French Toast Casserole

After a lot of testing, this is the French toast casserole I keep coming back to. It’s soft, custardy (but never mushy!) and topped with a caramelized brown sugar streusel topping that tastes like it came straight from a bakery. Prep it the night before or bake it right away, this is a guaranteed crowd pleaser! Recipe includes a how-to video!

Same Day or Overnight French Toast Casserole

French toast casserole is my go-to make-ahead breakfast for holidays and busy mornings. It’s soft and custardy (never soggy!), richly flavored, and topped with a buttery brown sugar cinnamon streusel for insanely flavorful results. You can prep it in advance to bake the next day, or make it the same day, it’s just as good either way. This is one of my favorite indulgent breakfasts (right next to my cinnamon rolls and buttermilk pancakes).

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Key ingredients that just work. A touch of maple syrup in the custard sets my recipe apart from so many others. Combined with the cinnamon sugar, it adds an irresistible flavor without making the casserole too rich.
• Custardy, but never soggy. The right technique coupled with the right bread keeps the texture soft, rich, and flavorful, but without collapsing into mush.
• Caramelized, buttery, brown sugar streusel topping . Similar to my coffee cake and crumb cake topping (and the topping on my French toast cookies!), though the preparation is slightly different. It’s flavorful, perfectly sweet, and so easy to prep.
• Crowd pleasing and make-ahead friendly. This recipe feeds a large group and pairs perfectly with bacon, fruit, and scrambled eggs. You can make it the night before so you just have to pop it in the oven in the morning, making things nice and easy.

Ingredients

Think bread pudding, but turned breakfast. You’ll notice quite a few shared ingredients between the two, as they’re quite similar recipes by nature. Let’s review:

• Maple syrup. I’ve tried this recipe with both imitation and pure maple syrup and either will work just fine. This isn’t a traditional ingredient for this dish, but adding this to the custard just makes sense… it adds incredible depth and makes the flavor unforgettable.
• Challah bread. You can find this in the bakery section of your grocery store. If you can’t find challah bread, brioche is the next best thing (it’s also great for brioche French toast!). Ideally your bread will be a bit stale; if yours is fresh, check the recipe notes below for instructions on how to dry it out quickly so you don’t en dup with a soggy casserole.
• Vanilla and cinnamon. A hefty pour of vanilla adds a TON of flavor to this casserole. Bonus points if you use homemade vanilla extract! And we can’t forget cinnamon–an essential French toast ingredient.
• Butter. You’ll want this melted for the custard, but nice and cold for the crumb topping. I will sometimes pop my butter in the freezer like I do when I make homemade biscuits so I know it’s cold enough.
• Light brown sugar. This ingredient adds depth to the streusel topping.

This is just an overview of the ingredients I used. For the full recipe, please scroll down to the bottom of the post!

SAM’S TIP: While I usually recommend you bring eggs to room temperature, that’s not necessary with this recipe.

How to Make French Toast Casserole

1. Step 1: Soak the bread. Cut into 1″ cubes, place in a buttered dish and pour your custard evenly overtop (stir gently, so all the bread is coated!). Let this sit for 15-20 minutes or until the bread has absorbed the custard. While it sits, prepare your crumb topping.

2. Step 2: Make the crumb topping. I like to prepare mine in a food processor because it takes only a second to do so, but it can also be made with a pastry cutter or just a fork. Simply combine the dry ingredients, then pulse/cut in the butter until coarse crumbs form.

3. Step 3: Assemble. If you are baking right away, evenly sprinkle the crumb topping over the soaked bread mixture (make sure it has sat for at least 15-20 minutes first though!). Otherwise, transfer the crumb topping to an airtight container, cover the casserole dish, and place both in the fridge until ready to bake.

4. Step 4: Bake and enjoy! When ready to bake (either right away or the next day!), place your casserole dish on a foil lined pan and bake until evenly browned and mostly set, about 50 minutes.

SAM’S TIP: If you use a food processor for the streusel, take care that you don’t over-process it. You want it to resemble dry, sandy crumbs with just a few small clumps. Process everything for too long and you’ll end up with a big clump of butter and brown sugar that won’t lend itself to sprinkling.

Frequently Asked Questions

Favorite French Toast Toppings

Need another make-ahead breakfast? My breakfast casserole is another big hit during the holidays!

Enjoy!

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French Toast Casserole

My French toast casserole recipe includes a caramelized brown sugar cinnamon topping for insanely flavorful results. You won't even need a drizzle of maple syrup on top! Don't miss the make-ahead instructions–perfect for holiday brunches.

Recipe includes a how-to video!

4.94 from 15 votes

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Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 9 servings

Calories: 407kcal

Author: Sam Merritt

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 14oz loaf (400 g) Challah bread, cut into 1" cubes see note. for best results use day-old bread if making this casserole overnight
• ▢ 4 Tablespoons (57 g) unsalted butter melted
• ▢ ¼ cup (60 ml) maple syrup pure or imitation syrup works here
• ▢ 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ▢ ¾ teaspoon table salt
• ▢ ¼ cup (50 g) sugar
• ▢ ¼ cup (50 g) light brown sugar firmly packed
• ▢ 7 large eggs
• ▢ 2 cups (475 ml) whole milk
• ▢ ½ cup (120 ml) heavy cream

TOPPING

• ▢ ⅓ cup (42 g) all-purpose flour
• ▢ ½ cup (100 g) light brown sugar firmly packed
• ▢ 2 ¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ▢ 8 Tablespoons (113 g) salted butter cold

Recommended Equipment

• ▢
  13×9 baking dish (see note)
• ▢
  Mixing bowls

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C) and generously grease a 9×13 casserole dish (see note) with butter.
• Evenly layer Challah pieces into a deep 9×13 casserole dish. Set aside.
  1 14oz loaf (400 g) Challah bread, cut into 1" cubes
• Combine melted butter, maple syrup, vanilla extract, ground cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl and whisk until well-combined.
  4 Tablespoons (57 g) unsalted butter, ¼ cup (60 ml) maple syrup, 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract, 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, ¾ teaspoon table salt
• Add sugars and eggs and whisk well.
  ¼ cup (50 g) sugar, ¼ cup (50 g) light brown sugar, 7 large eggs
• Add milk and heavy cream and whisk until all ingredients are well-combined.
  2 cups (475 ml) whole milk, ½ cup (120 ml) heavy cream
• Pour mixture evenly over Challah pieces in casserole dish and use a spatula to stir gently so all pieces of bread are able to absorb the custard. Set aside while you prepare your topping.

TOPPING

• Combine flour, brown sugar, and ground cinnamon in the canister of a food processor and pulse briefly to combine (if you don’t have a food processor, just stir together in a medium-sized bowl)
  ⅓ cup (42 g) all-purpose flour, ½ cup (100 g) light brown sugar, 2 ¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• Scatter butter pieces evenly over flour mixture and pulse until sandy crumbs form (if no food processor — use a pastry cutter or fork and knife to cut butter into mixture until coarse crumbs form).
  8 Tablespoons (113 g) salted butter

Assemble & Bake

• Let the casserole sit for 15-20 minutes or longer, until the bread has absorbed most of the custard. (See note if you would like to store the casserole to bake another day).
• Sprinkle casserole evenly with topping then place on a foil-lined baking sheet and transfer to center rack of 375°F (190°C) preheated oven. Bake for 50 minutes, until browned and mostly set, but center is still slightly jiggly when jostled.
• Serve warm, topped with additional maple syrup or whipped cream, if desired.

Notes

Bread options

While this casserole can alternatively be made with French or Italian bread, I’ve found that Challah bread creates a casserole with the best taste (by far!). 

How to make fresh bread “stale” (so you don’t end up with a soggy casserole!). 

If I have a fresh loaf of bread I’d like to use, I’ll usually just leave it out on my counter, unwrapped, for a day or two, before using it, or I’ll cut it into pieces and leave it uncovered for several hours. If I don’t have that kind of time to spare, I’ll expedite the process with my oven. To do so, preheat your oven to 300F (150C), cut your bread as indicated, and scatter it over a baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, stirring halfway through. You don’t want to toast it, you just want it to feel firm on the outside. Let it cool before using in the recipe.

Baking dish

The bread puffs quite a bit in the oven. Because of this I recommend using a deep casserole dish and make sure you place a foil-lined pan beneath the casserole while baking, just in case of any spills (will make clean-up so much easier!).

How to make in advance

After pouring the egg mixture over the bread, cover your casserole dish tightly with plastic wrap or foil and place your crumble topping in a separate airtight container. Place both in the refrigerator.

The next morning, remove your casserole dish and topping from the refrigerator. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C), uncover casserole dish, sprinkle topping evenly overtop (you may need to give the container a good shake if the topping has settled and started to stick together), and let dish sit while the oven fully preheats. Once preheated, bake for 50 minutes, allow to cool for several minutes before serving. Serve topped with maple syrup, if desired.

Storing

Cover tightly with foil or plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Warm before enjoying leftovers. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 407kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 208mg | Sodium: 374mg | Potassium: 195mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 32g | Vitamin A: 961IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 131mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.

Tried this recipe? Show me on Instagram!Mention @SugarSpun_Sam or tag #sugarspunrun!

I originally published this recipe in July 2022, I’ve updated the post to include more helpful information, new photos, and a new video. Recipe includes additional notes but is the same.