Overnight French toast casserole

A slice of overnight French toast served on a white plate with fresh berries and a fork alongside

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Overnight French toast casserole is easy to prep ahead and comes out warm, sweet and seriously delicious every time. It’s a great option for the holidays or a group breakfast or brunch.

Prep Time15

Cook Time45

Total Time9

Yield: 8 -10 servings

Ingredients

½ cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 (16 oz.) loaf of French bread, cut in 1-inch thick slices
6 large eggs
1 ½ cups milk (such as skim or 2%)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Instructions

Mix melted butter and brown sugar in a small bowl. Spread in the bottom of a 9x13 glass baking dish.
Place bread slices on top of sugar mixture.
In a small bowl, combine eggs, milk and vanilla and beat with a fork until well mixed. Pour the egg mixture over the bread in the casserole dish. Sprinkle with cinnamon if desired.
Cover and refrigerate overnight.
In the morning, preheat the oven to 350.
Remove the casserole from the refrigerate to let it start to come to room temperature. Uncover and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.
Let sit for at least 5 minutes before cutting and serving.
Serve with powdered sugar or other desired toppings and enjoy!

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Notes

You can prepare this casserole up to 24 hours in advance. Keep covered in the refrigerator until you are preheating your oven, then pull it out and let it start to come to room temperature.

Skim milk or 2% milk will work fine here. An alternative milk, such as soy milk or almond milk, should also be fine.

The cinnamon is optional but dusting the top of the casserole with it adds such warmth - and it looks great too!

The recipe calls for a 9x13 pan, which is traditional, and you’ll use about 8 large slices of the French bread.

However, you could also substitute a similar size round or oval dish (that’s about 3 quarts). Just try to get an even layer of bread over the bottom. (It’s fine to cut some irregular bread shapes to fill in the holes.)

For the bread, a French loaf works great and is sturdy enough to sit overnight. You could also use a sourdough, ciabatta or challah bread. A sandwich bread, however, won't work; it's not sturdy enough to soak overnight without turning to mush.

You can simply slice your bread into 1-inch thick pieces and place those in your casserole dish. This way is super quick and easy to prep. But you can also cube your bread to have smaller pieces throughout the casserole. You’ll want about 1-inch cubes.

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