This super delicious overnight French Toast Bake recipe takes French toast to a whole new level! Pieces of sourdough bread covered in an egg mixture, topped with cinnamon sugar, and baked to perfection! This easy French toast casserole is the ultimate holiday or weekend breakfast!!
Overnight breakfast casseroles are my favorite thing to make on weekends, or for holiday gatherings and brunches. This french toast bake is by far my most popular, but people also love my Cinnamon Roll French Toast Bake, and for a savory casserole, Breakfast Strata is a winner!
Overnight French Toast Casserole Recipe
I’ve blogged before about my love of breakfast foods. I could eat it any time of the day, and it’s fairly common to come over to the Merkley home on an evening and find us eating Belgian Waffles or Buttermilk Pancakes.
Breakfast recipes are just that great! I feel like we don’t get to eat them often enough in the mornings since we’re usually in a rush, but we occasionally get to enjoy them on the weekends and holidays. One holiday we always have breakfast is on Mother’s Day. And usually I’m not the one that has to bake it!! 😉
One of my favorite recipes to enjoy on this day is French Toast, and more specifically, today’s French Toast Bake. This breakfast bake is simple to make and is beyond delicious!!
This french toast casserole is made from pieces of sourdough bread, covered in an egg mixture, and topped with a buttery cinnamon sugar topping. Talk about DELICIOUS, right?!
What is the best bread for french toast?
This baked french toast casserole recipe calls for sourdough bread, which is my personal favorite (and the only kind I’ve ever used). But if you don’t have sourdough on hand, there are a few other options you could try!
The main idea is that you want the bread to be sturdy enough that it will hold up after being combined with the egg mixture. Thinly sliced or squishy bread (think wonder bread) can fall apart while cooking after being soaked in the egg mixture. It’s also a bonus if it’s available in an uncut loaf, because then you can slice and cube it perfectly. Here are some other options:
- Brioche
- Challah
- Pullman Loaf
- French Bread
If you try any other breads, you’ll have to let me know how it turns out!
I think what makes it so good is the sourdough bread… oh, and the butter and the cinnamon and the sugar. It’s definitely one of our favorite dishes to make for holidays and weekend breakfasts!
How to Make French Toast Bake:
This recipe takes a few steps but is quite simple. To begin, cut your bread or loaf into cubes and place into a greased 9×13 pan.
In a bowl, mix together eggs, milk, heavy cream, sugar and vanilla. Pour evenly over the bread. Cover your pan with cling warp and refrigerate overnight.
Make streusel topping by mixing together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Cut in butter with this mixture until crumbly and place in a Ziploc bag. Refrigerate this mixture overnight as well.
When ready to bake, sprinkle crumbly mixture evenly over bread and bake.
Variations:
For a more savory casserole add: ham and cheese, chorizo, green chile, sausage or crumbled bacon.
For a sweet casserole add: thinly sliced apple, orange zest, sliced apricots, sliced pineapple, blueberries, chopped pecans
TIPS, TRICKS, and FAQ
Why is my french toast bake soggy? This casserole should be soft on the bottom and crisp on the top. If you find your casserole comes out too soggy try some of these tips:
- Soak the bread in a separate bowl: If there’s too much egg in the pan it may be left a little soggy. One way around this is to store your bread mixture overnight in a bowl. In the morning transfer the bread to the baking dish leaving behind the extra liquid.
- Choose the correct bread: choose a dense bread such as Brioche, Challah, Pullman Loaf, or French Bread.
- Use a lipped cookie sheet instead of a 9×13 baking dish. You will have to adjust the bake time and watch carefully.
- Not soaking the bread long enough: You want the egg mixture to seep deep into the bread for a soft custardy center. If the mixture doesn’t have time to soak into the bread it may end up creating a soggy mess.
Can you freeze it? Yes, you can choose to freeze it before or after baking. Wrap dish with plastic wrap then foil. It can keep for up to 2 months in the freezer. When you’re ready to eat thaw overnight in the fridge, remove all the wrapping and bake. If it been prebaked cook at 350 degree F for 20 minutes. If it has not been pre-baked, cook according to recipe directions.
Can french toast casserole be cooked in crock pot? Yes make according to recipe directions. Refrigerate for 6-10 hours in the ceramic crock pot. Place the ceramic pot into the heating base, cover and cook on low for 4 hours or high for 2 hours.
what to serve with french toast bake:
- Homemade Buttermilk Syrup
- Cheesy Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole
- Crescent Roll Sausage Bake
- Copycat Orange Julius
- Cinnamon Buttermilk Syrup
For more french toast recipes, check out:
- Pound Cake French Toast
- Eggnog French Toast
- French Toast Muffins
- Creme Brûlée French Toast
- Cinnamon Roll French Toast Bake
- Pumpkin French Toast Bake
French Toast Bake Recipe
Ingredients
French Toast
- 1 loaf sourdough bread or brioche, challah or French bread
- 8 large eggs
- 2 cups milk
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup sugar
Topping
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup cold unsalted butter cut into pieces
Instructions
- Cut bread into 1-inch cubes and scatter evenly in a greased 9-x-13-inch baking dish.
- In a medium bowl, mix eggs, milk, heavy cream, vanilla and sugar together, then pour evenly over bread.
- Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
- To make the topping, mix flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Cut butter into this mixture until crumbly. Place topping in a small resealable plastic bag and refrigerate overnight as well.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Unwrap the baking dish and sprinkle topping evenly over the bread.
- Bake, uncovered, for 45–60 minutes, depending on how soft you like it.
Video
Notes
Variations:
o For a more savory casserole, add ham and cheese, chorizo, green chilies, sausage or crumbled bacon.
o For a sweet casserole, add thinly sliced apple, orange zest, sliced apricots, sliced
pineapple, blueberries or chopped pecans.
Recipe from Mormon Mavens in the Kitchen.
Everyone raved about this casserole! Some went back for seconds despite having lots of other good to choose from. Turned out perfect – not soggy, not too sweet – just perfection. Recipe was asked for and passed on. Thank you for this delicious dish. Very much appreciated!
This recipe was amazing! And so easy! I used Sara Lee Artesano Cinnamon bread. I took out about 3-4 slices. After baking we added some pecans, a little butter and a drizzle of syrup to kind of candy the pecans. Amazing!
This is DELICIOUS! I made this Christmas morning and it will be one of our new morning traditions! Prepped it the night before and threw it the oven to bake while the kids opened gifts. I used French bread, crunchy crust and all… (our local grocery bakery was out of sourdough)… it worked perfectly and tasted like dessert lol
I doubled this recipe in one dish…actually x2, how long to cook?
This is DELICIOUS! I made this Christmas morning and it will be one of our new morning traditions! Prepped it the night before and threw it the oven to bake while the kids opened gifts. I used French bread, crunchy crust and all… (our local grocery bakery was out of sourdough)… it worked perfectly and tasted like dessert lol
Oh my so yummy.
This is my go-to large brunch meal for a larger crowd or to bring to a potluck. I initially made it to drop off to some friends prior to trying it myself — they absolutely raved about it and told me I needed to make it so I could try it. I’ve now made it at least 5 times, including making some and freezing it ahead of time. If you live in Ontario, Canada, then Farmboy’s Organic Sourdough Boule Bread (450g) works perfectly with this recipe!
Thank you Kristyn for the delicious recipe!
What is the actual serving size? It can’t be 1 gram. By the way, this bake is delicious
When I took it out at 45 min the enter was very raised and jiggled. I put it back in the oven for 15 min. Unfortunately, this made the topping very very hard. I gave it 5 stars because EVERYONE {from the 5 yr old to the 75 yr old} loved it!! Made the night before. This is a keeper!!!!
This is a delicious recipe which I have made several times now. I’d like to know if it can be prepared and left in fridge for two nights prior to baking?
I make this often. Add apple pices, blueberries, raspberries and cream cheese dices all around. Make some whipped cream with a good brandy and this is DELICIOUS!
Easiest best tasting French Toast bake! It was a hit for Christmas Eve and will be our tradition from here out. Followed the recipe as written with sour sour bread and prepared the night before – it was perfection.
I’m making this for the second time–first was for Thanksgiving–and thought it might be helpful to mention to others what my husband discovered.
In the morning, before we bake it, we added the step of stirring the casserole to get all of the bread coated in the egg mixture. THEN we add the topping. It makes it perfect!
OMG, yes thats the first thing that comes to mind when describing this dish to a coworker this morning. I made this dish over the weekend. It was a hit. Everyone went back for seconds. I have saved this to my go to recipes for sure! Thank you for sharing. It was delicious. I did use the sourdough as you suggested…..it was fantastic. I have now shared with 3 coworkers!! Thanks again!! Happy New Year!!!
I love adding fruit. The recipe can be adapted to your creativity level and pantry items. Looking forward to cooking a savory version.
I made this casserole for 8 young men who had hearty appetites. I actually made a double batch. There was bit even a crumb left, and a couple of them even asked for the recipe. Now I am making it again to serve in the morning to my husband’s daughter and her family. It is the first time they have stayed with us and I wanted a special, but easy, breakfast. This is tried and true. Thank you very much for sharing it.
Excellent recipe! Better than any restaurant french toast! I used a leftover loaf of French bread that I had made and it all turned out so divine. My whole family loved it! Thank you for this recipe!
Had some leftover French & sourdough bread so gave this a try. I also tossed in some blueberries and added a pinch of cloves and some grated nutmeg to the topping. SO delicious!! Definitely a keeper. Thanks for this one:)
Make this!!
So glad I tried this recipe – easy to make and delicious- I didn’t have the kind of bread recipe called for so I used King Hawaiian Rolls cubed up and added a few blueberries and pecans I had on hand. Wish I could post a picture of baked casserole – not only did it taste good a picture tells the story
I finally tried this recipe! I made it into 2 baking containers! It was easy & perfect!
Thank you for sharing this recipe!