French Toast Casserole
French toast casserole makes the best holiday brunch. Brioche bread is a great choice for the French toast casserole because it’s soft and fluffy and soaks up the sweet egg mixture perfectly. This casserole is flavored with cinnamon throughout and topped with an easy sweet butter syrup.
French toast casserole feature pieces of stale Brioche bread soaked in sweet egg and milk/cream mixture and baked in a casserole dish. Using Brioche makes this casserole softer and fluffy, it’s much less dense than when using a French baguette.
Brioche soaks up the egg mixture much better, giving it a pleasant soft texture. One of my favorite bites is when you get a luscious soft middle peace and a crunchy top piece in one bite.
To take this French toast dish over the top, I add a sweet buttery syrup. It’s smooth, soft, creamy, and compliments French toast beautifully. You can pour half over the top of the whole casserole and save some for adding to individual slices.
Remember, you can also add different flavors to your French toast casserole, but the main idea is simple and comforting.
How To Stale Bread Quickly
Preheat the oven to 200°F. Cut the bread into cubes and spread them on a large rimmed baking sheet in one even layer. If the baking sheet is too small, you may need 2. Place the baking sheet(s) into the oven.
Let them harden for about 1.5–2 hours.
How To Make French Toast Casserole
- Prepare stale bread ahead of time, whether you let it stale for 24 hours or using the fast method.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a casserole dish. You can use a 9×13 casserole dish or a deep 9×9 casserole dish.
- Spread stale bread in the baking dish evenly.
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, heavy whipping cream, vanilla extract, sugar, and cinnamon. Whisk until all smooth and combined evenly.
- Pour egg mixture over the Brioche bread cubes evenly, all over. Press down all over the bread so that it all gets soaked.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes in a 9×13 casserole dish or 50-55 in a 9×9 casserole dish. TIP: If the top is browning too fast, you can cover the top loosely with a sheet of aluminum foil when it starts to brown.
- Sweet Butter Syrup: Melt butter in a small sauce pot over medium-low heat and whisk in powdered sugar. Whisk and bring it to a gentle simmer. Let it gently simmer, stirring from time to time, for a couple of minutes and then whisk in the heavy whipping cream, cinnamon, and nutmeg until combined. Take off heat and stir in vanilla extract.
- Once French toast casserole is baked, pour half of the prepared syrup all over the top and give it a few minutes to soak through.
- Dust with powdered sugar and serve.
How To Tell If French Toast Casserole Is Done?
My first test is always to touch the middle of the pudding and see how jiggly it is. If the middle hasn’t baked through yet, it will be quite jiggly and it might feel a little squishy. If it starts to feel firm and yields when you gently press into it, it is fully cooked. You can also check the internal temperature using an instant digital thermometer in the center of the bread pudding and aim for 170°F-175°F.
How To Store and Reheat?
It’s easy to store leftover casserole in the original baking pan but make sure to cover it air-tight. Store it in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
French toast casserole can be easily reheated in individual pieces, in the microwave. Simply place a piece on the plate and cover with a microwave safe top. Reheat for about a minute, depending on the size of the piece.
If you want to re-heat a large amount, you can do it in the original casserole dish, in the oven. Preheat oven to 325°F and cover the casserole dish with a sheet of aluminum foil, relatively loosely. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until warm inside.
More Breakfast and Brunch Recipes To Try
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French Toast Casserole Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb Brioche loaf
- 10 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Sweet Butter Syrup:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Topping:
- 2 tbsp powdered sugar OPTIONAL
Instructions
How To Stale Bread:
- Cut bread into small, 1-inch cubes and spread the pieces evenly in a large baking sheet and just let them dry for about 24 hours.
- OR
- Preheat oven to 200°F. Cut the bread into cubes. Spread bread cubes on a large rimmed baking sheet and place it into the oven.
- Let them harden for about 1.5–2 hours.
French Toast Casserole:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a casserole dish. You can use a 9×13 casserole dish or a deep 9×9 casserole dish.
- Spread stale bread in the baking dish evenly.
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, heavy whipping cream, vanilla extract, sugar, and cinnamon. Whisk until all smooth and combined evenly.
- Pour egg mixture over the Brioche bread cubes evenly, all over. Press down all over the bread so that it all gets soaked.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes in a 9×13 casserole dish, or about 50 minutes in a 9×9 casserole dish.*PRO TIP: If the top is browning too fast, you can cover the top loosely with a sheet of aluminum foil when it starts to brown.
Sweet Butter Syrup:
- Melt butter in a small sauce pot over medium-low heat.
- Whisk in powdered sugar. Whisk and bring it to a gentle simmer. Let it gently simmer, stirring from time to time, for a couple of minutes.
- Whisk in the heavy whipping cream, cinnamon, and nutmeg until combined. Let it heat through. Take off heat and stir in vanilla extract.
- Once French toast casserole is baked, pour half of the prepared syrup all over the top and give it a few minutes to soak through. (Save the rest for adding to individual slices.)
- Dust with powdered sugar if you wish and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in April 2019.
All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
Delicious enjoyed EVERY bite
I am so happy to hear that!
A good evening refreshment. I’ll serve it with tea so that the kids dip it in and drink/eat. GOod read!
Gabi, That sounds perfect!