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.
I’ve made this several times now (including this morning for Easter Brunch) and everyone always loves it. We like to experiment with fun flavors of brioche bread from Aldi. Delish!
I’m so glad you and everyone else loved it! That makes me so happy to hear!
Hello! I’m looking to make this for Easter tomorrow. My in laws will be here around 1. Since you said overnight, what would you recommend in terms of timing for refrigeration so it doesnt get soggy?
Thank you!
You would be fine to make it the night before and let it refrigerate until you are ready to bake it around noon or so the next day. I hope it turned out okay!
This doesn’t specify how big the loaf of sourdough is do you have any suggestions for ounces?
I usually use a 9×5 size loaf that I buy from the store. It has 16 slices in it. I hope this helps!
hi! I’m thinking about making this for our Easter brunch! We are traveling for it and I need to make ahead, would it be best to prep tonight, bake tomorrrow, and then freeze until Sunday or would it be okay just refrigerated for a few days?
Thanks!
You could leave it refrigerated for a couple days or you can freeze it. To freeze: wrap dish with plastic wrap then foil. 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. Hope this helps and that you have a wonderful Easter brunch!
This is our family MUST have for our large extended family Polar Express pajama Christmas white elephant party. It’s such a great easy to put together beforehand dish that is loved by everyone! I don’t do well with gluten or a lot of sugar so I always make one pan with my sourdough start and use coconut palm sugar instead of brown sugar, and only 1/2 cup of and sugar in the egg mixture along with a little nutmeg and rum extract. For the topping to make it gluten free I’ll use gluten free flour or arrowroot powder and 1/2 cup or more chopped pecans. We love to top it off with our warm homemade coconut syrup! 🤤This is such a yummy wonderful recipe! We also use it a lot for baby & bridal shower brunches. But right now I’m thinking I need to do this for Easter Sunday brunch next week!
I’m so glad you and your family like it so much! That makes me so happy to hear! And thank you for sharing your gluten free tips for making this breakfast. I appreciate it!
Last time my French toast casserole was burnt on the bottom. I greases the pan. Any idea why?
I’m not quite sure why it turned out burnt on the bottom. It could be the type of pan you were using. You could try using a lipped cookie sheet instead of a 9×13 baking dish. You will have to adjust the bake time and watch carefully though. I hope this helps! Thanks for trying it!
This dish has been a hit with my family for the last few years at our Christmas brunch! I want to bring this to my upcoming book club brunch but was thinking about splitting it into two 8×8 dishes so I can leave some with my hubby! Do you have any recommendations for adjusting the cooking time or heat?
I’m so glad you and your family like it as much as we do! You can keep the heat the same for baking it in an 8×8 dish but you will need to adjust the baking time. There is no hard and fast rule for calculating how long to bake when changing the size of a pan but I would lessen the baking time by at least 15 minutes (so for this recipe I would check it at the 30 minute mark) and then check for doneness every 5 minutes or so. It’s just one of those things you have to check every few minutes to see when it looks done. Hope this helps!
Hi,
I have a question on the sour dough bread. You mention Brioche, Challah, etc, but are these sour dough types? Would it be best to say I could get my sour dough bread at a Bakery for the denseness needed? It looks awesome! I cannot wait to make it for my grandchildren
Thank you!!!
Brioche is a type of French bread and Challah is a Kosher loaf of braided bread. Both of these breads are more dense so they would work well with this recipe. Getting your sourdough bread at a bakery is a great idea. There are also sourdough loaves I have used from the regular bread aisle in the grocery store that have worked great as well. Hope this helps!
Can this sit in the fridge for closer to 24 hours?
Yes it sure can. Let me know how it turns out!
Hi just confused on the type of bread. You mention “sour dough”, but you give examples of Brioche, Challah, etc. Those are not sour dough, though, right? would it be correct to get sour dough from a Bakery for the denseness needed? It looks awesome! So anxious to try it with my grandchildren!
Thank you!
A keeper. Made Sunday added raisins to bread and pecans in the topping . Leftovers heated up well
Raisins and pecans sound heavenly! Thanks for sharing what you do! So glad you liked it!