Overnight French Toast Casserole is a crowd-pleasing, make-ahead breakfast recipe that everyone loves! Made with a maple custard and light vanilla glaze, this French Toast Casserole recipe delivers the classic flavor you know and love of French Toast in casserole form.
When it comes to entertaining guests for breakfast or brunch, I love turning to recipes that can be made in advance. Recipes like Overnight Cinnamon Rolls, Hashbrown Brown Breakfast Casserole, Overnight Breakfast Strata, and this French Toast Casserole all can be assembled ahead of time, meaning you can still enjoy your sleep and present a hearty, delicious spread that your guests will rave about.
And this French Toast Casserole is a show-stopping brunch recipe that is guaranteed to wow your guests!
Reasons To Love This French Toast Casserole
- Amazing Flavor & Texture. Filled with warming spices and rich maple syrup, this French Toast Casserole is perfectly sweet and bakes up fluffy in the center and a bit crispy on the edges. Finished with a sweet vanilla glaze, this is a simple breakfast recipe for a crowd that everyone loves!
- 15 Minutes of Hands-On Prep. It couldn't be easier to whip up this French Toast Bake. And when it comes to entertaining, easy recipes are best!
- Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole. This recipe for Overnight French Toast Casserole is best if the bread is given time to soak up the egg custard, meaning not only is possible to prepare this recipe in advance, but it will turn out better. Perfect for entertaining or a holiday breakfast.
- Crowd-Pleasing Recipe. Only crumbs remain every single time I serve this French Toast Casserole and people beg me for the recipe, that is how you know it is a winner! It has also been a favorite with my readers as well for nearly 10 years!
- Easily Made Gluten-Free and/or Dairy-Free. With simple, tested modifications, you can easily make this Overnight French Toast Casserole dairy-free and/or gluten-free.
Notes on Ingredients Needed
- Bread: Stale or day-old bread is best so that it can absorb the custard. Use any type of bread you like such as sourdough bread, whole wheat bread, french bread, Italian bread, challah, or cinnamon raisin bread. Keep in mind that using challah bread will result in a richer casserole, as the bread itself is quite sweet and eggy.
- Maple Syrup: Instead of using brown sugar or granulated sugar, I opt to use maple syrup to sweeten this French toast casserole. It adds warmth and flavor to the recipe, along with sweetening it.
- Eggs: Eggs will help the casserole to set up and give this casserole the flavors of classic French Toast.
- Half and Half: Half and half will make a rich, creamy custard. In place of half and half, feel free to use heavy cream or milk.
- For Flavor: To flavor the casserole, I recommend a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla extract which will pair well with the flavor of the maple syrup. A pinch of salt will enhance the flavor of the French Toast Casserole, not make it taste salty.
- Vanilla Glaze: While totally optional, a simple combination of powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and milk makes a deliciously sweet glaze that finishes off the French toast casserole perfectly. In place of the glaze, feel free to serve with maple syrup.
Recipe/Dietary Modifications
- Dairy-Free French Toast Casserole: To make Dairy-Free French Toast Casserole, use almond milk or coconut milk in place of cow's milk. The coconut milk will produce a richer custard, but it does have notes of coconut in the final product. Also, be sure to use coconut oil or a non-dairy butter substitute for greasing the pan.
- Gluten-Free French Toast Casserole: You can make Gluten-Free French Toast Casserole by simply using your favorite gluten-free bread.
How to Make Overnight French Toast Casserole
The following tips are provided to help you achieve perfect results. You will find the detailed instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Prepare Bread. Cube the bread into 1-inch cubes and place them into buttered baking dish.
- Prepare Egg Custard. In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs, whisk together eggs, maple syrup, milk, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg until well combined.
- Assemble Casserole. Pour the egg mixture over the bread and use a spatula or your hands to gently submerge the bread into the egg custard.
- Refrigerate. Cover the casserole tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, preferably overnight.
- Bake. When ready to bake, unwrap the casserole and let it come to room temperature while the oven preheats. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake until set.
- Glaze. While the French Toast is baking, whisk the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla together. Drizzle that mixture over the baked casserole before serving.
Tips to Remember
The following tips are provided to help you make the best French toast casserole.
- Prepare in Advance: French Toast Casserole is best when given time for the bread to soak up the delicious custard, hence why overnight preparation is best. If you skip the step of letting your bread sit in the custard overnight, the casserole will not be as fluffy.
- Use Dried-Out Bread. Ideally, any bread you choose to use needs to be stale or dried out to absorb the custard. If your bread is not fully dried out, you may end up with a soggy casserole, therefore it is crucial to dry out your bread properly before soaking the bread in the egg custard. You can either let cubed bread dry out overnight at room temperature or speed up the process by baking the bread in a 300-degree oven for about 15-20 minutes.
- Submerge the Bread in the Egg Custard. After pouring the egg and cream mixture over the dried-out bread, use your hands to gently push down the bread cubes into the custard to fully submerge. That will help ensure that the bread absorbs the casserole.
- Take the Chill Off the Casserole Before Baking. In the morning, remove the casserole from the refrigerator while the oven is preheating. This will help to take the chill off your casserole and prevent your casserole dish from cracking due to extreme temperature changes.
Recipe FAQs
For best results, I don't recommend it, as the bread will not have time to absorb the egg custard. However, if you find yourself in a bind, make the casserole as directed. After pouring custard over bread, use your hands to push the bread down, fully submerging in custard. Let sit for 15 minutes, push the bread down again, and then bake as for 35 minutes instead of 45 minutes at 350 degrees F.
Chances are you did not use enough bread or your bread was too fresh (soft) to absorb the egg custard. To prevent this from happening, use dried-out bread. In the morning, be sure that most of the custard has been absorbed by the bread before baking. If you have more than ½ cup liquid not absorbed by the bread, you may want to drain off a bit of that custard before baking.
Yes! If your bread is not fully dried out, you will likely end up with a soggy casserole. You can either let cubed bread dry out overnight at room temperature or speed up the process by baking the bread in a 300-degree oven for about 15-20 minutes.
Absolutely! I recommend using the same streusel recipe I use for Blueberry Coffee Cake and Sour Cream Coffee Cake. Simply combine ½ cup light brown sugar, ¾ cup all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ⅛ teaspoon salt, with ½ cup cold. cubed unsalted butter until it resembles a crumble. Sprinkle over the casserole right before baking. Feel free to double the streusel for streusel overload!
Storage & Reheating Instructions
- Refrigerate: Leftover French Toast Casserole can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- Reheat: Reheat individual servings on a heat-safe plate in the microwave in 30-second intervals to warm through. Alternatively, cover the casserole with foil and heat in a 300-degree F oven until just warmed through.
More Favorite Brunch Recipes
- Asparagus Frittata
- Quiche Lorraine
- Sour Cream Coffee Cake
- Easy Cheese Danish
- Easy Egg Casserole with Green Chiles
- Potato and Leek Frittata
- Honey Lime Fruit Salad
If you tried this Overnight French Toast Casserole, I would love for you to leave a comment and review below.
Easy Overnight French Toast Casserole Recipe
Ingredients
For the French Toast Casserole
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 16 ounces Italian or French bread cut into 1-inch cubes (this is about 8-10 loosely packed cups)
- 2 cups half and half or milk or cream
- 6 large eggs
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Vanilla Glaze (optional)
- 1 cup powdered sugar sifted
- 2 tablespoons milk or cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- dash of salt
Instructions
- Cube the bread into 1-inch cubes. Spread the bread cubes out onto a large sheet pan and allow the bread to dry out at room temperature for 4-12 hours. If time does not permit, dry the bread quickly in a 300-degree F oven for 15-20 minutes.
- Grease a 9x13 baking dish with 1 tablespoon of butter and place the cubed, dried-out bread inside the casserole dish in an even layer.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, maple syrup, milk, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg until well combined.
- Pour this mixture over the cubed bread, gently tapping the bread down to be fully submerged in the custard. Cover the casserole with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a least 8 hours or up to 18 hours.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the casserole from the refrigerator while and allow it to come to room temperature as the oven preheats.
- Once the oven has preheated, remove the plastic wrap and cover the baking dish with foil. Bake covered for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes or until set.
- Serve warm with the vanilla glaze and/or additional maple syrup.
For Glaze
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine milk, salt, and vanilla. Add in the powdered sugar and whisk until thin glaze forms. Add in more milk 1 teaspoon at a time, if needed to thin it out. Serve with the French Toast Casserole.
Equipment Needed
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published in March 2018 but was updated in December 2019 and March 2024.
Manjini
This was really good. I was worried abt it being too mushy in the middle but it was just perfect. I topped it with berries after it was baked and sprinkled some icing sugar over it. It loooked so pretty. In case you are running out of space in your fridge like me, I made this in a Tupperware to soak the night prior and then transferred it into a greased casserole pan. I used sourdough bread.
Kristen Chidsey
I am so glad you enjoyed Manjini! And AWESOME tip for saving room in the fridge. Thanks for sharing!
Jan
Great recipe, Thanks!
I made it for a family brunch on the weekend and received lots of compliments.
Kristen Chidsey
I am so glad that everyone enjoyed Jan!
Brittany
This was tasty and filling - I used a whole loaf of the Udi's Gluten Free white deli sandwich bread and it turned out great! I did mix it all in the pan with my hands to help along the denser gluten free bread. Topped with the icing and maple syrup...delicious!
Kristen Chidsey
I am so glad you enjoyed! And thanks for letting us all know how it went with Udi's bread 🙂
Erica
Planning to make for a baby shower, but we have a few things to bake the morning of. Have you tried cooking this in a crockpot? I think it’d work but wondering if you’ve ever tried. Thank you!!
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Erica! This casserole can technically be made in the slow cooker, but it does change the texture. It would need to soak up the egg mixture and then be placed into a very well greased crock pot for about 8 hours.
Debbey
Looks good but no one likes maple syrup in my home. Any replacement ideas!
Kristen Chidsey
Absolutely Debbey--I would use brown sugar or regular sugar in the french toast custard (you will just need to mix better to incorporate). I hope you still enjoy!
Debbey
Thank you...planning on fixing it next week when we are invaded by our daughter and husband, 4 teens, son and fiancé and his best friend!
Kristen Chidsey
HA! Good luck with that household! But I am sure wonderful memories will be made in the chaos! Enjoy the casserole Debbey!
Rachel
Could I swap egg whites for the eggs? We made custard and have million egg whites left over!
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Rachel! French Toast is best when made with egg yolks because you want the base to be custard like for the best flavored french toast casserole. But I understand you wanting to use the egg whites. I would say compromise and use half egg whites and half whole eggs. Hope that makes sense. I will say my Hash Brown breakfast casserole is great using all egg whites 😊
Dori Dunham
Have you ever made this with raisin bread? If so, what modifications are needed? Thank you!
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Dori, this is DELICIOUS with raisin bread and you can make as recipe states. Enjoy!
Shailee
I only have 1% milk, however I do have buttermilk. Do you think I should use that instead?
Kristen Chidsey
I would use 1% milk as the buttermilk could over take the flavor of your casserole. I have made this with skim milk in a bind and while not as rich, it turned out.
Joanne
Looks great! Making this tomorrow for a couple of singers I'm hosting this evening. I bought a day-old sourdough loaf because the brioche and french loaf I saw wasn't kosher and one of the students eats kosher. I've only got whole milk (other recipes call for half and half or heavy whipping cream, but yours doesn't--I'm hoping it will still taste good to use just milk?), and my 9x13 pan is in not so great shape. Would an 8x8 glass pan work? I also bought a couple disposable 9x13's for $1. Which would be better? Do you recommend increasing the sweetness if using sourdough?
So many questions--I'm just miserable at baking even simple stuff (probably bc I end up not having the right ingredients or cook ware!) Thanks for any help!
Kristen Chidsey
Oh please don't worry about questions--I am here to help. First, I would use a disposable pan--that way you know it will fit and bake in time. Milk will be perfect--whole milk is best. As for sweeteners--for sourdough you could increase the maple syrup up to 1/3 cup, but I would suggest to serve with syrup on the side and let your company dictate how sweet they want this french toast. Enjoy!!!
Karly
I've always stayed far away from recipes with overnight prep because they always seemed so hard, but this one was so easy that I cannot believe I haven't tried it sooner! So delicious!
Kristen Chidsey
I am so glad you enjoyed Karly--and you are right, this is EASY!!!