…do you think this recipe could handle baking at a higher temp than 350? If so, how long would you suggest baking it for? Also, do you overlap the bread in the baking dish or lay the slices flat? Thank you!
Overlap the bread or lay it flat – it’s a personal preference. Yes you can bake it at a higher temperature, but I’d keep it covered with foil so it doesn’t brown to quickly about check it about 2/3 of the way through.
How many people does one batch serve?
It will easily serve 6 people.
Hello! The recipe and ingredients list are different with the amount of cinnamon for the crumble topping. Used a teaspoon? Thoughts? P
Yes, there was a typo. Sorry about that. The topping should be 1 tablespoon cinnamon with 1/2 cup brown sugar.