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 Casserole Recipe
Ingredients
Instructions
- 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.
Video
Recipe from Mormon Mavens in the Kitchen.
Made this recipe with day old bagels (3). Absolutely delicious recipe and a great use of farm fresh eggs.
Thanks for sharing what you did! I haven’t tried it with bagels. Glad to hear it was delicious!!
Absolutely fantastic recipe. Easy to make.
This is so Delish! I added walnuts and my family loved it! We didn’t even need syrup
I’m going to the store to get the ingredients. Does anyone add pecans to this
I have added pecans in the past and it’s delicious!
Baked one hour. I added blueberries. No syrup needed. My son ate two large servings.!! Definitely a keeper recipe.
Hooray!! So glad to hear that. The addition of the blueberries sounds tasty too!
This recipe is so delicious! I used Arteasano. Made it while we were camping at a freinds place. They allthought it was soo good. Will make this more often. Would be gret to have Christmasn morning when all the kids come home.
So glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe! It is a great one for Christmas morning, for sure!
So easy. So flavorful. Added extra vanilla and also used cinnamon sugar.
Yummy!! Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
AMAZING!!!! I make this for our hired help on the ranch. I use farm fresh eggs, and I substitute almond milk and almond flour! They beg for it every time they come to help! It’s such an easy go to! Thank you for the delicious easy recipe! 🙂
Oh how fun! Thanks for sharing. I’m so glad that it’s a hit…. and with those farm fresh eggs too! Ooh yummy!
This is seriously AMAZING!!! I was on a girl’s trip recently, and one of my friends made it for breakfast…I immediately asked for the recipe, it was a hit! I made it tonight to share with my family tomorrow morning. Can’t wait to indulge!
Oh yay!! I’m so glad you have the recipe now. Hope your family enjoyed the recipe too. 🙂
Made this recipe without the cream but substituted French vanilla sugar free Coffee Mate creamer liquid. I halved the vanilla because of the Coffee Mate flavor. I also used a loaf of French bread. Excellent flavor and whole family had seconds.
Mmmm the substitutions sound tasty! So glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe!
Love this recipe so much!!! Made it 3 times! Soooo easy so good
Yay!! I’m so happy to hear that! Glad you love the recipe.
Planning on freezing. Do I add the topping mixture then freeze, or put it on after it’s thawed and ready to bake?
Either way!! It should turn out delicious either way to decide to freeze it. 🙂
Do I freeze with the crumble topping on it or add after I defrost and before baking?
You can do it either way and you should still get a delicious French Toast Bake!
Absolutely fantastic recipe. Easy to make.
Thank you!! So happy to hear you enjoyed it!
Hi there- I want to make this for my postpartum meal prep. Should I prep the casserole as stated in the directions and then put in an aluminum foil pan until I am ready to use? I see that it lasts for 2 months in the freezer, but I am unsure if I should completely prep it before freezing. Thanks for your help!
Oh good luck with the meal prep and congratulations! To freeze, wrap the 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. So yes, you can prep it fully before freezing.
This recipe is amazing. I use French bread.
Thank you!! French bread is a great choice for this recipe. So glad you love it!
I made two of these for my nieces baby shower and it was delicious!! I froze two ziploc bags and took them out the day before and put them in the frig over night. The next morning baked at 350 for one hour and it was perfect. Thank you for a lovely recipe. Everyone should try this recipe, it is so good!!
Thank you so much for your kind words. I love that you were able to make this beforehand and that it was a success for the baby shower!! So glad you enjoyed it!
Okay, no one is going to put baked French toast in the “super healthy” breakfast list but in order to make it a little less unhealthy 😆 I halved the sugar in the egg mix and halved the topping and I’m here to report it was still incredibly delicious and sweet. Huge hit in our house. Thanks for a great recipe!