Name: French Toast Casserole
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 60 min
Ingredients: 16 ounces day old French bread ((or challah or sourdough)); 10 large eggs; 2 cups milk; 1/3 cup half and half; 2 tablespoons brown sugar; 1 tablespoon vanilla extract; 2 teaspoons cinnamon; 1/4 cup white sugar; 1/4 cup brown sugar; 1/3 cup flour; 1 teaspoon cinnamon; 3 tablespoons cold butter

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A sweet crunchy streusel topping covers the cubed chunks of this cinnamon French toast casserole. Serve with warm maple syrup and a side of fresh fruit and breakfast is served!

Our pumpkin French toast casserole, French toast muffins and Lucky Charms French toast are over-the-top, fun, and great for weekends; whereas this classic French toast casserole focuses on simplicity that the whole family will enjoy.

Whether it is Mother’s Day, Easter, Christmas morning or a random rainy weekday, your family will love this easy breakfast casserole.

What is French toast casserole?

French toast is a popular brunch and breakfast recipe that consists of bread slices that are dipped in an egg, milk, and cinnamon mixture and then pan grilled until golden brown. Like a pancake, it is served with syrup!

French toast casserole has the same flavor profile, but uses a whole loaf of bread that is sliced or cubed. Then the egg, milk, and cinnamon mixture is poured over the bread, and a sweet streusel is sprinkled on top and it’s baked until cooked through.

Overall, this breakfast casserole is easy, budget-friendly, and feeds a crowd with little effort -oh and did I mention absolutely delicious?

Can I use stale bread for a French Toast casserole?

A day or two old stale bread is ideal for making breakfast casserole recipes.

Look for day old bread on the clearance racks in the bakery section.

Ingredients For A French Toast Casserole

You’ll find that most casseroles have ingredients similar to these:

Bread -Stale French, Challah, or sourdough bread is the best bread to use for French toast casserole.
Eggs- You will need 10. Eggs are the glue that keeps this together.
Milk– Whole milk is best. You can use a non dairy milk if you’d like.
Half and Half. Heavy cream works as well.
Brown Sugar– Light or dark is up to you!
Vanilla Extract– Always use pure vanilla extract for baking.
Ground Cinnamon

But what makes ours just a little bit different is the streusel that gets baked on top. We’re all about streusel topping!

Ingredients for Streusel Topping

White Sugar
Brown Sugar
All Purpose Flour
Ground Cinnamon
Cold butter

How To Make An Easy French Toast Casserole

To make this casserole, chop or slice your stale bread into 1-inch cubes.

Stale bread for French toast will allow the milk mixture to become better absorbed, without turning soggy.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, brown sugar, half and half, vanilla extract, and cinnamon.

Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.

Place the bread cubes in the pan in an even layer. Bread will be overlapping, this is fine.

If you’re afraid that there’s too much bread, remember that the milk mixture will condense the bread!

Pour the milk mixture over the bread.

Place the topping ingredients in a medium bowl.

Use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut the butter into the topping. Do this until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Do not over mix.

Sprinkle the streusel over the casserole.

Cover the breakfast casserole pan with aluminum foil.

Bake for 20 minutes, and then remove the aluminum foil and bake an additional 25 minutes or until tops of bread are firm and somewhat crispy on the edges.

Recipe Variations

Add a handful of fresh blueberries to the top of the casserole before you put on the streusel.
Add dollops of cream cheese to the top of the casserole before you put on the streusel.
Sliced almonds or chopped pecans give a great crunch.
Want to prepare this the night before? Make it an overnight french toast casserole by covering it with plastic wrap and refrigerating it before baking the next morning.

What To Serve With French Toast Casserole

A fresh fruit salad and bacon or sausage would be perfect to serve with this breakfast.

Other ideas of what to serve with breakfast casseroles are:

Why is my baked French toast casserole soggy?

Too Wet- Soggy casseroles happen when there is too much of the egg mixture. Our recipe is on the “drier” side of breakfast casseroles, which is how our family prefers it. Make sure you use stale bread… and a thick heavy bakery bread works better than sandwich loaf slices.
Too Low- Low temperatures will not allow the bread to cook through the center, leaving you with a soggy casserole.
Too Soon- Don’t rush the process! Let your breakfast casserole bake until the tops of the bread is dry and firm.

Can I freeze French toast casserole?

To freeze this casserole, wait until it is cool. Wrap the casserole with aluminum foil and place inside of a freezer friendly container.

Pro Tip

Amazon sells disposable aluminum baking pans with foil lids. This would be perfect to use for freezer cooking breakfast casseroles. They are great for stacking.

How do you reheat French toast casserole?

Have leftovers? To reheat a refrigerated casserole, you can either portion out a serving and microwave on 15 second increments until warmed through, or place casserole into the oven for 15-20 minutes on 350 degrees Fahrenheit, or until breakfast casserole warms through.

To reheat a frozen casserole, thaw the casserole and place casserole into the oven and bake covered for about an hour. Remove foil and bake for 10-15 minutes more, uncovered, or until the breakfast casserole has warmed through.