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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.
If I were to triple this, what would the bake time be in a large catering pan? I’d like to make this for a Christmas party and this sounds AMAZING!
I just need to say if you haven’t added apples, sausage, and bacon to your casserole recipe yet your missing out! It was the best flavor combo I’ve had in a long time. Thank you for your recipe, it’s the first time I’ve tried a french toast bake recipe that didn’t come out soggy in the middle!
Is there somewhere to watch the video, it is not on the page anymore. Please and thank you.
Nevermind, I went onto another browser and was able to see it 🙂
We’ve made this recipe at least 20 times! I make it twice a week it’s our favorite for our large family!!
Yay! I’m so happy to hear this!! So glad this recipe has become a family favorite.
I used two gluten free French bread baguettes and 6 egg. Tasted amazing. However it was very soggy/soft and didn’t harden up. What could have happened? I specifically spooned out the bread mixture from the bowl.
How long did you leave it to soak? 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. I’d say minimum of 4 hours, but overnight is best! Another tip is to use stale bread. So you can leave the bread out for 24 hours to make them stale and more sturdy.
Try leaving your bread on the counter for the day after cutting into cubes. I make my own French bread and had two less than ½ stale loaves I cut into one inch cubes (give or take) and cut it down to 4-5 eggs and 1½c milk since I didn’t have a whole loaf. I left my bread on the counter through the afternoon and while I made supper, occasionally giving them a stir. They were pretty stale by the time I added the liquid but not hard.
If I’m doubling this and cooking in 2 9×13’s, how would you change the bake time?
The bake time would remain the same. If you are using 2 9×13 pans.
I made this for Thanksgiving, but with a twist. I had some egg nog I needed to use so I used it. It was delicious!!
Put this together last night and baked it this morning. Yummy!!! My husband loved it. Once baked, how long will this keep in the fridge? There’s just the 2 of us and I’m wanting to freeze the leftovers but husband says not to and that he’ll eat it daily for breakfast.
So glad you loved it! I’d say it lasts pretty well in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Hi Kristyn! I can’t figure out how to watch the video since I don’t see a link to it, just the word Video.
Can you help? Thanks so much, and I’m loving your recipes!
Yes! If you click on “jump to video” it’ll scroll you to the bottom of the post where the video is. You can also scroll through the page and the video should show up in the post too. Hope that helps!! So glad to hear you are enjoying the recipes!
Unfortunately, that doesn’t work. It only takes me to the word “video” in the post, which is located after step 7 and before Notes.
Strange, it is showing up/playing the video for us in that same location on the page. Perhaps you could try in a different internet browser?
Absolutely wonderful!!! I used a dense loaf of cinnamon bread and 1/2 cup of sugar in the egg mixture instead of 3/4 and it came out amazing!! I will keep this one forever, it was a hit!