Description
Enjoy the best French toast casserole recipe with brioche, cinnamon, and maple syrup. Perfect for breakfast, brunch, or make-ahead meals.
Ingredients
Scale
French Toast:
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 1 (8 ounces) loaf of crusty French bread,
- 2 cups milk
- 6 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Topping:
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar, or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon, or to taste
Instructions
Spray a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray. Place the cubed bread into the baking dish, and set aside.
Place the eggs, milk, heavy cream, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt into a large bowl. Whisk together until well combined. Some of the cinnamon may float on top, but that’s okay.
Pour the custard over the bread cubes. Take a large spoon and press the bread into the custard so it starts to soak up. Cover the dish and place it in the fridge to soak for at least 6 hours, or overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl until smooth. Drizzle this mixture all over the top of the casserole.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the tin foil and bake for another 25-30 minutes until the top is golden brown and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
Let cool for 15 minutes. Slice and serve with a dusting of powdered sugar and a drizzle of maple syrup. Feel free to add more of your favorite toppings, too.
Notes
- Crusty French bread is perfect for this recipe, but feel free to use brioche, challah, sourdough, white bread, or Texas toast. Just make sure the amount of bread is the same, that it’s cubed the same way, and that it’s dry.
- You can use all milk or half and half in place of the heavy cream. However, the heavy cream adds more richness.
- Add freshly grated nutmeg to the custard for a festive holiday twist.
- Other topping ideas: whipped cream, fresh berries, apple pie filling, caramel sauce, warm vanilla sauce, preserves, ice cream, or toasted nuts.
- Keep leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Reheat in the oven or microwave.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins . rest time 8 hrs
- Category: Desserts
- Cuisine: french
Nutrition
- Serving Size: per serving
- Calories: 382kcal
- Sugar: 32g
- Sodium: 352mg
- Fat: 17g
- Carbohydrates: 48g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 12g
- Cholesterol: 175mg
Keywords: Baked French toast casserole, Best French toast casserole, Make-ahead breakfast casserole