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 French Toast or 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!! 😉
This is day I enjoy. The hubby and kiddos go all out to serve their mama, and I admit – I LOVE it! It’s nice to be catered to every once in awhile, and Mother’s Day is a holiday I’ve come to look forward to. 🙂
One of my favorite recipes to enjoy on this day is French Toast, and more particularly French Toast Bake. It is simple to make and is beyond delicious!! If you’re looking for a great recipe to make for mom or want to pass this recipe off to the hubby so YOU can enjoy it on Mother’s Day, then here ya go.
I think what makes it so good is the sourdough bread… oh, and the butter and the cinnamon and the sugar. 😉 We also like to serve this French Toast Casserole with Homemade Buttermilk Syrup which is our favorite!
How to make French Toast Recipe Video:
Here is the printable recipe:
- 1 loaf sourdough bread (we used Pepperidge Farm loaf)
- 8 eggs
- 2 cups milk
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 TB vanilla
- ½ cup flour
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ½ cup cold butter, cut into pieces
- Cut loaf into cubes and place evenly in a greased 9x13 pan.
- In a bowl, mix together eggs, milk, heavy cream, sugar and vanilla. Pour evenly over bread.
- Cover your pan with Saran Wrap and refrigerate overnight.
- Mix 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 and refrigerate overnight as well.
- Take pan and Ziploc out when ready to bake. Sprinkle crumbly mixture evenly over the bread.
- Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on how soft you like it.
Recipe from Mormon Mavens in the Kitchen.
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Another favorite breakfast dish that is sweet is:
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ENJOY!
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Oh my!! That looks heavenly!! We love having breakfast for dinner, too. Thanks for the yummy recipe!! Pinned 🙂
This looks amazing! We love french toast!
This looks delicious!! 🙂
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Looks amazing! Thanks for sharing!
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I’m so in love with this. I love baked french toast!
Thanks, Dorothy – it is definitely a breakfast favorite. 🙂
Can u use eggnog in place of the milk
Eggnog makes great French toast thanks Chris
Of course!! I think it would be great!
Honestly I can’t even say how many times I make this. I made a trial recipe in anticipation for house guests I had coming. It went well. um… realllllly well. This recipe is so delicious. I make my own authentic sourdough so it was a reallly good. I learned the hard way- you really do have to let the bread get stale or dry it out somehow- that was the only batch that was a little less tasty (it still got eaten). Plus the more dried out it is- the more aromatic when it’s baking. I made it when my house guests were here. AND I made a batch the day before they were leaving (driving back home) and I had this chilled for them to take. FYI- it tastes good cold AND reheated. This is going in my big recipe book as a keeper! Guess I have to keep making my sourdough. 😉 Thanks for such a great recipe!
Andrea – your comment totally made my day! I’m always so thrilled to hear that someone loves a recipe as much as we do. And I’m sure with homemade sourdough it tastes even better!!! So glad it was a hit. 🙂
how many people will this recipe feed?
I’d say between 6-8. 😉
I just found this on Pinterest. I had to tweak it a little for what we hand on hand – stale whole wheat sourdough, no buttermilk (used whole milk), no butter (used 2 tbsp coconut oil), but it was AMAZINGLY delicious!!! Thank you for sharing this recipe!!!!
Glad it still worked without having all the ingredients! It really is super delicious!
This was the best French toast casserole I’ve ever tried. A suggestion tho, take out about 90 minutes before baking instead of putting it in cold. Firms up a bit more. Also let sit about 8-10 minutes before serving!
Thank you, Sandy! Will definitely try that next time I make it. Have a great day!
This sounds great! Do you use the sliced, packaged Pepperidge Farm loaf from the bread aisle? Or is this a whole loaf that you cube? Thanks!
We used the whole loaf. 😉
How many ounces is the loaf of bread? Thanks!
Can I do this with ordinary homemade yeast bread? Would white or wholemeal bread be a preferred choice? I don’t have or know Saran wrap. What can I substitute it with?
You can always use foil. 🙂
Can I use homemade yeast bread? Would white or whole meal be better choice? Also what’s the purpose of the wrap?
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I think homemade yeast bread would work as well, and I think white would be better. We used the wrap to keep it from drying. 😉
I made these yesterday. They were delicious but I made far too much. I added some more eggs about 12, buttermilk, oil and flour and made the nicest food I’ve ever tasted. This is ourcouponss.com thank you for your great sharing, we all loving french toast!
But i got a problem: in your Instructions, “Cover your pan with Saran Wrap and refrigerate overnight.” why should refrigerate it overnight? Thanks.
What size is the loaf of bread?
I made this just the other day to take in to work and it was a huge hit! So easy to make and very yummy.
So happy it turned out for you!! 😀
I made this for brunch. Prepped everything last night and tossed it in the oven 45 minutes before guests arrived. It was delicious! It made the house smell amazing as well. Thank you for sharing.
LOVE to hear that!! Reminds me that I need to make it soon too. Thanks for stopping by, and Merry Christmas!
This French Toast Casserole looks Heavenly! Thanks for posting it…with company coming for Christmas, this will be perfect! =)
Hope you like it and Merry Christmas!!
Can this be made completely ahead of time the night before and put in the fridge? Or will it be too soggy? Looks amazing!
Ok. Nevermind. Read right past the part that said ” refrigerate overnight. ” Duh :p
Looks gorgeous. What type of bread could we use in the UK please zx
Not sure which types of bread you have but any that come in the big loaf should work. 🙂
This looks amazing! I’m making this for my family for Christmas morning, my kids and husband are all fans of french toast. And if everyone loves it this will be our Christmas morning tradition!
Would love to know how it turns out! I hope it’s a hit and a new tradition. 🙂
Has anyone tried prepping this ahead of time more than just overnight? I’m looking to make for Christmas morning. Bbt we will be busy the night before was thinking about making the morning before. Any feedback?
I think the morning before should work. 😉
I came across this recipe on Pinterest and I’m so happy I found it! Yesterday, I attended a Christmas brunch with my run group and my French toast were a huge success!! Everyone asked me for the recipe. I made two pans and by the end if the event there wasn’t a single piece left. I can’t wait to make these French toast for my family in Christmas morning.
*on
Oh, I LOVE to hear the recipe was a hit!! So glad everyone liked it and I hope your family enjoyed it on Christmas too!
This looks amazing! I think this will be our breakfast for Christmas Day!(:
Did you make this for Christmas day? If so, I’d love to hear how they were. 🙂
Does the bread need to be stale?
This looks amazing can I make the recipe without using heavy cream and will it still taste good
I’ve never made it without the heavy cream, so I couldn’t tell you. I did find a Heavy Cream substitute if that helps: http://www.tasteofhome.com/cooking-tips/ask-the-test-kitchen/half-and-half-substitute
I would love to make this for tomorrow morning…I have a package of croissants. Do you think that would work? I have the larger croissants from Costco. If you think it would work about how many should I use?
I made this over the weekend and have some concerns about it. I started cutting away at the loaf and didn’t get 3/4 through before it was too much to fit in the pan. After baking it, the top portion was delicious and amazing but the bottom was very mushy. Do you have any suggestions on how to improve?
I am making this right now and I am having the exact same problem. The top is great, the bottom is super mushy. I’m thinking it was due to the amount of bread. I probably should have only used half the loaf.
Your basic bread pudding with a crunchy cinnamon sugar top.
Made this over the weekend for a family brunch and it was a hit! Super easy to make which was the best part. Will definitely make it again. I used cinnamon raisin bread instead of sourdough and about a 1/4 c less white sugar.
How much does this serve??
What is the size of the loaf you use?
It’s a standard loaf size… I only saw one size of Sourdough from Pepperidge farm at the store. 😉
This was great!! My family definitely loved. I’m not sure why people changed it. It was greats the way it already was. DEFINITELY will be making this again and again. I don’t agree with the comment about the stale bread. You don’t want overly hard French toast, that’s not what French toast is supposed to be. Baked for 50 min and let it sit for a few. Delicious!!!!
Do you have to refrigerate overnight?
Is the French toast casserole a make ahead and freezable til you need it kind of dish???? I need three ideas that I can make ahead and freeze!!!
Do you cover this when baking?
Searching for holiday recipes….the French toast looks like a winner…especially preparing it the night before…with a house full of company…great idea…
DELICIOUS!!!! Next time I will cook for about 8 minutes less, was too well done on corners. Didn’t change a thing and it was a huge Christmas hit!
Cooked the dish 30 minutes longer and the dish was still not fully cooked….
This is delicious!!! A coworker made it for a staff breakfast and everyone went home with the recipe. I could drink the buttermilk syrup!
If I prepared the French toast bake and kept it in refrigerator for 2 nights would it still be as good?
I will have to try a half-size version of this! My guys aren’t big fans of french toast or cinnamon but it’s my favorite!
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Sadly this was not a successful go in this house. I substituted sourdough with cinnamon bread and it was extremely runny. I ended up cooking it for about an hour and a half and still mushy and runny. I recommend if you use this kind of bread to spread ingredients on a cookie sheet then bake. Sad day.
O my god ! This toast is wonderful. I like it because i’m a french.
It is wonderful and so tasty!!! I love the french culture!! Thanks for stopping by!
Will make this for my church father’s day brunch
It’s delicious!! It will be a hit! Thanks!!
is this something I could pre-make and freeze? I have my step-children coming up in a couple weeks to stay for a couple more weeks and I’m trying to make things before hand that I can heat up for them.
I honestly haven’t tried that. I would maybe leave the mixture off & refrigerate that separately & add it before you bake it. Let me know if you freeze it..I’d love to know how it tastes!
This recipe is PHENOMENAL. I cannot thank you enough!! We traditionally have a french toast bake for Christmas mornings and my hubby is the one who makes it– even he said this one beats the snot out of his!! Now we’re eating it pretty much every other weekend…hehehe. No regrets!! Thank you thank you thank you!
LOL!! I’m so glad you all like it! We love anything french toast and this is a favorite! Thanks so much for letting me know!
Did u use fresh sourdough or slightly stale? Did u cover when baking? How long did it bake? I want to make this but reading some people are having bad results
Terry
Wow! This looks to die for! Pinning this to make for this year’s Christmas morning.
It is!! Thanks so much! Hope you love it, like we do!
Hi,
I just made this for a brunch tomorrow. My “crumbles” for the top are not crumply. Its the consistency of cookie dough. Any tips? Maybe add more flour?
Thanks for any help!
This recipe was a hit at our house! Our girls can’t have dairy, so I substituted Coconut milk and coconut cream instead of dairy. I added diced bratwurst for some more flavour and substituted fancy molasses instead of butter in the topping. The whole family loved it! Thank you for the inspiration 😀
I’m so happy to hear that! Those a great substitutions..thanks for sharing those ideas!
Hi! This recipe looks amazing! I’m wanting to try it for a family reunion this weekend. I have one question about the bread. Did you use the pepperidge farm sourdough loaf that is already sliced–like regular bread? Or do you use the crusty sourdough boule? I live in a small town and am limited on my bread choices. But I don’t want a soggy mess 🙂 Thanks!!!
It was just the regular sliced bread 🙂 Hope that helps! Good luck 🙂
This looks SO delicious! We have breakfast for dinner about once every 2 weeks…and this would be a nice change from eggs and hash browns!
I am altering the recipe a bit…because of high fat concerns, I substituted the eggs with egg beaters, and the milk with 2% milk. I decided to use the real heavy cream as it sounded like it was an important ingredient, and it was only 1/2 cup for the entire casserole. Hopefully it will come out ok! I also am not a fan of sourdough bread, so I DO like Challah bread for French toast…and found a whole loaf ( unsliced ) at my grocery store! Hopefully all these changes won’t make too much difference in the outcome!
I’d love to know how it turns out!! Thanks for sharing your changes! Hope you like it!
Holy YUMMYNESS!!! It came out fantastic! I mean, I haven’t made YOUR EXACT version to compare it to…but this was seriously great! My hubby and daughter already inform d me I WILL be making this again!
I just wanted to get back to you and let you know how amazing it was! Thanks again for the great recipe!
I’m so glad 🙂 Thanks so much for letting me know!!!
All recipes looks so good. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks so much!! I’m glad you stopped by!!
Hello,
I am planning to make this over the weekend but have a small question, the instructions says to bake in the oven at 350, does the pan have to covered in foil when in the oven or uncovered?
thank you
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It is uncovered. You only need to cover it when it goes into the fridge overnight. Thanks for giving this recipe a try..hope you enjoy it!!
We mad this on Saturday and it was just delicious!!! Everyone loved it! So easy to prep and make!
Thank you for your reply and thank you for sharing!
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I’m so glad everyone loved it!! Thanks so much for trying it and letting me know!
Hi! What a yummy looking recipe! I’m wanting to serve this at a Sunday morning brunch party this weekend but working with a short time limit on Saturday night (at a wedding) Id like to make it Saturday morning to refrigerate until Sunday morning. Have you ever made it a full day ahead or will the bread just absorb too much?
Thank you!
I haven’t made it that far in advance, but it does need to be refrigerated overnight, so it should be ok. I wish I knew for sure :/ Let us know how it comes out, if you do make it that far in advance. Have fun!
On your french toast cassarole dish, can u serve at warm temperature. Would love to take to a potluck party. Can make at home in a glass dish. But it wont be served for a 1 hr after i get there. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I meant french toast bake sorry.
Can you put foil on it and maybe keep in someone’s oven? I haven’t made it and left it out that long, before serving it. So, I wish I knew if it would be ok? You could bake it and cover it well. Sorry, to not be more help. Hope it turns out!!!
I want to try this recipe but from what I have read in the comments there are concerns about it being soggy on the bottom. Will it be soggy or is there a way around that? Thanks in advance.
It shouldn’t be. Just remember that all ovens are different, so the cooking time may be different. It is soft on the bottom, but shouldn’t be too wet, that you don’t like it!
I would like to make this for my work but I am worried about the soggy bottom. What causes this & how do you fix it.
I’m not really sure how to avoid that. As long as you follow directions, it should come out just fine. Thanks!
Is this something you eat with syrup or without? What’s your preference?
You can or don’t have to. I like to drizzle a little on there, because I love syrup 🙂 Hope that helps and thanks so much for stopping by!
Vanilla bean ice cream.
How many does this serve?
Well, it’s in a 9×13. Depending on how big your scoops are, it could feed anywhere from 12-15 or more, if they’re smaller amounts. Hope that helps! Hope you enjoy it, as much as we do!
I made the Crumb Cake French Toast for a brunch and everyone loved it!! I was afraid it might be too sweet but it was perfect….I agree with you about the sourdough bread. This one will be made again I’m sure! Thank you!
Thanks so much for sharing!! So, glad you all liked it!
What is the severing size
It depends on how big your servings are. It could feed anywhere from 9-15. Hope that helps!! Thanks so much!
Do you leave your sourdough out to get stale or use fresh sourdough bread? Looking forward to trying this Christmas morning!
I used fresh, but you could let it out. I bet that would be great, too. Hope that helps! Thanks so much! Enjoy!!
Does this need to be covered while baking
No it doesn’t 🙂 Hope you like it! Thanks!
Making it xmas morning , thank you for your response , Merry Xmas to you & yours hope we love it
Thank you! How’d you like it?
.Looking forward to making this for Christmas Brunch but I can’t find the heavy cream, I have found heavy whipping cream and half and half so please help Judy
I assumed heavy whipping cream is same as heavy cream! I hope! I have this in my fridge now ready for tomorrow morning!
that’s what I have too!
Sorry to respond so late!! How did the recipe turn out?
Starting to make this now to take to work for Christmas morning. I forgot the recipe said to refrigerate overnight. I was hoping to not have to get up extra early tomorrow morning. 🙁 Does it have to be refrigerated overnight?
Forgot too!! Made it this morning and have cooked for 20 extra minutes. A little soggy in the middle still, maybe try a few minutes longer :/
Sorry, to not have responded sooner! I took some time to be with family..did it turn out? I’ve always refrigerated it overnight, so I wouldn’t know the difference between not doing that. I hope it turned out!!
OMG…. this is sooooo yummy!! I made this for New Years Day morning! I added some fresh ground nutmeg to the topping and to the liquid. Served with real maple syrup, whipping cream, and some pasture raised pork bacon!!! Thank you so much for posting this recipe! I am thinking that I will be making this quite often😋
Oops, I forgot to mention that I also used coconut sugar in place of cane sugar in both liquid and topping!!!
That all sounds wonderful!! I’m so glad you like this recipe…we love it!! Thank you for letting me know!
I made this for Christmas morning a couple of years ago but used brioche. Delicious!
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Sounds yum! Thanks so much for stopping by!
Great recipe! Thank you for taking the time to not only post it but for responding to everyone! I made the recipe exactly as you wrote it and it turned out wonderful….will definitely make again and again.
Oh, you are too kind 🙂 Thank you so much for giving this recipe a try and for letting me know!! I love responding back to everyone 🙂
Can I make the French toast with bread that’s about to go stale?
Sure! I haven’t done that, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t be ok. Hope you like!!
I have a question, I was searching Pintrest for French Toast Bake recipes and came across this one and wondering if Cinnamon Swirl bread could be used instead of the sourdough, Thanks!
I haven’t tried, but it would probably taste great. That bread isn’t as thick as sourdough, so that will be another difference. Let me know what you think! Thank you!
I can only locate sliced Pepperidge Farm Sourdough bread. Where are you finding unsliced?
Thank you!
It is sliced, I just cut into squares 🙂 Hope that helps! The sourdough bread is just thicker than regular sliced bread. Enjoy!!
Have you ever tried making this with gluten free bread, like Schar Artisan? If so, do any adjustments need to be made with the amount of liquid ingredients?
I’m sorry, I haven’t. Has anyone else??
Is it okay leave it in the fridge for 24 hours before cooking?
Yes, it should be fine, since it needs to be in the fridge overnight anyway 🙂 Let me know what you think! Thank you!
I made this with a loaf of Schar gluten free bread. I eliminated the cake mix, cut down the liquid by 1/2 cup, but used half n half. I also added 1/2 sugar in order to compensate for what ever amount of sweetening that the cake mix might’ve added. I used gluten free flour to make the topping…LOL – I guess I really tweaked this recipe, sorry, but it was amazing!! everyone loved it…by the way, Lucky Leaf apple pie filling is naturally gluten free – yippee! ❤
No, I’m glad you found a way to make it gluten free!! Thanks so much for sharing and giving it a try!!
I have no idea why this doesn’t have 5 stars. I have made it twice now using the exact recipe and it is absolutely delicious. Everybody loves it!!!
Thank you so much for sharing that!! I love hearing that!
Does it have to be refrigerated?
I haven’t not refrigerated it, so I’m honestly not sure. Setting overnight helps it to all absorb. You could always try?? I’d love to know. Thanks and good luck!
I made this recipe recently with a few tweaks, and it was fantastic! It’s basically bread pudding. Yum! I used challah instead of sourdough, skim milk instead of whole, and 1/2 c of part skim ricotta instead of cream. It was still super rich and yummy! I also added sliced bananas in the middle. It’s now one of my brunch staples. Thank you for sharing.
So, glad to hear! Thanks for sharing your changes. I’ll need to try adding bananas!
Thanks for the recepie. I made it and it tasted great however the top layer became so dry I could hardly cut it. How should I avoid this? The temprature and bake duration was exactly the same as what u proposed
Thank you! Maybe your oven is hotter than mine. You could try baking it less and see if that helps. Let me know if you still have problems.
The best French toast ever! Great recipe..
I agree with you 🙂 Thank you for giving it a try!
I have had this in the oven almost 2 hours and it just won’t cook???
I am sorry! It shouldn’t have taken that long. Could it be your oven? Did it ever bake?
Made this for Easter service at church and potluck at work and everyone loooooves it! Easy and quick for kids!
So, glad everyone liked it! How could you not 🙂 Thank you for letting me know!
Prepped it the day before Easter and popped it in the oven the morning of. Came out fantastic! Cooked it closer to an hour and 15 mins and was not soggy at all. Thanks for the recipe!
You are so welcome! Thank you for letting me know. So happy that it turned out for you!
This looks amazing! I wanted to make it for dinner. How long would you recommend it to chill in the refrigerator before baking?
I chill it overnight & get it out, right before I bake it. Hope you’ll give it a try 🙂
What kind of flour do you use in this recipe?
All purpose 🙂 Hope you like this recipe! Thank a lot!
My mother-in-law used to make this for Christmas Brunch. She used whole pieces of bread. I think the cubed bread would be much easier to serve. Thank you!
It is easier, to me! Let me know what you think, if you give it a try. Thank you 🙂
Made this for Mother’s Day brunch. It was a huge hit. Delicious. Cut the white sugar by 1/4 cup.
That’s great!! Thanks so much for sharing!
OMG! This was sooooo good! I was a little worried about using sourdough, but it was delicious! So easy too! The topping made it! This will be my new go to for brunch! Thanks so much for the recipe!
Yay!!! SO glad 🙂 Thank you for letting me know!!
I was in the small group of people who couldn’t get it to bake, and it remained soggy until the last few minutes! However- after about 1.5 hours, it finally started turning out. After the suggested 45 mins, I covered it with foil to keep the top from drying out for the remaining time. It was good, the toppings didn’t turn out “crumbly” though. It was more like an icing, which was still good. I usually nail Pinterest recipes, this one had me triple checking to make sure I didn’t mess up! Not sure where I went wrong. It was ok. But still pretty soggy in the middle and hard on top.
Looks like bread pudding