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.
Very easy and delicious. I made it for the 1st time for Christmas breakfast and it was a hit with everyone.
Made this for the first time this morning. Grocery was out of sourdough so I got a big round Italian loaf. Cubed it the day before to dry out a bit. Let it soak overnight in a big bag with the eggs, etc. Super easy this morning pouring into pan and sprinkling topping over. Baked 50 min and it was delicious. Top parts were a little crispy. Most was yummy and custardy.
Easy topping prep: I cut a cold stick of butter into small pieces and froze. Put in my mini food processer w/ other toppings ingred and pulsed.
Thanks for the delicious recipe!
We make this yearly for Christmas Day brunch. We have used Pepperidge Farm sourdough loaf, homemade sourdough loaf, and brioche over the years. ALL are good! We have added eggnog in place of the milk sometimes. Any way you make this is is great.
Holy molee! Made this for Christmas brunch 2021 and was told by the fam this recipe needs to go in the recipe box!
I substituted leftover Belgian waffles for the bread, prepped everything the night before and assembled it the morning. I let it sit with the egg mix 15 mins then in the oven for 40 mins. I did not do the overnight egg soak because I thought it would be too soggy with the waffle substitute, and I was right!
I will try this with brioche bread and sourdough in the future, but I will DEFINITELY be making this again! 5 stars well-earned!
I’m so glad you all enjoyed the recipe!! Thanks for sharing what you did. Sounds delish!
Made this with a loaf of cinnamon raisin brioche bread. Used half and half instead of milk and heavy cream. Coconut sugar instead of white. Sprinkled the flour, sugar, cinnamon over the top, then dotted with pats of butter. It was a hit with my family.
my crumble didn’t turn out as a crumble it’s more like a paste. what did i do wrong ?
Mine too! The butter has to be incorrect but n the ingredient list…that is a LOT of butter for a crumble!
Your butter has to be cold. If it’s too warm it will turn into paste
I love this recipe. It would be helpful if you included approximately how many cups of cubed bread. Sourdough comes in different size loaves and it would also be helpful if I am using a different kind (or kinds) of bread.
Thanks for the feedback!! So glad to hear you enjoy the recipe!
I put my butter in the freezer while I prepare everything else, about 20 minutes or so, and cut with a very sharp knife. Works perfect!
The only thing I can think is perhaps the butter was too soft. You’ll want to make sure to use cold butter.
I make this every year for Christmas morning! My absolute favorite!!
made this with cinnamon brioche bread. Fabulous
A friend made this for us once and it was amazing! One question now that we will make ourselves- Salted or unsalted butter?
I’m not 100% sure, but I would say unsalted butter because it says to use 1/4tsp of salt in the topping portion of the recipe
Yes, I usually use unsalted butter.
This was excellent! Made it for my family this morning. Did not soak overnight, but it was fine. Just reduce milk a little. Added apples. Yum!