Description
Easy baked french toast casserole, a quick breakfast bake recipe made with French bread. Homemade casserole ready 20 minutes. Make ahead for overnight or bake immediately and serve with your favorite syrup.
Ingredients
- 1 loaf French or other crusty bread (one day old, 14-16 ounces)
- 6 eggs
- 2 cups milk
- 3/4 cup half and half
- 1/2 cup sugar (See Notes)
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
For topping
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 Tablespoons cold butter
Instructions
- Cut bread into cubes or tear into small pieces. Place in a greased 9 x 13-inch baking pan. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, half and half, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. Pour over bread in the pan.
- Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a small bowl combine brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut butter into small pieces and add to flour mixture. With a fork blend butter into mixture until it resembles small crumbs; sprinkle over bread in the pan.
- Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 25-35 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. To check, shake the casserole. If it wiggles a lot it’s not done. Continue to bake until it cooked through completely.
- Serve with warm maple syrup.
Notes
Use crusty bread that is 1 or 2 days old as listed in the ingredients. A soft bread will result in a soft (soggy) casserole.
To crust up a fresh bread loaf: Let the bread sit out for several hours or toast cubed bread in the oven at a low temperature around 200 degrees for approximately 10-15 minutes.
This has turned out well with refrigerating for several hours, overnight or baking immediately.
Feel free to cut back on the amount ofsugar. I have made it successfully by cutting the sugar in half and no one seems to notice. Make it to your preference of taste and sugar intake.
10/14/25 I’ve updated the recipe to add an additional bake time. Please check for doneness before removing from the oven. Place a knife near the center at the end of the bake time. If it comes out gooey, eggy, continue baking for 5-10 minutes longer and check again.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Cuisine: American