Make-ahead French Toast Casserole

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve panicked about what to make for the slew of hungry folks coming in from a cold morning in the field when our little local café is closed. That is until this make-ahead French toast casserole became a staple! I love how the top gets all toasty, but the center is like the perfect custardy, fluffy, french toast pillow. I just add a side of sausage or bacon and watch in satisfaction as my minimal effort provides maximum hunger satisfaction.

The prep comes together super quick, it does all the work for you in the fridge overnight and doesn’t take an eternity to bake. Oh, and you can make the whole darn casserole with about $5 worth of ingredients. Delicious, fast, and easy on pocket book, it doesn’t get any better than that for feeding a hungry crowd. The basic casserole is absolutely FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC, but it gets even more amazing when frozen fruit is added. Blueberries and the frozen mixed berries are my favorite. Apples and strawberries would also super delish.

It might sounds strange, but after serving dinner to the hungry hunters and they retire to watch whatever sports event is on TV and discuss their hunting plans for the next day, I find it very cathartic to just cut bread and mix eggs knowing all I have to do to be ready for their return in the morning is to pop it in the oven and relish in their compliments.

Keys to Success

I’ve had this section heading in nearly every blog post since launching HIH. This recipe is basically fool proof, so it’s probably not necessary, but here we are.

1. When I say large bowl, I mean large bowl. The bowl needs to be large enough for your wet ingredients AND the stale/dried out bread. I prefer a wider shallow bowl to a deep bowl. This ensures more bread can be in contact with the egg mixture. I found this awesome mixing bowl set with lids on Amazon. I like a bowl with a lid so I can easily stack other items in my fridge on top of the bowl, but plastic wrap will work if your bowl doesn’t have a lid.
2. Use cheap bread. My 100% go to bread for this recipe is the $1.00 Italian loaf from the bakery section at Walmart. One loaf gets me the perfect amount of bread for this recipe. And its ONE DOLLAR. ONE DOLLAR. The $1.00 French loaf also works wonderfully.
3. Make plenty! This recipe scales REALLY well. Double it, triple it, halve it, do what you need to do. When I make this, most return for a second helping, maybe a third if there’s any left.

Make Ahead French Toast Casserole

A super easy make ahead French toast casserole for special occasions or just a regular morning.

4 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Total Time 50 minutes mins

Course breakfast, brunch

Cuisine American

Servings 8 people

Calories 175 kcal

Equipment

• Large mixing bowl
• Whisk
• Measuring cups and spoons
• 9" x 13" baking dish

Ingredients

  

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• 1 loaf approximately 10 cups stale (or not, see step 1) French or Italian bread, cut into one inch cubes
• 8 large eggs
• 2 cups 2% or whole milk
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Optional: 1 cup frozen or fresh berries cut into bite sized pieces if using large fruit.
• Optional: 2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Instructions

 

• If your bread isn’t stale, heat your oven to 225 degrees F and spread the cubed bread pieces in an even layer on a baking sheet and place in the hot oven for approximately 10-15 minutes and allow to cool. The bread should be dry on the outside, but still have a little spring to it in the center.
• In a large bowl combine the eggs, milk, cinnamon, brown sugar, salt, and vanilla extract together and whisk until the mixture is homogeneous. Add your cubed bread and gently stir until all cubes are covered in the mixture. Cover and refrigerate at least two hours or overnight.
• Preheat your oven to 350°F
• Grease a 13” x 9” baking dish and carefully pour the egg/bread mixture into the dish.
• If using berries, add the berries over the top of the casserole
• Bake for 30-40 minutes until the top starts to brown and the center of the casserole has risen above the edges.
• While still warm, sift powdered sugar over the top of the top of the casserole
• Serve with whipped cream, maple syrup or fruit syrup.

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 175kcalCarbohydrates: 24gProtein: 8gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 168mgSodium: 387mgPotassium: 173mgFiber: 1gSugar: 23gVitamin A: 299IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 115mgIron: 1mg

Keyword easy, make-ahead, overnight

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