BEST French Toast Casserole (overnight) - The Recipe Rebel (2024)

written by Ashley Fehr

5 from 42 votes

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 55 minutes mins

Servings 6 servings

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Last updated on December 14, 2023

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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.

Love a sweet breakfast? Try this Easy Cinnamon Roll Casserole, this Overnight Peach Cobbler French Toast Casserole or this Overnight Apple Crisp French Toast next!

BEST French Toast Casserole (overnight) - The Recipe Rebel (2)

Table of Contents

  • How to make French Toast Casserole:
  • What’s the best bread for French toast?
  • Variations on this French Toast Casserole:
  • What to serve with Baked French Toast:
  • Some of our best French Toast recipes:
  • French Toast Casserole Recipe

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 Oatmealfor those mornings we just can’t get it together, theseMini Frittata Muffinsfor a healthy breakfast or school lunch, and theseHealthy Blueberry Oatmeal Muffinsfor 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 — theseWhole Wheat Pancakesoften make an appearance, andThe BEST Cinnamon Bunsare a favorite always!

BEST French Toast Casserole (overnight) - The Recipe Rebel (3)

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:

  1. Start with your bread — cut it or tear it into small pieces, and throw it into a greased baking dish.
  2. Whisk up your egg mixture, and pour it over top.
  3. Stir up the streusel mixture to throw on top.
  4. 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.
  5. Serve warm or at room temperature — my kids even love the leftovers for lunches!
BEST French Toast Casserole (overnight) - The Recipe Rebel (4)

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!
BEST French Toast Casserole (overnight) - The Recipe Rebel (5)

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 (thisHealthy Strawberry Smoothie recipeand thisPineapple Smoothieare favorites), or fruit salad (thisCreamy Fruit Salad Recipe,Hawaiian Fruit Salad, andChristmas Fruit Saladare 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

BEST French Toast Casserole (overnight) - The Recipe Rebel (6)

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French Toast Casserole

written by Ashley Fehr

5 from 42 votes

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 syrup and crispy cinnamon sugar topping.

BEST French Toast Casserole (overnight) - The Recipe Rebel (8)

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Review

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 55 minutes mins

Cuisine American

Course Breakfast

Servings 6 servings

Calories 416.58cal

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

*You can bake this in a 9×13″ pan if you prefer, but the casserole will be quite thin and will require reduced baking time.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 416.58cal | Carbohydrates: 68.16g | Protein: 16.6g | Fat: 8.21g | Saturated Fat: 2.97g | Cholesterol: 222.56mg | Sodium: 446.64mg | Potassium: 280.35mg | Fiber: 2.13g | Sugar: 29.25g | Vitamin A: 382.68IU | Calcium: 150.23mg | Iron: 3.5mg

Keywords french toast bake, french toast casserole

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BEST French Toast Casserole (overnight) - The Recipe Rebel (2024)

FAQs

Why is my overnight French toast soggy? ›

If you want to get the best results with your overnight French toast, I recommend you let your bread dry out for about 30 minutes before adding it to the custard. This will help prevent your french toast from becoming too soggy and will help it achieve a more even texture.

Is it OK to leave French toast out overnight? ›

You can either leave it out overnight or do what I do and toast it in the oven. Lightly press the bread into the custard to make sure it absorbs evenly. Don't stress if the bread is a bit drier on the top. The golden crust is a part of the experience.

Does French toast taste good the next day? ›

To Make Ahead: The batter can be made 1-2 days ahead of time, depending on the freshness of your ingredients. To Freeze: Allow french toast to cool completely and store in a freezer-safe bag or container for up to 3 months. Rewarm on a skillet, in the toaster, or for a few seconds in the microwave.

How do you reheat French toast overnight? ›

Using a toaster or toaster oven can be an easy and fast way to reheat French toast. To use a toaster oven, place the slices on the oven tray, use parchment paper for less clean-up time and let them cook until crisp. You can also use a regular toaster if the French toast slices aren't too hard and crumbly.

How do you store French toast for the next day? ›

All you have to do is cover the jelly roll pan with plastic wrap so that it won't dry out, and then refrigerate it until you are ready for breakfast the next morning.

What kind of bread is best to use for French toast? ›

For a solid French toast, aim for sturdy bread with a uniform texture and a soft crust. Hearty sandwich bread, brioche, challah, and shokupan (Japanese milk bread) are all great choices. Avoid rustic loaves with thick crusts or large holes in the interior.

How do you add moisture to a casserole? ›

Pro Tip: Avoid Dry Casserole.

The best way to prevent it from drying out is to add a little bit of water, around ¼ cup, to the top of it. Allow the water to seep between the food and the sides of the baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil to seal in the moisture.

How do you keep French bread soft overnight? ›

Set the baguette wrapped in aluminum foil on the counter and try to use it within 1 day. Avoid refrigerating the baguette since the refrigerator will introduce moisture and cause the bread to harden faster.

How do you keep toast crispy overnight? ›

But first, put them in a brown paper bag. The paper bag lets air into the bag, keeping the bread dry and the crust crisp and delicious. Now it's time to throw them back in the plastic. bag they came in, close it up and throw them in the freezer.

Is French toast supposed to be gooey in the middle? ›

There are a couple of common mistakes that can really mess up your french toast. You don't want to turn your griddle heat up too high- the outsides will burn and the inside will be soggy. You don't want to use too much milk. Your batter should be more egg-y than milk-y if you want non-soggy toast.

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