This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our affiliate policy.
This custardy make-ahead Baked French Toast recipe only gets better as it chills overnight. Come morning, add a cinnamon streusel topping, bake, and pile with fresh berries for a delicious breakfast for six!
I’m a big fan of overnight casseroles, especially for breakfast. They’re a cinch to assemble, yet they’re delicious and showy enough for special occasions: sleepovers, brunches, New Year’s Day, or Christmas morning.
Do you have to make it the night before? No, you can bake it right away if you just can’t wait.
The best part of this Baked French Toast recipe is that everything cooks up at once, and no one has to act as a line cook for a hungry group. My biggest piece of advice? Make a double batch; it’s likely everyone will want seconds.
Table of Contents
Ingredients
Ingredient notes
- Bread: French toast is an ideal way to use up day-old bread, so there’s need to sacrifice your freshest bread. Nearly any style of slice will do; crusty sourdough or French bread, challah, brioche, baguette, sturdy sandwich bread, and cinnamon raisin bread are all great options.
- Vanilla extract: You can make your own vanilla if you want to.
- Heavy whipping cream: This silky dairy product lends amazing richness to the custard. If you don’t have any handy, use half-and-half instead of the combined amount of milk and cream called for in the recipe.
Step-by-step instructions
- Butter the inside of a 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish. Arrange the bread in a single layer inside the dish (a little overlap is perfectly fine).
- In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla and salt. Pour over the bread. Flip the slices once so the custard coats both sides of the bread. Then cover the casserole and refrigerate overnight.
- When it’s time to eat, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Take the casserole out of the refrigerator and gently flip the bread once more time. Then make the streusel topping by mixing the cold butter, flour, cinnamon, and brown sugar together in a bowl. You can use a fork or a pastry cutter to smoosh everything together until it resembles coarse pebbles.
- Sprinkle the topping evenly over the French toast and bake uncovered for 40 to 45 minutes until the custard is set and the topping is golden brown.
- Allow to cool for about 10 minutes after taking it out of the oven. Serve with fresh berries and a dusting of powdered sugar.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: One recipe makes 6 servings. To double, simply repeat the same 6-slice procedure in another 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish.
- Make ahead: Assemble the casserole and let the flavors meld and the bread soften to an ultra luscious consistency in the fridge overnight.
- Storage: Eat immediately, then store the leftovers (as if there will be any!) in the refrigerator to enjoy within 3 days.
- Stale bread works better: Because it’s slightly drier, day-old bread soaks up the egg custard like a pro. Using fresh bread? Slice and dry the bread up to 3 days in advance. Keep covered with a dry kitchen towel on counter.
- Bread pudding: This recipe is basically a breakfast bread pudding, so if you have leftover bread cubes or torn-up chunks of good bread from another recipe that you need to use up, go ahead and use them.
- Texture tip: The consistency of this Baked French Toast is less crisp than its pan-fried cousins. If you’re not a fan of custardy French toast, you may want to consider my Cornflake Crusted French Toast.
- Spice and everything nice: In addition to the cinnamon, feel free to add more flavor boosters. Sprinkle in some freshly-grated nutmeg, orange zest, or raisins, or layer banana slices on top of the French toast before baking.
More day-brightening breakfasts
Breakfast Recipes
Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
Breakfast Recipes
Biscuits and Gravy
Breakfast Recipes
French Toast Sticks
Join Us
HUNGRY FOR MORE? Sign up for our weekly newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for our latest recipes! Tag all your glorious creations #culinaryhill so we can eat vicariously through you.
Baked French Toast
This custardy make-ahead Baked French Toast recipe only gets better as it chills overnight. Come morning, add a cinnamon streusel topping, bake, and pile with fresh berries for a delicious breakfast for six!
Ingredients
For the baked French toast:
- 6 slices bread day old, (about 10 ounces, see note 1)
- 4 large eggs
- 2 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (see note 2)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (see note 3)
For the topping:
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- ¼ cup butter cold
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
For serving:
- 1 ½ cups fresh blueberries or fresh raspberries,sliced fresh strawberries or blackberries
- powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Grease a 13-inch by 9-inch baking dish. Arrange bread slices in a single layer in prepared baking dish. In a large bowl, lightly beat together the eggs, sugar, brown, sugar, vanilla, salt, milk, and whipping cream. Pour egg mixture over bread turning once to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Uncover French toast and flip slices to coat in the egg mixture. Prepare the topping by combining flour, brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle flour mixture over bread and bake uncovered, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean and topping is golden brown, 40-45 minutes.
- Allow French toast to cool for 10 minutes before cutting it. Garnish with berries and dust with confectioners sugar
Recipe Video
Notes
- Bread: French toast is an ideal way to use up day-old bread, so there’s need to sacrifice your freshest bread. Nearly any style of slice will do; crusty sourdough or French bread, challah, brioche, baguette, sturdy sandwich bread, and cinnamon raisin bread are all great options.
- Vanilla extract: You can make your own vanilla if you want to.
- Heavy whipping cream: This silky dairy product lends amazing richness to the custard. If you don’t have any handy, use half-and-half instead of the combined amount of milk and cream called for in the recipe.
- Yield: One recipe makes 6 servings. To double, simply repeat the same 6-slice procedure in another 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish.
- Make ahead: Assemble the casserole and let the flavors meld and the bread soften to an ultra luscious consistency in the fridge overnight.
- Storage: Eat immediately, then store the leftovers (as if there will be any!) in the refrigerator to enjoy within 3 days.
- Stale bread works better: Because it’s slightly drier, day-old bread soaks up the egg custard like a pro. Using fresh bread? Slice and dry the bread up to 3 days in advance. Keep covered with a dry kitchen towel on counter.
- Bread pudding: This recipe is basically a breakfast bread pudding, so if you have leftover bread cubes or torn-up chunks of good bread from another recipe that you need to use up, go ahead and use them.
- Texture tip: The consistency of this Baked French Toast is less crisp than its pan-fried cousins. If you’re not a fan of custardy French toast, you may want to consider my Cornflake Crusted French Toast.
- Spice and everything nice: In addition to the cinnamon, feel free to add more flavor boosters. Sprinkle in some freshly-grated nutmeg, orange zest, or raisins, or layer banana slices on top of the French toast before baking.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 sliceCalories: 383kcalCarbohydrates: 39gProtein: 10gFat: 21gSaturated Fat: 12gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 159mgSodium: 363mgPotassium: 242mgFiber: 2gSugar: 21gVitamin A: 807IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 155mgIron: 2mg
Did you make this recipe?Tag @culinaryhill on Instagram so we can admire your masterpiece! #culinaryhill
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
I made the french toast for Christmas breakfast! My family loved them! Was a great hit! Absolutely wonderful recipe. Thank you for sharing this recipe five stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.