My husband and I like to joke that this Easy Baked French Toast Casserole is what sealed the deal for him that I was the one! The man thought he had a chance. But not against this decadent French toast casserole with brown sugar, pecan topping! 20 years later, this make-ahead French toast recipe is still a family favorite for holiday brunches!
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Make-Ahead Baked French Toast Recipe
French toast is something that my side of the family loves. My brother is the master French toast maker. But for special occasions, I love to make this French toast in the oven casserole!
One, this French toast casserole is so rich with its custard like filling and crisp brown sugar and pecan topping! When you pull this baked French toast out of the oven, your guests will smell the sweet aroma of fresh cinnamon and nutmeg. And the buttery brown sugar topping will have your family and guests lining up with their plates stretched out.
And two, this overnight French toast is perfect for making ahead. When you have a busy holiday schedule, it is nice to be able to make ahead Christmas brunch. I love to make my Easy Baked French Toast Casserole Christmas Eve evening. On Christmas morning, I pop the brunch casserole in the oven while I sit down to relax and watch everyone open presents.
Best Bread for Oven Baked French Toast
Crusty French bread or a thicker Italian loaf works best for oven French toast. Living in a small town, I am often at the mercy of choosing what bread is available that week at our local grocery. So I have made my Easy Baked French Toast with a variety of breads. And as long as you follow a few simple rules when choosing your bread, it will turn out delicious!
Look for a bread that has a thicker crust and is more substantial. I prefer a loaf of cooked French bread as the thick crusty bread is perfect for soaking up the egg and cream custard. If you cannot find French bread or a loaf of French bread that is big enough to fill a 9 by 13 pan, then look for a loaf of Italian bread.
Choose a loaf of Italian bread that has a thicker crust. Some Italian breads are too soft. Aldi has a nice brand of Italian bread that is pre-sliced, thick crusted, and works perfectly!
Another tip for perfect French toast bread, is to leave your bread out for the day. This allows the bread to dry out a bit. Your bread will then soak up even more of the eggs and cream!
Steps to Making French Toast in the Oven
Butter a 9 by 11 inch casserole pan.
If needed, slice your French or Italian bread. Lay the sliced bread in buttered casserole pan. My Easy Baked French Toast works perfectly with sliced bread, so there is no need to cube bread. Typically there should be enough bread, that you can place two layers of the sliced bread in pan.
In a blender, add your eggs, milk, half and half, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Blend!
Use fresh ground nutmeg, if you can! The fresh spice makes a big difference.
Pour egg and cream mixture over the bread in the casserole dish. It will look like a lot of extra custard mixture, but pour all the liquid into the pan. Most of the extra egg and cream mixture will be soaked up by the bread overnight.
Place foil or a lid over the casserole dish and place in the fridge overnight!
Brown Sugar Topping for Oven French Toast Casserole
This next step you can do the night before or in the morning. Place the butter for your topping, corn syrup, chopped pecans, and brown sugar into a bowl. Mix.
I tend to place my topping ingredients in a bowl or glass measuring cup the night before and cover. This allows my butter to soften overnight. And then the brown sugar topping mixture is easy to mix in the morning and more spreadable. I know some people do not like to leave butter out, so do this at your own comfort level.
Perfect Holiday Brunch Casserole
In the morning, pull out your casserole dish from the fridge. Remove lid from casserole pan. Most of the liquid should be soaked up by bread. And the bread will appear bigger. There will still be some custard mixture in the bottom of the pan. Take the brown sugar topping and drop by spoonfuls onto the bread.
With a knife or an angled frosting knife (like this one) gently spread the topping. The topping is thick so don’t worry about spreading it perfectly. Just spread topping out a little and the heat in the oven will do the rest! An angled frosting knife works perfectly for this job (and so many other jobs in the kitchen) so add one to your cart here!
Place your French toast casserole in the oven. Set timer for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes check casserole. Baked French toast should be puffed up and golden brown. You may need to cover with foil to prevent too much browning and then bake for another 5 minutes. Most of the liquid should be gone at this point. Topping will be browned and crunchy on top. Your oven French toast will be moist looking but fairly firm.
Allow your Easy Baked French Toast Casserole to sit for a few minutes. Then serve with fruit and sausage or bacon! Enjoy!
Baked French Toast Casserole
Equipment
- 1 9 by 13 inch casserole dish
Ingredients
- 1 12 or15 oz loaf French bread or Italian bread crusty, thicker bread sliced
- 6 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1 1/2 cups half and half
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg freshly grated works well
Topping
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3 tbls corn syrup or maple syrup
- 1 cup pecans (or walnuts)
Instructions
- Butter a 9 in. by 13 in. casserole pan.
- Place sliced bread in the bottom of the pan. Make sure to leave at least 1 – 1/2 inch of room at the top of pan.
- In a blender, add eggs, milk, half and half, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Blend.
- Pour milk and cream mixture over the sliced bread in the casserole.
- Cover and place casserole pan in the fridge overnight.
- Mix topping. Put butter, corn syrup, brown sugar, and chopped nuts in a bowl or large measuring cup and mix together. Save for later.
- In the morning, preheat oven to 350.
- Pull out casserole dish. Spoon topping over the French bread. Spread topping lightly.
- Place French toast in the oven and cook for 45 minutes.
- Check oven French toast. French toast should be puffed and lightly browned on top. Place foil over top loosely, if needed, and bake for another 5 minutes.
- Baked French toast will be golden brown on top, while the casserole will be moist but custard liquid gone. Wait 5 minutes before portioning out. Enjoy!
