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This best-loved French toast casserole is perfect for making ahead of time! It’s perfect for holidays and gatherings and is delicious.
This French toast casserole is by far my most popular, but people also love our Cinnamon Roll French Toast Bake, and for a savory casserole – Sausage Breakfast Casserole.
WE Love it + You Will too!
We love breakfast foods. I could eat it any time of the day, and it’s fairly common to come over to the Merkley home on an evening and find us eating Belgian Waffles or this French Toast Casserole, which we LOVE.
Here is why you’ll love it too:
- CASSEROLE OF A CLASSIC. Everyone loves French Toast and this casserole version is even better, especially served with Buttermilk Syrup.
- MAKE AHEAD. This recipe is best when made the day before but also makes crazy days even more simple.
- HOLIDAY + SPECIAL DAY FAVORITE. It’s a great recipe for special days but since it’s made ahead of time, it makes cooking for holidays (like Christmas) so much easier!
It’s also great for brunch and baby showers. 😉
Best Bread TO USE?
This oven French toast bake calls for sourdough bread, which is my personal favorite.
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.
Here are some other options:
- Brioche
- Challah
- Pullman Loaf
- French Bread
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.
How to make French Toast Casserole
This baked French toast takes a few steps but is quite simple.
- 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.
SeRVING TIP
This French toast bake is delicious when drizzled in maple syrup, but here are a few more tasty ideas.
- Buttermilk Syrup
- Cinnamon Buttermilk Syrup
- Whipped Cream and sliced strawberries
French Toast Bake Recipe Tips
This baked French toast casserole should be soft on the bottom and crisp on the top.
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.
Variations
Change up your French toast casserole recipe with these delicious twists:
- 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!
Be sure to also check out our: Cream Cheese French Toast Casserole, Blueberry French Toast Casserole and our Pumpkin French Toast Casserole.
How TO Store French Toast Casserole
- 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 prebaked, cook it at 350°F for 20 minutes. If it has not been pre-baked, cook according to the recipe directions.
- STORE. 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.
More French Toast Recipes:
French Toast Casserole Recipe
Ingredients
French Toast
- 1 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.
Video
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 from Mormon Mavens in the Kitchen.
This was such a DELICIOUS recipe! I didn’t follow it 100%, but it goes to the recipe’s versatility with whatever you have in your fridge. I used a loaf of Trader Joe’s Pumpkin brioche. I dried it in the oven before adding the custard mix. I didn’t have milk, but I had half-and-half and cashew milk. I used a cup of each. I mixed it in a bowl and stored it in the fridge overnight uncovered. I worried that the dryer bits on top were mixed with the soggy bits, but it came out nice and crusty after I baked it for 55 minutes. The only other thing I didn’t do was add the crumbly topping because I didn’t want the extra sugar since I was going to add maple syrup. I will absolutely make this again. I’ll just halve the recipe because it’s only me eating it.
Mmmm I bet it was so tasty with the Pumpkin brioche. Thanks for sharing what you did/used and for giving the recipe a try!! Glad to hear it was a hit!
Excited to try this as it sounds delicious! Will it work if I don’t soak for at least 4 hours? I was searching the comments, but don’t see anyone that has tried this. Have you ever tried only 2 hours for example?
You could try! The only thing is if the mixture doesn’t have time to soak into the bread it may end up creating a soggy mess. So, I would say at least 2 hours. You’ll have to let us know how it turns out!!
Making this for our October fest/Fall get together with friends and family camping out at our home…soo excited, always wanted to try a French toast casserole and with all the rave reviews we are using this recipe…will update afterwards on results!! Has anyone ever added bacon bits? For the savory?
Can’t wait to hear how it turned out. The bacon bits in it are fantastic, if you like that maple/bacon flavor combo!
We LOVED this recipe!!
Has anyone put chopped nuts in the crumble topping? I’m going to try pecans!
That will be amazing!!
I made a trial run of this recipe to see if I wanted to include it on a brunch buffet we’re hosting in a few weeks. I used Costco’s seasonal Cinnamon Raisin boule bread 😋 which gave a wonderful texture to the finished dish. I only used 6 eggs (I saw reviews for similar recipes that commented on a distracting eggy flavor) and used a combo of 1 c of coconut milk and 1 c of dairy milk for an added flavor boost – we thought it came out great. Agree with another reviewer that mixing the custard and bread cubes several times before refrigerating and then again before baking leads to zero sogginess. Final test will be how does it taste at room temp …
Thanks for sharing what you did. The flavors sounded exciting and delicious!
Can I cook this in the crockpot?
Yes you can! Crockpot instructions are included in the recipe post.
Great recipe!
4 stars only due to the Blog having so many ads that it makes it difficult to get to the recipe. Continually jumps the page around.
Thanks for the feedback. The ads allow us to keep all of our content on the site free! Glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe!
My secret to avoid all the jumping around due to the ads is click on the jump to recipe button and once there, click on the print recipe option. That will take you to a new screen of no ads, just the recipe. So much easier to deal with!!!
Really good. Like that its a casserole make overnight. Read through all tips and decided to make as is. It was NOT overly soggy , but it was too soggy for us on bottom. There was not leftover marinade. Wondering how best to fix this. I will try cooking 50-60 m instead of 40. Hope it works.
One thing- I turned the bread in the milk marinade before leaving overnight because not all were coated. I highly recommend that.
Hope we fix the soggy parts. We plan to make again for Christmas.
We have lots of tips in the post to help ensure it doesn’t turn out soggy. Hopefully some of those can help too as you try it again! Thanks for giving the recipe a try.
This recipe is hands down delicious. I followed the recipe from start to finish exactly and it came out so well I’m ready to make a gluten free version with coconut or date sugar.
Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe.