Make mornings easy with this overnight baked French toast casserole. In just 20 minutes you can prep this French toast the night before and bake the next morning.
This is one of the easiest recipes to put together, and makes weekend mornings a little more relaxed because you won’t have to spend any time cooking in the morning.
I created this recipe as a lower sugar spin on other French toast casserole recipes I had seen. We love the oat and streusel topping and find it is perfect when paired with fresh fruit. Any fruit works here – berries, sliced fruits, citrus – just choose your favorite fruit!
The make-ahead simplicity of this recipe is perfect for breakfast, brunch, and even when you have a house full of guests. This recipe was a huge hit at our family beach week a few summers ago.
This casserole can travel too! For our beach week, I volunteered for the first breakfast because I knew that first morning is a little rough with everyone getting settled in after traveling the day before. I figured we might not have had time to do a big grocery run either. I knew I could make this ahead and it would be easy to pop this in the oven first thing in the morning, so that’s just what I did.
To transport it, I mixed everything up and stored in big zip top food storage bags — the casserole was divided between two gallon size bags, and the topping in another smaller bag. This way, I could transport everything in the cooler packed on ice, then transferred to the fridge when we arrived. The following morning, as I heated the oven, I just poured the soaked bread into a prepared pan, topped with the oat topping and popped it in the oven.
HOW TO MAKE FRENCH TOAST CASSEROLE
- It’s good to start with slightly stale bread. If your bread is fresh, set it out for a bit to let the air dry it out. Tear or cut the bread into small cubes no larger than 1 inch.
- Grease or spray a large baking dish (about 9×13 inches). Place the bread into the prepared casserole.
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, cream, vanilla, brown sugar, and spices.
- Pour the egg mixture evenly over the bread. I like to use a fork or spoon to press the bread down into the egg mixture to make sure it soaks up the eggs.
- You can make the oat topping now, or in the morning while the oven heats up.
- Cover the dish and set in the fridge overnight. If you’ve made the oat topping, store this in the fridge overnight as well.
- In the morning remove the dish, and let it sit out while the oven heats up. Make the oat topping if you haven’t done so already.
- Uncover and bake for about 45 minutes to an hour until the center of the casserole is set.
- Let the casserole cool slightly before serving with fresh fruit.
How to Freeze French Toast Casserole
- Slice French toast into individual servings
- Wrap or layer with wax paper
- Store in a larger freezer-safe container or bag
- Remove individual portions and microwave or bake to reheat
Overnight French Toast Casserole
- Prep Time: 20 min
- Cook Time: 45 min
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 8-12 servings 1x
- Category: breakfast
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: casserole
Description
Make mornings easy with this overnight baked French toast casserole recipe. Prep the night before and bake the next morning. Enjoy this oat and streusel topped french toast with fresh fruit, or Greek yogurt.
Ingredients
For the casserole:
1 loaf of bread, cut or torn into small pieces (try bread such as light multigrain, sourdough, or french bread)
8 eggs
2 cups milk
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
For the topping:
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup oats
4 Tbsp cold butter
Fresh Fruit to serve after baking
Instructions
- Grease or spray 9×13 casserole baking dish.
- Add bread cubes to the greased baking dish.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, cream, brown sugar, vanilla, and spices. Whisk to combine.
- Pour egg mixture over bread cubes, making sure bread cubes soak up the mixture by gently poking and stirring with a fork or spoon.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight (or if making the same day, let sit for at least 20 minutes).
- Heat oven to 350F.
- Remove baking dish from the fridge while the oven heats up.
- While oven is heating, make streusel topping by combining cinnamon, salt, oats and butter in a bowl. Working with a pastry cutter, a fork, or your hands, begin cutting the butter into the mixture, until the mixture becomes crumbly.
- Uncover the baking dish and sprinkle the topping over the top of soaked bread cubes.
- Place the baking dish in the heated oven. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Remove from oven and cool slightly before serving with fruit.
Notes
Serve with fresh fruit – your choice! Any fruit is delicious here!
This is also great with Greek yogurt!
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