French Toast Casserole
This recipe for easy French Toast Casserole is a traditional overnight french toast casserole recipe given to me by my Mom. Recipes from Mom are the best, aren’t they? Click below to watch a short video showing you how to make French Toast Casserole, then scroll to the bottom of the post to print out the recipe and make it at home.
With this French toast casserole, you skip the hassle of standing by the stove and pan-frying each individual slice of French toast.
Instead, you just throw everything into a dish and let the oven do the work! You can even assemble the casserole the night before and bake it the next morning.
You still get all the best parts of a slice of French toast, but with far less effort: soft and custardy middles, cinnamon-infused edges, plus an extra-crunchy toasted topping.
A big tradition in our family on holiday mornings is to make a big brunch. I always put together a menu that is easy (no one wants to do a lot of work on a holiday morning, right?) This Easy French Toast Casserole is perfect for Easter brunch. We also make it often for Christmas morning. And we’ve been known to enjoy it on Thanksgiving morning after a vigorous hike!
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
For this French toast casserole, you are going to need a fairly large loaf of bread – enough to make about 10 cups once cubed. Use any good-quality loaf, like a French loaf, sourdough, ciabatta, or challah. I actually really liked the sourdough bread because the slight sour taste helped balance out the sweetness of everything else.
Leave the crusts on the bread since this adds some good, crunchy texture to the casserole!
Ingredients
Instructions
With this French toast casserole, you skip the hassle of standing by the stove and pan-frying each individual slice of French toast.
Instead, you just throw everything into a dish and let the oven do the work! You can even assemble the casserole the night before and bake it the next morning.
You still get all the best parts of a slice of French toast, but with far less effort: soft and custardy middles, cinnamon-infused edges, plus an extra-crunchy toasted topping.
A big tradition in our family on holiday mornings is to make a big brunch. I always put together a menu that is easy (no one wants to do a lot of work on a holiday morning, right?) This Easy French Toast Casserole is perfect for Easter brunch. We also make it often for Christmas morning. And we’ve been known to enjoy it on Thanksgiving morning after a vigorous hike!
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
For this French toast casserole, you are going to need a fairly large loaf of bread – enough to make about 10 cups once cubed. Use any good-quality loaf, like a French loaf, sourdough, ciabatta, or challah. I actually really liked the sourdough bread because the slight sour taste helped balance out the sweetness of everything else.
Leave the crusts on the bread since this adds some good, crunchy texture to the casserole!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 loaf thick sliced bread about 2-inches thick, (1.4 lb or 650 g loaf)
- 6 large eggs
- 2 cups milk (full fat or 2%)
- 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Icing sugar, to dust
- Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, kiwi fruits, pineapple, bananas or any other fruit to serve.
Instructions
- Lightly grease an oven safe 9"×13" baking dish (22 cm x 33 cm).
- Melt butter in a small pot over low heat. (Alternatively, melt in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave in 15 second increments, stirring in between, until melted.)
- Add 1 cup brown sugar, mixing well to combine. (If on the stove, let simmer for 1 minute to slightly dissolve the sugar.)
- Pour mixture into prepared dish and spread out to evenly coat.
- Beat together eggs, milk and vanilla. Set aside.
- Combine remaining brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a separate bowl. Set aside.
- Arrange bread in a single layer over the butter/sugar mixture in the dish.
- Pour half of the egg wash over bread. Top with half of the brown sugar/cinnamon.
- Arrange remaining bread slices over the top. Pour over remaining egg wash and top with remaining brown sugar/cinnamon. Lightly press bread into the egg wash to ensure slices are evenly soaked.
- Cover tightly with foil and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to soak up the custard mixture, or overnight for the best results
- When ready to bake, take the dish out of the refrigerator 20 minutes before baking (if it has been in overnight) to get the chill out.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Bake, covered, for 30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking for a further 15 minutes.
- Top with icing/powdered sugar. Serve with the syrup from the dish.