Brioche French Toast Casserole (Overnight)

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This Overnight French Toast Casserole made with Brioche Bread, Eggs, Cream and Milk is a super easy, crowd pleasing breakfast.

The ultimate shortcut recipe that will take your ten minutes to put together. The best part? No standing over the skillet in the morning. Pop this in the oven and enjoy together with the whole family.

I love breakfast casseroles!

French Toast casserole made with brioche bread in a 9*13 inches baking dish, topped with powdered sugar , strawberries and blueberries

I often have my whole family plus a few friends over on holidays. Things can get pretty hectic. Especially if you have to cook every single meal.

This is a easy breakfast option that doesn't take too much active time but the results are just epic!

I usually make the basic version and keep a lot of fruit, chocolate, syrup and dry fruit options on the table so people can make their own combination.

We love french toast at home! I have been eating french toast for breakfast since i can remember things! My son loves it too.

Off-course on an everyday basis I don't need to make a whole casserole but just a couple toasts. So if there was one breakfast that i know my family will scarf down then it is french toast!

Jump to:

Ingredients
Topping for the French Toast
Instructions to make Brioche French Toast Casserole
Step 2: Make the Custard
Serving Brioche French Toast
Making Breakfast for a Crowd
Variations
Equipment
Refrigerating & Freezing
For the Ultimate Holiday Lazy Breakfast
Brioche French Toast Casserole

Ingredients

Here is what you will need to make this casserole.

Eggs
Milk
Cream
Bread
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Sugar
Vanilla

For the topping

Sugar
Cinnamon
Butter

Bread

We love using brioche bread to make french toast. The bread is so rich and cakey. I love any kind of french toast but with brioche bread, its just another level of indulgence.

It sets the holiday mood perfectly!

You can also use other breads like french bread & regular bread. I personally am not a big fan of sour dough bread in the french toast but if that's all you have then that will work too.

If you can, get un cut bread so you can cut thick cubes or even triangles of bread. Thicker the bread, the more fudgy it will be in the middle after all that soaking!

Eggs

I like to use free range organic eggs. It has its healthy benefits but beyond that, i just love the yellow color of the yolk!

It feels extra luxurious especially in custardy desserts.

Topping for the French Toast

Now this is not an absolute must but if you are going the indulgent route then a little butter, sugar and cinnamon will just take things up a notch!

The reason I do this is because I love the caramelized effect butter and sugar give together.

I do this even when I am just making a single serving of french toast on an everyday basis. The process is a little different and probably faster when you are making french toast for just one person.

Instructions to make Brioche French Toast Casserole

Here are step by step instructions on how to make a perfect french toast casserole.

Step 1: Cut the Bread

I usually just dice the bread. This saves me time and effort.

If you want, you can cut it into triangles and arrange it in a nice way. But that will take more time.

Though, this could be one of the things you involve your kinds in!

Cutting the brioche bread into cubes on a wooden cutting board

Step 2: Make the Custard

By custard I mean, make the soaking liquid. Do this in a separate bowl instead of the baking dish. Only because you want to pour the liquid over the bread so that the top bread pieces are also saturated.

Break the eggs and whisk them together. To that add all the other ingredients- milk, cream, nutmeg, cinnamon and sugar.

Whisk whisk whisk.

adding cream to the blue bowl with whipped eggs

Grating nutmeg over the custard to make french toast

Step 3: Pour over the Bread

Don't just dump the liquid in but use a ladle or a measuring cup to pour the liquid all over the french toast. You want it to go to all the corners and nooks and crannies.

The liquid should come upto ¼ the height of the baking dish.

Pouring the custard over the cubed bread

Plastic wrap covered french toast casserole

Step 4: Soak

You have three options here depending on your needs

Overnight Soak

This is the best option. Especially if your bread is thick. The overnight soak will saturate the bread to all the way inside.

30 minute Soak or Quick Soak

Let the casserole sit in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. This is the best of both worlds.

Immediate Baking or The fastest Soak!

If you need to bake this immediately then i suggest you do two things

Use thinner slices of bread
Once you have soaked the bread with the custard, press it lightly with a spatula.

Step 5: Bake

Preheat the oven at 360F or 180 C for about 10 minutes

Bake the casserole for 30 minutes.

Baked French toast casserole inside a white baking dish with a white and black checkered tea towel

Step 6: Topping

Crank up the heat of the oven or set it to broil mode.

Frist brush melted butter on top. Sprinkle a mixture of cinnamon and sugar.

Broil again for 10 minutes till the sugar looks caramelized.

Baked Brioche french toast in a white baking dish with a bronze cake spoon on the side

Serving Brioche French Toast

To serve the french toast, cut a piece of the toast like you would cut lasagna and place it on individual serving plates.

Add toasted nuts like pecans and walnuts
Fruits like banana, strawberry and blueberries
Chocolate syrup
Maple syrup or honey
Ice cream or whipped cream
Icing sugar

Making Breakfast for a Crowd

This casserole will serve about 9-10 people. if you are making this for a larger group, you can double/triple the recipe.

I suggest you use disposable baking containers in which you can soak and bake and serve the french toast.

The other option is to add more breakfast dishes.Here are some options

Quiche- with or without the crust
Savory french toast bake
Scrambled eggs & Bacon
Bread and nice Garlic Butter
Baked Oatmeal

Drizzling honey over a slice of the brioche french toast

Variations

Depending on the look / taste you want, you can add these to the french toast

Christmas - Cranberries/Strawberries and Nutella. Gingerbread spices in the custard.
Skinny Everyday French Toast - Skip the cream and substitute it with milk instead. You can also skip the topping

Equipment

You need an oven and a baking dish to make this.

I have used a 9* 13 inches Baking dish to make this. It fits perfectly , almost to the brim. You can adjust the recipe as per your baking dish.

You can also make this in the air fryer. You will have to halve the recipe based on the size of your air fryer.

Refrigerating & Freezing

Refrigeration - The uncooked french toast can last in the fridge for up to 1-2 days. Cooked French toast will last for about 5-6 days. Just make sure you keep it in an air tight container.

Freezing - You can freeze the prepped uncooked french toast for upto 2 months. Remember to place it in a freezer friendly container that is covered twice with plastic wrap and foil.

To bake it, take it out of the freezer and let it thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Bring it to room temperature and bake it as per the recipe.

My suggestion is to use the disposable foil containers. You can bake the french toast in the same dish.

You can also freeze the cooked french toast. Again, wrap it up multiple times and freeze it in in freezer safe containers. I like to make individual portions of this and freeze. That way it takes less time to thaw and I can eat it for breakfast whenever i want!

For the Ultimate Holiday Lazy Breakfast

Assemble this a day or two in advance. Let it soak and come holiday morning, Bake this to perfection!

Here are some more Ultimate breakfast options for you

Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats
Easy Overnight Oats 4 ways
Chocolate Oatmeal Pudding
Turkish Eggs
Cherry & Blueberry Clafoutis

If you make this easy Brioche French Toast Casserole, do leave me a comment and a rating. I would love to hear from you.

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Why is my French Toast Casserole Soggy?

There are two reasons for this
1. Too high Oven Temperature- when this happens only the tops cook to a crispy brown perfection but the insides are still not fully cooked. If that's your problem, cover the french toast with foil and let it bake for another 10 minutes.
2. Too much liquid - This could happen when your liquid is way too much for the amount of bread. When you are finished with the soaking, you should not see too much liquid at the bottom of the pan. Use a spoon to investigate. If it looks too much, drain some of the liquid.

How do you keep French Toast Warm for a Crowd

You can do two things
1. Pop it in a preheated but shut oven. This should keep the french toast warm for 1-2 hours.
2. Crank the oven heat to the lowest setting. Leave the door slightly open. Pop the french toast inside. You should be able to keep it warm for 3-4 hours.

How to Reheat the French Toast

if you are reheating the whole casserole, just cover it with foil, heat it in the oven for 10-15 minutes(depending on the temperature of the french toast)
If you are heating only a slice of it, you can microwave it and then broil it to make the top crispy.
You can also air fry it.

Brioche French Toast Casserole (Overnight)