Overnight French Toast Bake
There is nothing that can beat the soft, sweet French toast in the morning. It only takes a few minutes to make so even on week days, you can enjoy an amazing breakfast. But, what if you have to cook enough for a big family or a holiday party? For those occasions, I turn to baked French toast so it’s all done at the same time.
To make the baked version, I also like to use Brioche bread because it’s just the best bread for French Toast. I’ve used French baguette and Italian bread before and it is different for sure. The texture and the flavor is different since baguette is a denser, less sweet bread. Brioche is very soft, buttery, and slightly sweet so it’s perfect for a sweet breakfast dish.
It all comes down to the combination of textures. Brioche is great at soaking up the egg mixture and leaving it overnight, incorporates the eggs and bread together perfectly. When it’s baked, there is a combination of the soft egg soaked bread with a crunchy top. That crunchy top is the bomb!
Lyuba’s Tips For the Overnight French Toast Bake
- Slice Brioche loaf into about 3/4 inch thick slices. (You don’t need slices as thick as for the classic French toast.)
- DO soak each slice in the egg custard mixture first and then pour the remaining egg mixture over the slices evenly.
- Don’t stack them too close to where they’re almost standing. You want all slices laying down and overlapping.
- Make sure to cover the dish with aluminum foil or plastic food wrap and refrigerate. (Don’t leave on the counter!)
- Before baking, remove plastic wrap if used! Cover with aluminum foil and bake covered at first and then uncovered.
- When ready to bake, place the baking dish into the cold oven and preheat it to 350°F. Let the oven preheat with the dish inside so the dish heats up gradually.
Why Refrigerate French Toast Bake Overnight?
- I’ve made baked French Toast both ways, refrigerated overnight and baked right away and for this particular style, overnight works better. Letting it sit overnight allows the bread to soak up the egg mixture throughout. The egg mixture is very well incorporated through the whole slice of bread and it bakes evenly.
- If you choose to bake it right away, the egg mixture will sink towards the bottom so about half the bread on top will be drier. This is not as big noticeable difference when the bread is cut into small cubes but more noticeable when the bread slices are left whole.
- If you want to make a French toast bake the same day, I recommend that you make my French toast casserole instead.
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Overnight French Toast Bake Recipe
Ingredients
- 14 oz Brioche loaf
- 8 eggs
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
Instructions
Night before:
- Slice Brioche loaf into about 3/4 inch thick slices. (You will get about 12 slices.)
- Grease a 9×13 baking dish generously with butter all over the bottom and up the sides.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla extract, and cinnamon until smooth.
- Dip each slice of bread into the egg mixture and let it soak for a few seconds. Place it in the baking dish.
- Repeat with all the bread slices. Stack and layer bread slices evenly in the baking dish and have them overlap each other.
- Pour the mixture slowly all over the top of bread and in between each slice. Make sure that each slice is evenly coated with egg mixture.
- Cover the dish with aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight.
In the morning:
- Place the baking dish into the cold oven and set the oven to 350°F. Let the oven preheat with the dish inside so the dish heats up gradually.
- Bake French Toast covered for 25 minutes. Take off the foil and bake it uncovered for 15-20 more minutes.
- Sprinkle some powdered sugar on top and serve with some maple syrup or other toppings you prefer.
Notes
Nutrition
More Weekend Breakfast Recipes To Try
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in July 2019.
All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
I made this for Christmas breakfast and it was a hit! It tasted amazing, but each piece was stuck to the one behind it. I had to cut them all apart, which was a bit of a mess. Is that typical, or did I put too much mixture between the slices or something?
Where does the nutmeg go? Its listed in the ingredients but not in the directions.
Thank you,
Lilya
I’m assuming the nutmeg goes in with the cinnamon? Wondering if that is what you did
Yes, Sorry that was a typo.
Do you bake it 25 minutes from when you put it in the oven or from when the oven comes to temperature?
Hi Maria,
You will bake it for 25 mins from when you put it in the oven then remove the foil and bake it uncovered for 15-20 more minutes.
Hi there,
I’m about to make this for the first time and I notice that the brown sugar is listed in the ingredients list but not in the directions. Just wondering what you recommend.
Hi Lauren,
It is in step 4, you add the brown sugar to the egg mixture. I hope you enjoy the recipe!
I’m trying this recipe for the first time…can pecans be added?
Hi Karlisa,
Yes, I think that would be very tasty! You could sprinkle some in the middle or just on top. If you have time, come back and let me know how you like it. 🙂
Can you use 2% milk?
Hi Kimberly!
Yes, you can use 2% it will be a little less creamy but it won’t be very noticeable. I hope you like it and if you do please come back and rate it! 🙂
Is this supposed to have a lot of linguistic at the bottom after cooking covered for 25 minutes. It smells delicious!
Oops! I meant liquid!
Hi, Barbara! Liquid can sink to the bottom if you don’t like it you can flip the french toast.