Who doesn’t love French Toast? This casserole-style breakfast recipe takes a more hands-off approach to French Toast, where the casserole quietly bakes in the oven as you sit back and enjoy your morning coffee.
Baked French Toast Casserole
Who doesn’t love French Toast? This casserole-style breakfast recipe takes a more hands-off approach to French Toast, where the casserole quietly bakes in the oven as you sit back and enjoy your morning coffee.
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp salted butter, softened, for greasing your casserole dish
- 8 slices of brioche or challah bread, cut into ½” cubes
- 6 whole eggs
- 1 cup of whole milk
- 1 cup of heavy cream
- ½ tsp of ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp of ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp of ground green cardamom
- ¼ cup of brown sugar
- ½ cup of white granulated sugar
- 4 Tbsp additional salted butter, softened, for serving with the casserole
- 2/3 cup Maple syrup, for serving with the casserole
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 2 Tbsp confectioner’s sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup pecans, lightly toasted and roughly chopped
- 2 cups fresh strawberries, washed & quartered
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish with butter and set aside.
- Cut the 8 slices of brioche or challah bread into cubes, and place the cubes in the greased baking dish.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the 6 large eggs, whole milk, heavy cream, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground green cardamom, brown sugar, and white granulated sugar.
- Mix until the ingredients are incorporated, whisking to dissolve the sugar as best you can.
- Pour the liquid egg mixture over the bread cubes in the baking dish, making sure to evenly distribute the liquid.
- Gently toss the bread crumbs in the liquid, and allow them to absorb the mixture for 30 minutes before baking.
- Once the bread crumbs have soaked for about 30 minutes, cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and place it in the preheated oven.
- Bake the casserole for about 45 minutes.
- When the casserole is almost done baking, heat the maple syrup up on the stove and remove from the heat. This maple syrup will be served with the French toast casserole.
- Whip the cream with the confectioner’s sugar and vanilla extract until it reaches your desired whipped cream consistency.
- Set the whipped cream aside in the fridge until the casserole is done baking.
- When the casserole is done baking, remove it from the oven and allow it to rest at room temperature for about 10 minutes.
- Serve the casserole hot, with extra butter, maple syrup, fresh whipped cream, chopped pecans, and fresh strawberries for each individual serving!
Notes
This sweet breakfast casserole is best eaten while it is still hot. It would also be great with a large scoop of French vanilla ice cream.