Name: Overnight French Toast Bake
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 55 min
Ingredients: 14 oz Brioche loaf; 8 eggs; 3/4 cup whole milk; 1/2 cup brown sugar; 2 tsp vanilla extract; 1 tsp cinnamon; 1/4 tsp nutmeg

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French Toast bake is a perfect weekend and holiday breakfast for the family. It’s made with soft, buttery Brioche bread and sweetened cinnamon egg mixture. So easy to put together all the ingredients the night before and pop it in the oven the next morning. Within 45 minutes, everyone will be enjoying soft, fluffy baked French Toast.

My family absolutely loves French Toast in the morning, almost as much as a French Toast Casserole topped with sweet butter syrup.

FRENCH TOAST BAKE

There is nothing that can beat the soft, sweet French Toast in the morning. It only takes a few minutes to make so even on week days, you can enjoy an amazing breakfast. But, what if you have to cook enough for a big family or a holiday party? For those occasions, I turn to baked French toast so it’s all done at the same time.

To make the baked version, I also like to use Brioche bread because it’s just the best bread for French Toast. I’ve used French baguette and Italian bread before and it is different for sure. The texture and the flavor is different since baguette is a denser, less sweet bread. Brioche is very soft, buttery, and slightly sweet so it’s perfect for a sweet breakfast dish.

It all comes down to the combination of textures. Brioche is great at soaking up the egg mixture and leaving it overnight, incorporates the eggs and bread together perfectly. When it’s baked, there is a combination of the soft egg soaked bread with a crunchy top. That crunchy top is the bomb!

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WHY REFRIGERATE FRENCH TOAST BAKE OVERNIGHT?

I’ve made baked French Toast both ways, refrigerated overnight and baked right away and for this particular style, overnight works better. Letting it sit overnight allows the bread to soak up the egg mixture throughout. The egg mixture is very well incorporated through the whole slice of bread and it bakes evenly.

If you choose to bake it right away, the egg mixture will sink towards the bottom so about half the bread on top will be drier. This is not as big noticeable difference when the bread is cut into small cubes but more noticeable when the bread slices are left whole.

Bread slices in this recipe are left whole and therefore, you want to give them a few hours to soak up the egg mixture.

HOW TO MAKE FRENCH TOAST BAKE

Start the night before.

Slice Brioche loaf into about 3/4 inch thick slices. Grease a 9×13 baking dish generously with butter all over the bottom and up the sides. (You can also use a deep 9×9 if needed, just add about 5-7 extra minutes to bake time.)

Stack and layer the bread slices evenly in the baking dish and have them overlap each other.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla extract, and cinnamon until smooth. Pour the mixture slowly all over the top of bread and in between each slice. Make sure that each slice is evenly coated with egg mixture.

Cover the dish with aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight.

Set the oven to 350° and place the baking dish into the oven right away. Let the oven preheat with the dish inside so the dish heats up gradually.

Bake French Toast covered for 25 minutes. Take off the foil and bake it uncovered for about 20 more minutes.

Sprinkle some powdered sugar on top and serve with some maple syrup. (Try Pumpkin Syrup during the holidays.)

SOME MORE RECIPES TO TRY

Sausage Breakfast Casserole

Lemon Cheesecake French Toast Casserole

Pecan Pie French Toast Casserole

Eggnog French Toast

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