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 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!!!
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 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,
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!
I am having the same problem… how did it turn out for you? I am baking mine tomorrow morning and was hoping to kind of spread the dough-like mixture on top?
Hi! Make sure your butter is cold or the crumble will be a paste instead 😊
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!
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!
It came out great. However, the top was a bit hard. Any suggestions??
Store in a bowl and mix the bread and wet ingredients multiple times. The liquid will be more evenly dispersed.
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
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!
I am so tempted to make this, but I’m afraid of it coming out soggy…
Don’t be 🙂 It shouldn’t be. Hope you’ll give it a try! It really is so good!
Same here. Food texture issues. ?. I want to make it though.
Will make this for my church father’s day brunch
It’s delicious!! It will be a hit! Thanks!!
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!
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!