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This French toast casserole recipe is soft and cinnamon-spiced, with a crunchy streusel topping! A special breakfast that will wow everyone.
Looking to impress on a weekend morning? Here’s a sure bet: this knock-out French toast casserole recipe! The bottom layer is custardy and spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg: it tastes just like your favorite morning French toast. It’s then covered in a crunchy streusel layer, crumbly with oats, pecans and even more cinnamon. The combination of textures and added hit of sweetness is pure morning goodness! This one’s for special mornings (visitors in town? birthday breakfast?), and the flavors absolutely deliver.
Ingredients in this French toast casserole recipe
French toast casserole can be made a variety of ways. You can simply make whole pieces of baked French toast (but we think that’s something entirely different!). This one is more like a bread pudding, where the bread is soaked in a custard and then baked until soft and golden. It’s got an added layer of a streusel topping, which infuses a separate layer of texture and a hint more sweetness. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Sourdough or French bread
- Eggs
- Milk
- Cream
- Brown sugar
- Turbinado or demerara sugar
- Vanilla
- Cinnamon and nutmeg
- Oats
- Pecans
- Flour
- Butter
The best bread to use
You can use a few different types of bread for French toast casserole. Here’s a breakdown of what we prefer and why we like it! There are also a few other options to consider:
- Sourdough bread: This is our top pick for French toast, both regular and in casserole form! The sturdy texture of the bread makes it chewy instead of mushy, and the flavor adds intriguing tangy and savory notes. The hard crust adds a nice variation to the texture.
- French bread: French bread also works here: the hard crust also helps to add interesting texture like with sourdough.
What bread to avoid? Don’t use purchased white bread or whole wheat bread here. The texture comes out much too soft since the bread essentially dissolves into the custard. Whole wheat bread in particular doesn’t work well with the flavor profile. We also prefer this casserole with a textured sourdough vs a brioche or challah bread, which are softer.
Make it an overnight French toast casserole recipe
You can turn this recipe into an overnight French toast casserole recipe if you prefer! Simply assemble the bread and custard base layer, placing the custard in the pan with the bread and allowing it to soak overnight. If you like, you can assemble the streusel topping and refrigerate it overnight as well.
In the morning, simply let the pan stand for 30 minutes at room temperature before baking. If you like, you could assemble the streusel during this time as well. Top with the streusel and throw it in the oven!
Toppings for this recipe
This French toast casserole is the perfect brunch recipe: it’s sweet and cozy, but not rich and decadent. For toppings, it needs just a small drizzle of maple syrup. You could also add a small dusting of powdered sugar. If you’d like you can top with fresh fruit, but we prefer eating it on the side. The casserole is truly just good enough without any fancy toppings!
More French toast recipes
Love a special breakfast? Try these tasty ways to include French toast in your morning:
- Go for classic Best French Toast Recipe
- Grab Cinnamon French Toast, dusted in cinnamon sugar
- Try Challah French Toast, Brioche French Toast, or Sourdough French Toast
- Go for decadent Stuffed French Toast or Banana Bread French Toast
- Opt for fun French Toast Sticks (great for kids or adults!)
- Go plant-based with Vegan French Toast or Banana French Toast
This French toast casserole recipe is…
Vegetarian.
French Toast Casserole
This French toast casserole recipe is soft and cinnamon-spiced, with a crunchy streusel topping! A special breakfast that will wow everyone.
- Prep Time: 45 minutes (with rest time)
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 loaf unsliced sourdough or French bread (about 1 pound), torn into bite-sized pieces
- 8 eggs
- 1 ½ cups 2% milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 6 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ tablespoon + 1 teaspoon cinnamon, divided
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup rolled oats
- ¼ cup crushed pecans
- ¼ cup turbinado or demerara sugar*
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 6 tablespoons salted butter, cold and cut into small pieces
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Grease a 9 x 13″ baking dish. Add the torn bread to the dish.
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until fully incorporated and frothy. Whisk in the milk, cream, sugar, vanilla extract, ½ tablespoon cinnamon, nutmeg and kosher salt. Pour the custard over the bread pieces and use your fingers to submerge the tops of the bread to ensure it is all coated. Rest 20 minutes at room temperature (or refrigerate overnight and bring to room temperature for 20 minutes before baking).
- Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, add the rolled oats, pecans, turbinado sugar, flour, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Cut the butter into the other ingredients using a pastry cutter or fork until evenly combined and a crumbly streusel topping forms. Refrigerate until baking.
- Just before baking, sprinkle the streusel topping over the French toast. Bake 40 to 45 minutes until browned and set. Rest 10 minutes before serving. Scoop out pieces and top with a drizzle of maple syrup.
Notes
*If you don’t have this type of chunky sugar, you can use brown sugar or granulated sugar.
I’ve made this as written before and loved it.
Tonight we made a new variation. We used a loaf of panettone instead of sourdough, and mixed in a shredded granny smith apple. YUM! Since that’s a sweeter bread, I only used 2 TBS brown sugar in with the eggs.
great idea for a weekend brunch and easier than making individual french toasts! thank you
This is a delicious and nutritious breakfast, I will learn how to make it with my heart.
This French Toast Casserole is stunning, I think it improves my appetite, thanks to your recipe, I learned how to make it.
We made a half batch for supper last night. It was so tasty! We will definitely make it again. I might try dicing up an apple to mix in with the bread. Have you tried that? Did it work?
This French Toast Casserole looks delicious, thanks for the recipe, it doesn’t look complicated to make.