French Toast Bake
Imagine a beautiful Sunday morning with a delicious, decadent warm breakfast filled with cinnamon and nutmeg topped with warm maple syrup. Sounds lovely right? This French Toast Bake recipe has all of that and so much more.
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Easy French Toast Bake
What makes this French Toast Bake so easy is that everything goes into one mixing bowl, soak the bread, add it to the casserole dish and bake — it’s that simple. You can even put together all of the wet and dry ingredients, set it aside in the refrigerator for the night, add the bread and bake it in the morning. It’s a wonderful weekend breakfast idea or even something special for a holiday morning.
What makes this French Toast Bake so good?
If you are a fan of french toast, you have to make this recipe. It not only gives you the delicious flavors of the butter and the egg combined with your favorite bread, but it add the delicious flavors of brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Top it off with some powdered sugar and your favorite maple syrup, and it’s heavenly. This French Toast Bake is:
- Sweet
- Buttery
- Crispy around the edges
- Ready in 45 minutes
- Can be made in advance (without adding the bread)
- Enjoyed for any meal of the day
You will love it!
Ingredients for this French Toast Bake
What I love about this recipe is that most of these ingredients can already be found in your pantry. Look no further than your fridge or pantry for these delicious ingredients. Make sure you use really good bread as I did here with Challah bread. French bread or Texas Toast are other great options. Here’s your grocery list:
For the French Toast
- Challah bread – Using good bread is important with this recipe. The thickness of Challah bread allows the egg mixture to soak evenly without making it too soggy.
- Eggs – This recipe calls for 8 eggs so make sure you have stocked up on eggs.
- Milk – I used 2% but you can use whole milk. I have not tried this recipe with plant-based milk but as long as it’s not too thin, you may be ok.
- Heavy Cream – This cream will give it some thickness as well. If you don’t have heavy cream, you can use half and half.
- Sugar + Brown Sugar – These sugars give it some sweetness. It’s not a lot of sugar but enough to add the sweetness.
- Vanilla Extract – Vanilla gives it another level of flavor.
- Cinnamon + Nutmeg – Is there not a better flavor combo than cinnamon and nutmeg? It almost gives it a nice holiday flavor.
For the Topping
- All-Purpose Flour – Flour is needed to keep this topping together. It’s just a small amount of 1/2 cup of flour.
- Brown Sugar + Cinnamon – Adding a little more brown sugar and cinnamon will help bring together the topping and the french bread.
- Salt – Salt is always needed to balance out the sweet.
- Unsalted Butter – It is important this butter is cold and cut into small pieces before it’s combined with the dry topping ingredients.
- Powdered Sugar – This is literally icing on the cake. Powdered sugar makes it even sweeter.
- Maple Syrup – You can’t have french toast without maple syrup!
How to Make French Toast Bake
Recommended Tools to Make this Recipe
- 13×10 Casserole pan. I used this Blue and White Enamelware pan!
- Mixing Bowls
- Whisk
- Forks to cut the butter
Tips for the best French Toast Bake
- If you don’t have the 13×10 inch pan, you can also use a 9×13 inch pan. Make sure you spray it generously with non-stick spray.
- Half and Half will also work if you don’t have any heavy cream.
- When cutting the butter, use two forks on cold butter. The video shows how to make those cuts. You can also use a food processor on pulse to get the same result.
- If you want to make it ahead, you can combine all of the french bread ingredients with the exception of the bread. Refrigerate the mixture but don’t add the bread until you are about to bake.
French Toast Bake
This delicious, decadent and warm French Toast Bake is filled with cinnamon and nutmeg topped with warm maple syrup.
Ingredients
For the French Toast
- 1 loaf Challah Bread cut into cubes
- 8 Eggs
- 2 cups Milk
- 1/2 cup Heavy Cream
- 1/4 cup Sugar
- 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
- 1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract
- 2 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
For the Topping
- 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter cold and cut into small pieces
- 1/2 cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
Instructions
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Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13×10 casserole pan with non-stick spray.
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In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, milk, heavy cream, sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, vanilla, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, and nutmeg.
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Cut up the bread into 1 inch cubes. Put all of the bread into the egg mixture and mix until all the bread is absorbed.
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In a small bowl, combine the flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and salt and mix.
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In another bowl, cut up the cold butter using two forks. Add the flour mixture into the butter and combine. You want to make sure you create a crumbly mixture.
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Pour the egg mixture into the cooking pan. Top it off with the butter crumble mixture. Bake for 45 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- If you don’t have the 13×10 inch pan, you can also use a 9×13 inch pan. Make sure you spray it generously with non-stick spray.
- Half and Half will also work if you don’t have any heavy cream.
- When cutting the butter, use two forks on cold butter. The video shows how to make those cuts. You can also use a food processor on pulse to get the same result.
- If you want to make it ahead, you can combine all of the french bread ingredients with the exception of the bread. Refrigerate the mixture but don’t add the bread until you are about to bake.
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