French Toast Casserole is perfect for prepping the night before and popping in the oven for a weekend or holiday brunch! An overnight French toast bake with cinnamon, vanilla and maple and crispy cinnamon sugar topping.
We are big breakfast lovers here.
It doesn’t matter if it’s breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner — if breakfast is on the table, we’re all in! There was no struggle to eat when this French Toast Casserole was on the table 😉
Some of our favorites for busy mornings?
Slow Cooker Oatmeal for those mornings we just can’t get it together, these Mini Frittata Muffins for a healthy breakfast or school lunch, and these Healthy Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins for when we are running out the door, whatever the time of day.
But we also love sitting down to a relaxed breakfast or lunch on weekends, holidays, or birthdays — these Whole Wheat Pancakes often make an appearance, and The BEST Cinnamon Buns are a favorite always!
Adding to our list of favorites today is this easy French Toast Bake, which I love most because you can prep it completely the night before you need it.
The center is soft and tender like a bread pudding, but I love a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar on mine just for that fun texture!
How to make French Toast Casserole:
- Start with your bread — cut it or tear it into small pieces, and throw it into a greased baking dish.
- Whisk up your egg mixture, and pour it over top.
- Stir up the streusel mixture to throw on top.
- At this point, you can refrigerate to bake the next day (if you’re doing this, you may want to leave the streusel and add it in the morning so it stays crunchy), or you can let it sit for a couple hours and bake right away.
- Serve warm or at room temperature — my kids even love the leftovers for lunches!
What’s the best bread for French toast?
Stale bread is best for French toast because it’s a little drier, and will soak up that egg mixture before baking.
If I don’t have stale bread, I like to toast slices briefly to dry them out before adding to my pan.
In reality, you can use almost any leftover breads or baking you have to make French toast!
Brioche, or Brioche buns, leftover croissants, donuts, pancakes, cinnamon raisin bread would all be amazing, and I’m all for using up leftover bits before they’ve gone bad.
Variations on this French Toast Casserole:
- To make this French Toast Casserole dairy free, substitute the dairy milk for almond or coconut milk and be sure that your bread doesn’t contain dairy.
- You can swap the brown sugar for maple syrup for a maple twist on this French toast bake.
- Add in chocolate chips, swirls of peanut butter, fresh or frozen berries, chopped bananas, nuts, or chunks of cream cheese if you want! This recipe is really an awesome one for adapting and having fun with. Let your mind go wild!
What to serve with Baked French Toast:
This French toast recipe doesn’t need much for side dishes, but I love serving it with smoothies (this Healthy Strawberry Smoothie recipe and this Pineapple Smoothie are favorites), or fruit salad (this Creamy Fruit Salad Recipe, Hawaiian Fruit Salad, and Christmas Fruit Salad are fun ones depending on the season!), to create a more balanced meal.
Coffee is also a must!
Some of our best French Toast recipes:
- Overnight Caramel French Toast
- Baked Overnight Pumpkin French Toast
- Crockpot French Toast Recipe
- Overnight Peanut Butter French Toast Casserole
French Toast Casserole
written by Ashley Fehr
Ingredients
- 1 loaf French bread (450g)
- 8 large eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup maple syrup (or granulated sugar)
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Cinnamon Sugar
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Glaze
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
Instructions
- Lightly grease a 9×9" pan.
- Cut or tear bread into 1" cubes and place in pan — it will be full and that's okay!
- In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, maple syrup, cinnamon and vanilla. Pour over bread in pan, doing your best to evenly distribute the mixture over the bread.
- Using a spatula, press the bread down into the liquid the best you can.
- Cinnamon Sugar: In a small bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle over bread.
- Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Cover (with foil or a lid) and bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes. Remove cover and bake another 15-20 minutes until set in the middle and top is slightly crispy.
- Glaze: stir together powdered sugar and milk and drizzle over French toast, or serve with syrup, fruit, whipped cream or yogurt as desired.
Notes
Nutrition Information
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Kristina C says
This was amazing. I didn’t have French bread, so I crumbled up hot dog buns. Toasted half of them, then followed the recipe. Thanks again!!! Yum! So easy.
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Kristina! So glad you enjoyed it!
Cari says
Hands down. Best French toast casserole around!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Cari!
Toni says
Made this last weekend it is very good!! I have tried several of this type of French toast casserole and this is by far the best I have tried, thanks for the great recipe!!😀
Ashley Fehr says
I’m so happy to hear that!
Teresa says
I had a french bread fail so deciding to make this for the morning! Can’t wait to see if it doesn’t make failure # 2. I know it all eats–LOL
Ashley Fehr says
Haha, thanks Teresa! I hope it’s a success!
Marja says
Hi there! Do you think I could prepare this two days in advance? Or would it be way too soggy? Thanks!
Ashley Fehr says
I think it would work fine!
Angela says
So I have this baking in the oven now, but the recipe in half because it’s just me with two young children. The only thing I forgot to cut in half was the maple syrup 😬 will let you know the result but it smells amazing so far
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Angela! I’m sure it will be fine!
Jill Meyers says
Looking forward to making this Christmas morning. Curious, Has anyone tried with croissants? Not sure if it’s better with a heartier bread.
Ashley Fehr says
Croissants would work great!
R L says
I doubled it since I have a large brood, not a crumb left. Very satisfying with fried eggs and sausage. Super easy to make.
Ashley Fehr says
I’m so glad!
Michelle says
Looks really good and easy. I’m thinking of making it. I’m going to have to triple the recipe. How much longer should I bake it??
Ashley Fehr says
I would use a 9×13″ and an 8×8″ pan and bake for about the same amount of time
Jaime says
Due to a “miscommunication” about NOT eating any of the bread so I could makes this, I had to half the recipe. It came out fantastic!!! It was so delicious and perfectly crunchy on top. I’ll definitely make this again. Planning it for Christmas morning.
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Jaime! We have some of those miscommunications here too 😉