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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Diana says
Made this today for my daughters birthday-it was her only food request….the entire thing was gone before I ever tried it. I was told it was the best they ever had! I used a 13X9 baked for 30 with foil and 10 uncovered-it was perfect. Thank you!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Diana! I’m so glad!
Sivan says
If I want to make it about two days in advance can I freeze it? How should I go about that?
Ashley Fehr says
I haven’t tried freezing it, but I imagine it could be frozen after baking
Samantha says
Does the bread need to be dried out at all. Or will a fresh loaf work just fine?
Ashley Fehr says
A couple days old is great if you have it, or you can toast it lightly so that it soaks up the liquid
Melinda says
Have you frozen any leftovers? Do you think it would work?
Ashley Fehr says
I haven’t, but I think it would work all right!
Sophie Heath says
The perfect breakfast! Super easy to make in the morning.
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Sophie!
stephanie says
OMG this french toast casserole looks amazing i’ve always loved french toast and this just put the cherry on the top.
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Stephanie!
Anna says
This is officially my favorite breakfast for the weekends! My whole family devoured it!
Ashley Fehr says
Mine loves it too!
Stephanie says
This was absolutely delicious! My kids have been begging me to make it again since Saturday, so I think I’ll be whipping up another batch soon.
Ashley Fehr says
It’s a hit over here too!
Nellie Tracy says
This is the best recipe for french toast casserole I have ever had! So delicious, my family LOVES it!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Nellie!
Logan Beerman says
If I cut the recipe in half, should the bake time be reduced?
Ashley Fehr says
Only if you cut the recipe in half but use the same size pan, as it would be thinner. If you use a smaller pan, then the bake time would be the same
Tyler says
Do you have a recommendation on the baking time difference in a 9×13 pan?
Ashley Fehr says
If you use this same recipe in a 9×13″ pan, then the cook time should be less, about 30-40 minutes. If you are doubling the recipe it would stay about the same
Kathleen says
What is to your right that on every video you are looking over numerous times?
Ashley Fehr says
Hi Kathleen! I’m not sure what you’re referring to as this recipe does not have a video
Anna says
Can i use a brioche loaf
Ashley Fehr says
Absolutely!
Katie Leigh says
Hello! I have all the ingredients but the French bread! Wil regular bread be ok? Normally, I’d just go out and pick it up, but with Covid-19 I’m only doing large online orders. Thanks!
Ashley Fehr says
Hi Katie! Regular bread will be fine!
Jan says
Have you doubled this for a larger crowd?
Ashley Fehr says
I haven’t, but it would work great in a 9×13″ pan!
Suzy says
Typically you find these casseroles that are for a dozen of people or more, I really love that this is only 6 servings! Just enough to feed our family! Love how simple it is to put together!
Ashley Fehr says
Yes! Perfect for a family breakfast.
Taylor says
We always make this french toast casserole for Christmas morning! Seriously SO delicious…everyone loves it!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Taylor! We love it too!
Nellie Tracy says
LOVE this casserole! My family loves this for Christmas morning
Ashley Fehr says
Mine does too!
Allison says
Delicious! My kids new favorite breakfast. 🙂
Ashley Fehr says
Definitely one of ours too. Thanks!
Melissa says
Wonderful – we also love breakfast and there wasn’t much left after my family got ahold of it! Thank you!!
Ashley Fehr says
It never lasts very long here either!