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Baked French Toast is full of cinnamon sugar goodness and baked in an easy custard that leaves the sweet brioche bread soft on the inside and crisp on the outside. Breakfast heaven!
French toast is a breakfast classic! Don’t miss this Secret Ingredient French Toast, this Blueberry Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast, and this Almond Crusted French Toast.
Baked French Toast
Baked French Toast is one of my favorite brunch items to make on the weekend for many reasons. First, it’s insanely easy to throw together. Second, it can be make ahead of time. And lastly, EVERYONE loves it.
Our version of baked French toast takes layers of rich brioche bread that’s saturated in a super simple cinnamon sugar custard. Right before baking the bread and custard get dusted with more cinnamon and sugar and baked until the inside is soft and rich, and the outside is irresistibly crispy and brown.
Most people serve their French toast with maple syrup AFTER they serve it up, but I like to pour the maple syrup all over the baked French toast immediately after it gets out of the oven so it soaks into the hot bread and custard before it hits anyone’s plate. It’s HEAVEN.
Ingredients in French Toast:
- Brioche bread. This is my favorite kind of bread to use for French Toast. It’s dense and made with eggs and butter so it’s rich, delicious, and perfect for French toast. Because it is sightly soft right out of the package, it’s really important for it to be a day-old and slightly stale so it doesn’t get soggy when the bread soaks.
- I like to leave the bread out on a sheet pan overnight, but if you don’t have time for that, you can also put the bread pieces on a sheet pan and bake at 275 degrees for 20-45 minutes until it resembles stale bread.
- Eggs. Eggs add richness to our Baked French Toast, and you’ll need eight large ones.
- Milk. You could use any kind of milk you want, from skim milk to heavy creamy, but the higher the fat content, the richer the baked French toast will be. I like to use a sort of middle-of-the-ground choice which is whole milk. It’s not as rich and fattening as heavy cream, but still results in a rich custard.
- Sugar. Sugar isn’t exactly traditional in classic French toast, but I like to add just a little bit to the custard to sweetened it up. We also sprinkle on a little extra sugar on top right before baking to help crisp up the top of the baked French toast as well.
- Cinnamon. For me, French toast isn’t complete without a little bit of ground cinnamon. In this recipe, we use it both in the custard and also sprinkle it on top just before baking along with the sugar.
- Vanilla. The last pertinent ingredient in French toast. Use 100% pure vanilla extract and no the imitation brand.
How to Make Baked French Toast:
- Dry out the bread. If you can remember, or have time, leave the bread out overnight on a sheet pan to dry out. If you forget, no big deal, just place the bread on a large sheet pan and place in a 250-degree oven for 25-35 minutes until the texture resembled stale bread.
- Make the custard. Whisk the eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and pinch of salt together in a medium bowl.
- Layer the bread. Layer the bread in a 9×9 greased baking dish. They should overlap a little bit. Pour the custard on top. Lift up the pieces of bread to make sure each piece gets saturate in the custard. Sprinkle more cinnamon and sugar on top.
- Bake. Bake in a 375-degree oven for about 25-30 minutes until the baked French toast is puffed and brown. Immediately pour maple syrup on top. Cut into pieces and serve with extra maple syrup and softened, salted butter.
Can I make these in Advance?
Yes! We recommend making it three hours in advance anyways, but if you need to make it in advance even more than that, go ahead.
On the opposite end, do I have to make these in advance?
While it’s best to make Baked French Toast at least an hour in advance, a workaround would be to individually soak the stale pieces of bread in the custard for a few minutes until the bread is completely saturated, then layer it into the baking dish. Pour any extra custard on top and bake as instructed.
Substitutions and Tips and Tricks for Recipe Success:
- Be sure the bread is stale. If the bread is fresh, you risk the baked French toast becoming super soggy.
- If you can’t find brioche, you can also use challah, Italian bread, ciabatta, or French bread.
- For extra crunch, sprinkle the baked French toast with chopped walnuts or pecans.
- Make sure your bread slices are at least 1 1/2 inches thick.
- Add in one teaspoon of almond extract for a nice flavor in addition to the vanilla.
What to serve with Baked French Toast:
- For a complete brunch, serve with this Sausage and Egg Frittata.
- Baked French Toast would also be lovely with a side of this Yogurt Parfait
- Another great side would be these Baked Parmesan Hash browns, a little savory to go with your sweet!
Enjoy these French Toast Recipes Too!
- Caramel Apple French Toast Casserole
- Canadian Bacon and French Toast Kabobs
- Overnight Caramel Banana French Toast with Caramel Syrup
- Cinnamon French Toast Bake
- Overnight Blueberry French Toast Recipe
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Baked French Toast
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl
- Baking dish
Ingredients
- 1 pound French bread or brioche bread
- 8 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- Cinnamon Topping:
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 3 Tablespoon white sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 Tablespoons cold butter cubed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 inch pan. Cut the French bread into bite sized pieces and place into the prepared dish.
- In a medium sized bowl combine eggs, milk, heavy cream, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. Pour over the bread.
Topping:
- To make the topping: In a small sized bowl add the brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, and cold butter. Using a pastry blender combine ingredients until crumbly. Sprinkle on top of casserole.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes or until the top is brown and and the center is set and comes out clean with a toothpick. Top with warm maple syrup and fresh berries if desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hi, it’s says you need about 4 large eggs for this recipe but in the ingredients it calls for 8. Please clarify.
Hi! Thanks for catching that typo. It has been fixed. You need 8 large eggs as specified in the list of ingredients.
Unfortunately the directions for this recipe are super unclear. It mentions this needs to be made 3 hours in advance…. But what part? I don’t get it? It also says in some parts of the recipe to bake for 30 min but in others for 60min. Please clarify
If you don’t leave your bread out overnight (you need stale bread for this recipe), then you will need to cook your bread for about 30 minutes at 275 degrees Fahrenheit before you actually assemble and bake the entire French toast.
Really good and easy. I used a chocolate chip brioche and omitted all the white sugar.