With very little prep work, you can stash a Dump-and-Bake Easy French Toast Casserole in the refrigerator, let it sit overnight, and wake up to a deliciously satisfying breakfast! Perfect for an easy holiday brunch or a lazy Sunday morning, the cinnamon and brown sugar topping on this baked French toast sets it over the top!
Is there anyone who doesn't love French Toast? As far as I can tell, it's a guaranteed crowd-pleaser.
Add a cinnamon and brown sugar streusel on top and bake it in a thick casserole, dust with powdered sugar, garnish with fresh spring berries, and drizzle with maple syrup?!?!?! Lawd, help me.
There's just nothing better!
The best news of all, though? I've managed to keep this about as simple as possible!
You guys love my dump-and-bake dinners, so this is basically the brunch version of a dump-and-bake casserole. With practically no prep work necessary, you just assemble the dish and you're ready to go!
There's no need to dip bread in an egg custard, and there's no need to stand over a griddle flipping individual slices before they burn. Instead, just pull the dish out of the oven in the morning, pop it in the oven, and bake it until your house smells AMAZING. Trust me...it's the best.
So Let's Get To The Details - Tips For Making This Easy French Toast Casserole
To keep this really easy, I use store-bought frozen slices of buttered Texas Toast that I pick up in the freezer section at our local grocery store. Be careful that you don't grab the garlic-flavored Texas Toast -- that would just be GROSS!
If you can't find a plain butter-flavored frozen Texas Toast at your store, then you can just use your favorite thick-cut fresh bread from the bakery section. Any bread that you would choose for a classic French Toast will work here as well (for instance, either day-old brioche or a stale French baguette would be delicious)!
As I said, once you have all of your ingredients together, it's just a matter of whisking some eggs with whole milk and assembling the casserole.
Here's what it looks like before it goes in the oven:
You'll notice that I prepared this particular version in a smaller 8-inch square dish to feed a smaller group. In the recipe below, you will find instructions for a larger casserole dish as well as the modifications for a smaller dish. Pick the option that works best for your family!
You can also see that I cut the bread to fit the dish. It doesn't need to look perfect!
Once the Easy French Toast Casserole comes out of the oven, you will realize just how PERFECT this meal really is!
The part that truly makes it special, however, is the cinnamon brown sugar streusel that forms a perfect crispy crust on top. It's the best contrast to the soft, tender bread inside.
In other words, we're having Bread Pudding for breakfast!????
What Can I Top This Easy French Toast Casserole With?
- The only thing that could possibly make it better is the addition of fresh spring berries on top such as strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries
- Add a dusting of powdered sugar
- Or a drizzle with maple syrup
Go big, or go home, right?!
This decadent (yet easy) French Toast Casserole is perfect for your Easter brunch, for your next quiet Sunday morning at home, or for a weeknight breakfast-for-dinner!
With cinnamon, spice, and everything nice, it's one dish that I know your family will adore!
More easy breakfast casseroles that you might enjoy:
- Sallie's Overnight Easy Breakfast Casserole
- Crock Pot Breakfast Casserole
- Berry Baked Oatmeal
- Crustless Quiche with Spinach
Easy French Toast Casserole
Ingredients
- ½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted
- 12 slices frozen buttered Texas Toast (2 boxes), thawed *
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 7 eggs
- 1 ½ cups whole milk
- Optional, for serving: maple syrup, powdered sugar, and/or fresh fruit
Instructions
- Pour melted butter into a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, stir together brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together vanilla extract, eggs and milk.
- Arrange 6 bread slices in a single layer on the bottom of the buttered baking dish. You can cut the bread, as necessary, to fit the bottom of the dish.
- Sprinkle half of the sugar mixture over top.
- Add another layer of bread slices. Pour egg mixture over the bread, and gently push down on the bread to make sure that they are evenly submerged.
- Sprinkle remaining sugar mixture over top.
- Cover with foil and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or overnight. The longer it sits, the better!
- When ready to bake: Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
- Cover dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until the casserole is set and the top is golden brown.
- Drizzle with maple syrup or dust with powdered sugar just before serving.
Gayle @ Pumpkin 'N Spice
French toast casseroles are my favorite! Love this easy version. Sounds perfect for Easter!
Blair
They're definitely one of my favorites too, Gayle! SO GOOD! 🙂
Jean Dudley
This was a hit for Easter brunch! Used a dense Italian loaf that is made locally and sliced it thick. Will definitely make again. Thank you!
Blair
Hi, Jean! I'm so happy to hear that! Thank you for letting me know. 🙂
Emily Kemp
Wow I've never made a french toast casserole before this looks amazing. Perfect for weekend brunch!
Blair
Thanks, Emily!
Barbara
Super Easy to follow and bake up. I prepared everything and left overnight. yummy...yummy have printed out a copy for my Mom. I have 3 more breakfasts for myself. Thank you for sharing.
Blair
Awesome! So glad that you enjoyed it, Barbara. Thanks for sharing the recipe with your mom, too! 🙂
Sharon Svrcek
was very easy , good flavor . but was a little too soggy and very sweet .
should I bake it longer and how can I make it a little healthier?
Blair
Hi, Sharon! You can bake it longer, and just cover loosely with foil if the top starts to get too brown before the inside is cooked to your liking. If you found it to be too sweet, you could try cutting the sugar mixture in half. It won't have that crusty, thick streusel-like topping, but there will still be a little bit of sweetness and crunch...maybe you would prefer it that way?
Burlene
Kudos to a very good recipe which allowed me to recover from several errors and I still received praise for the dish.
I decided to fix the French toast casserole for a brunch for about 20 people... I made the mistake of fixing it for the first time for this group... I made two batches rather than double the ingredients planning that each 9X13 pan would serve 10. Smaller serving size justified by all the other food at the brunch.
My first problem was that I could not locate frozen buttered Texas toast, (Yes, I found garlic and also cheese, but not plain or buttered.) I decided to use a French baguette for each batch, However, I was concerned that my bread was "too fresh". To "dry it out" I preheated my oven to 170 degrees and turned it off. I had sliced the baguette in slices which were 3/4" to 1" thick and placed them on cookie sheets. I put them into the previously warmed oven for 10 minutes. This dried them out nicely. (I did butter them on both sides before assembling the dish.)
When I started assembling the dish, I saw my next problem. I did not have enough bread to cover most of the bottom of the pan. However, I could fix two layers in each pan with each layer containing 2 rows of 5 slices, so I thought it was ok.
When I added the egg/milk/vanilla mixture, I saw that the problem was greater than I previously anticipated... Because the liquid settled to the bottom, I basically had rivers with 10 very dry islands... Because my bread was dry (and hard), I could not compress it into the liquid... My recovery included: (1) I "flipped" some of the "islands' so the "dry bread" was on the bottom and the soaked bread on top, and, (2). I also mixed up some more liquid using 4 eggs, 3/4 cup of milk and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. I poured half of this into each pan.
I did tell my guests that the recipe was good even though "presentation" was lacking.
Bottom line is that the Baked French Toast was a big success. There were no leftovers. I received many compliments and 4 people asked for the recipe. I did give credit to the Seasoned Mom recipes.
It is a fantastic recipe which allows a cook to recover from his/her errors. I definitely will be fixing this again and looking forward to trying other "dump and bake" recipes.
I would request that you consider changing the phrase: "You can cut the bread, as necessary, to fit the bottom of the dish" to something stronger such as: "You should cut the bread, as necessary, to fit the bottom of the dish. Small gaps are ok."
Thanks for a wonderful recipe.
Blair
I'm so glad that it was a forgiving recipe and that your friends enjoyed it! 🙂
Kerri
Can you clarify some confusion I have.....if you layer the bread and pour the egg mixture on the top layer, how does the bottom layer get any of the egg mixture? The recipe splits the sugar mixture in 1/2 so it covers each piece of bread, but the egg mixture does not?
Thank you!
Blair
Hi, Kerri! It just kind of all soaks down, and as the bread absorbs more liquid, you can gently press the bread down so that it's almost all submerged. Hope that makes sense! If you'd like to pour half of the liquid mixture over the first layer of bread, then repeat with the remaining bread and liquid, that certainly won't hurt. 🙂
Mimi
Hi,
If I make this for only 4 guests, do I use 4 eggs or 3?
Thanks you
Blair
Hi, Mimi! I would use 3 extra large eggs. If you don't have extra large eggs available, then go with 4 small/regular eggs.
Enjoy!