French Toast Bake

Get ready to get your brunch on! This recipe turned out amazing when I made it for Father’s Day and makes enough for a small family to have leftovers or feeds a bigger family. It’s easy to make, it’s delicious, and you’ll have people asking you for your recipe!

Prep time: 20 minutes

Bake time: 45 minutes

Total time: 1 hour, 5 minutes

**requires at least 1 hour to sit, or overnight, not included in the prep/baking time

Makes 10-12 servings

4 Tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, and a little more for the baking dish
1 (1 lb) loaf of unsliced french bread (not a baguette)
8 large eggs
3 cups half and half
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar, divided
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1-1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, divided
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Maple syrup or powdered sugar, for serving
Whipped cream, for serving (optional)
Fresh berries, for serving (optional)

Lightly coat a 9×13 baking dish (or other three quart baking dish) with unsalted butter to prevent sticking.
Tear 1 loaf unsliced french bread into bite-sized chunks and arrange in an even layer in the baking dish.
In a large bowl, whisk together 8 large eggs, 3 cups of half and half, 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, 1 Tablespoon vanilla, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg.
Pour the mixture evenly over the bread, then press the bread down slightly into the custard mixture. Cover the baking dish and refrigerate overnight or up to 24 hours. To bake sooner, let sit for 1 hour at room temperature to allow the bread to absorb the mixture.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Remove baking dish from fridge, uncover, and let sit for 20-30 minutes to come to room temperature.
In a small bowl, add 1/4 flour, 1/4 cup packed brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/4 cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Mix together.
Add 4 Tablespoons room temperature butter and mix well so a crumble forms (moist, small clumps).
Using tongs, remove the coated bread from the baking pan and add to a large bowl. Dump any remaining liquid at the bottom of the baking dish over the bread in the bowl. Then, still using your tongs (do not dump the bowl!), add the bread pieces back into the baking dish into an even layer (Do not skip this step–this will prevent the custard from pooling at the bottom of your dish when baking).
Sprinkle crumble evenly over the top of the French toast bake.
Bake 45-50 minutes until the bake is puffed, golden-brown in color, and set (not watery). Let cool five minutes before serving.
Top with maple syrup or powdered sugar, whip, and fresh berries, if desired.

Leftovers can be refrigerated in a sealed container for up to 3 days.
When I made this, I let it sit in the fridge for about 24 hours and it came out great. I highly recommend using the overnight-24 hour advance options versus the 1 hour because it just isn’t enough time for the bread to absorb the custard mixture well enough to be nice and fluffy at the end of baking.

This is the ultimate brunch dish that will be the shining star of your table. When I was looking for a copycat recipe for a French Toast Casserole I recently had at a catered restaurant brunch, I was just hoping to get semi-close to what they had.

The recipe I found I ended up tweaking fairly substantially to make sure it was the fluffiest and evenly baked version I could get, and this is it.

It’s a huge crowd pleaser and I love that it makes enough for our family and leftovers, so breakfast is taken care of for a few days in advance.

I had a lot of recipe requests for this one when I shared it to social media, so please–if you try it, and love it, share it! I believe that recipes are meant to be shared and passed along, not guarded like a best kept secret. Give to your friends and family so they can give it to their friends and family and spread the wealth that is good eating.

Until next time,