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 yummy! I made dairy free version and Used 2- 1lb loaves Sourdough(unsliced)-12 eggs,3&3/4 cups dairy free (ripple brand) 1/2&1/2, 1 cup sugar, 2TBLSPS vanilla and doubled the topping using plant based butter (earth blalnce) Used a 16×10 pyrex dish to refrigerate overnight and bake in. It came out very very good will definitely make again, it was requested that I do.
I got all of the ingredients to try this and then it dawned on me that there will be a person with a cinnamon allergy at the gathering. Do you think leaving out cinnamon will be ok?
Outstanding! My family LOVED it! It’s our new Christmas breakfast tradition!!
We had this for Christmas breakfast today. Wow! It was so good. I will never stand at the griddle flipping bread ever again. BTW I did the soak in a bowl overnight and transferred into the pan in the AM because I was not sure how big a “loaf” was. So maybe it would help others to add how many cups of cubes is in a loaf.
This has just become a new family tradition for Christmas morning. It was delish!
Delicious Xmas morning bkfst! I added fresh berries and used brioche bread. Soaked overnight and then put topping on prior to baking. Everyone loved it! Thank you for sharing.
Merry Christmas 🎄 ❤️ Just came out of the oven! Smells an looks delicious!! Serving this with some bacon. An my family has this wonderful so easy to make breakfast!! Can’t wait to try it! Thanks for the recipe!
Something is off with your topping measurements. It does not come out crumbly, but a thick mass of sugary butter. The butter either needs to be cut in half or the dry ingredients doubled or something. Not sure if anyone’s said something similar, but you might want to double check the amounts or retest. Thanks.
Hi there! I made this several times a few years ago and I am making tmrw for Xmas brunch but I am having holiday brain fart lol
I have a loaf of challah that is about 550 grams or 19.4 oz. Do you think that is too much or will that amount due? Thank you!
I have been making a variation of this for 20 years now. It’s a family favorite for Christmas morning. I basically use the same ingredients, but the topping is made by using softened butter mixed with Brown Sugar then spread on top of the bread mixture before baking. I use 1-2 sticks of butter. Depending on how many people and much bread I use. A co-worker told me this recipe a long time ago and now it’s so popular everywhere. I don’t know why flour is added to the topping. Can you tell me why and what difference it makes? Thank you everyone and Merry Christmas!
I have been a variation of this for 20 years now. It’s a family favorite for Christmas morning. I basically use the same ingredients, but the topping is made by using softened butter mixed with Brown Sugar then spread on top of the bread mixture. I use 1-2 sticks of butter. Depending on how many people and much bread I use. A co-worker told.me this recipe a long time ago and now it’s so popular everywhere. I don’t know why flour is added to the topping. Can you tell me why and what difference it makes? Thank you everyone and Merry Christmas!