French Toast Casserole is one of our family’s favorite breakfast recipes. In fact, we make it for special occasions all year long and ALWAYS on Christmas Day. Thick cubes of bread are soaked in a sweet vanilla custard and topped with a buttery cinnamon crumble. It is simple enough for a weekend breakfast and special enough for holiday breakfast or brunch.
The best part is that you can prepare everything the night before. In the morning, just pop it in the oven and let it bake. It’s not only delicious, but feeds a crowd and is especially perfect for feeding guests in town.
For other breakfast favorites, check out our Sausage breakfast casserole and classic holiday breakfast casserole. And if oyu are looking for something equally as impressive to pair it with, try our Easy Candied Bacon.
Why we think you’ll love it:
- Simple. The easiest make-ahead breakfast for holidays or weekends.
- Customize. Easy to customize with fruit, nuts, or chocolate chips.
- Holiday perfection. Perfect for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any special occasion AND perfect for feeding a crowd or enjoying leftovers later.
- Your house will thank you. Our French Toast Bake smells amazing and looks beautiful with minimal effort.
French Toast Casserole Ingredients
- Bread (1 24-ounce loaf of sourdough, brioche, French bread or challah): The main idea is that you want the bread to be sturdy enough that the bread cubes will hold up after being combined with the egg mixture.
- PRO TIP: For any of these breads, you can slice and toast or let slices sit out for 24 hours to make them more stale and sturdy.
- Eggs (8 large): Create the rich custard and give the casserole structure.
- Milk (2 cups) and heavy cream (½ cup): Add moisture and richness.
- Vanilla extract (1 tablespoon): Adds warm, sweet flavor.
- Sugar (¾ cup): Sweetens the custard perfectly.
Topping
- All-purpose flour (½ cup): Helps create the crumble texture.
- Packed light brown sugar (½ cup): Adds caramel-like sweetness.
- Ground cinnamon (1 teaspoon): Brings warm, cozy flavor.
- Salt (¼ teaspoon): Balances the sweetness.
- Cold unsalted butter (½ cup, cut into pieces): Creates the crumbly, golden topping.
How to Make French Toast Bake
BREAD. Cut bread into 1-inch cubes and scatter evenly in a greased 9-x-13-inch baking dish.
EGG MIXTURE. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, milk, heavy cream, vanilla, and sugar together, then pour evenly over the bread.
CHILL. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
TOPPING. Mix flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Cut butter into this mixture until crumbly. Place the topping in a small resealable plastic bag and refrigerate overnight as well.
BAKE. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F. Unwrap the baking dish and sprinkle the topping evenly over the bread. Bake, uncovered, for 45–60 minutes, depending on how soft you like it. This overnight French toast casserole should be soft on the bottom and crisp on the top.
Serve it with some of our favorites, including: Buttermilk Syrup, Cinnamon Buttermilk Syrup, Whipped Cream and sliced strawberries
Kristyn’s Recipe Tips
- BREAD. Choose sturdy bread such as sourdough, challah, or brioche so it can soak up the custard without getting soggy.
- OVERNIGHT. Soak overnight to let the flavors deepen and the bread fully absorb the custard.
- TOPPING. Keep the topping chilled until you are ready to bake, then sprinkle it over the bread for the best texture.
- TOO SOGGY. If 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.
- 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.
French Toast Casserole Recipe
Video
Ingredients
French Toast
- 1 (24-ounce) 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 the 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 the topping evenly over the bread.
- Bake, uncovered, for 45-60 minutes, depending on how soft you like it.
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.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe FAQ
For a more savory casserole: ham and cheese, chorizo, green chiles, sausage, or crumbled bacon.
For a sweet casserole: thinly sliced apple, orange zest, sliced apricots, sliced pineapple, blueberries, raspberries, and chopped pecans.
You can also swap ingredients, like milk for almond milk, cinnamon for nutmeg and more!
FREEZE. Freeze this easy French toast casserole before or after baking. Wrap the dish with plastic wrap then foil and freeze for up to 2 months. When you’re ready to eat, thaw overnight in the fridge, remove all the wrapping, and bake.
If it has been pre-baked, cook it at 350°F for 20 minutes. If it has not been pre-baked, cook according to the recipe directions.
If you have any leftover baked French toast casserole, cover the pan with plastic or divide it into individual airtight containers. Keep it in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Reheat in the microwave.
This recipe is easy and so good!! I make my own sour dough bread so when I have an abundance, I use the bread and make this recipe. I’ve brought it to work and my colleagues loved it that now they have started making it too.
That’s so great! I am so glad everyone likes it! Thank you so much!!
Made the French Toast Bake for a New Year’s Brunch. Substituted raisin cinnamon bread instead of the sourdough because of availability due to Covid. Was absolutely delish. Would like to try with the sourdough bread as well. Recipe is a keeper.
That is a great option! So happy you like it! Thank you so much!
It was delicious. Exactly what I was looking for. Traditional cinnamon French toast flavors but with delicious crumble on the top!
Happy you found it! Thank you for letting me know!
A great hit for Christmas brunch! Very sweet but so delicious and easy!!
It sure is!! Thank you for trying it 🙂
Amazing!!! Followed the recipe exactly and it turned out perfect.
Yay!! Thank you!
Absolutely DELICIOUS! I made this for Christmas morning breakfast and it was just amazing. I’m used to putting maple syrup French toast casseroles, but this one didn’t need it – it was both sweet enough and moist enough without it. I would consider adding some cinnamon and nutmeg to the custard mixture before adding it to the bread for a little extra spice but it certainly wasn’t “missing” anything without it. We liked it so much that I’m going to make it again for New Years Day breakfast too and I expect it’s going to become a regular around here! Thanks so much!!
Yay!! I love to hear that! Thank you for sharing that!
Delicious! Made it for the 1st time last night for my Friendsgiving Brunch today. Not to sweet. I thought the mixture was too much but it was perfect. Definitely recommend it. For the comment about the topping not being to crumbly, did you let it sit overnight in the fridge with the French toast?
If too soggy she may have not taken the cover off!
I wish my family loved French toast as much as I do! I would eat this every day. I used a local bakery sourdough loaf and it had a lot of crunch from the thick crust, I also let it dry out most of the day. It is a super easy recipe that a french toast lover should try!
More for you 🙂 Thank you for sharing that!
Yay!! I am so glad you tried it! Thank you!
My family loves this recipe!
I am so glad they do!! Thank you!
I just made this for breakfast/ brunch. Soo amazing!
SAME DAY
1) I Heated the oven to 350, cut the bread into pieces and placed them on a cookie sheet to lightly toast it.
2) while preparing the egg mixture I turned the oven down to 170, what this is doing is drying out the bread.
3)I put the bread pieces in the egg mixture and placed it in the freezer for about a hour.
4) cooked it on 350° for 1 hour. No sogginess whatsoever.
We enjoyed every bite!
Thank you
I am so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for sharing what you did!
Ok i made this last night for Christmas brunch. It was easy and everyone raved about it. I am a believer
Glad to hear that! Thank you!