Overnight French Toast is a recipe you need to keep in your arsenal. You never know when you will need to make an impressive yet easy breakfast for a crowd.
The one downside to french toast is making it, hear me out. It’s the morning, right away I’m agitated. You have to make this egg custard, soak bread in it, fry up each piece one at a time, etc.
I’m not having it. I’m a half zombie in the morning, I need my coffee, and quiet time for at least an hour. Don’t talk to me. Don’t look at me. Don’t think about looking at me.
So when it comes to this Overnight French Toast, everything is ready for me in the morning to pop in the oven and bake right up, saves so much time!
This is one of our families favorite recipes, it’s pretty simple, feeds a crowd and is super super flavorful!
Why this recipe works:
- It takes minimal effort and time to whip this together.
- You are able to pop it in the refrigerator overnight and it will be ready for you in the morning after making the crumble topping.
- It serves a crowd, and you can make multiple pans if you are feeding a lot of people!
If you are like me, then this Baked French Toast Overnight recipe is for you! It is so, so easy to put together the night or afternoon before serving, 10 minutes and you are done.
I made sure this breakfast packs a punch of flavor too by using cinnamon swirl bread! I really think the specialty bread addition really makes this french toast bake pop!
But it is not necessary for you to use cinnamon swirl bread, it is a personal preference of ours and any normal bread will work with this recipe.
Plus add that crunchy cinnamon crumble on top and then you get this extra crunch and flavor with every single bite.
How to make Overnight French Toast:
- Lay cinnamon swirl bread slices into the bottom of a well greased 9×13 inch baking dish.
- Mix together the egg custard consisting of eggs, milk, heavy cream, brown sugar, and, of course, vanilla. Pour this mixture all over the bread slices.
- Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for overnight.
- Make the crumble, this can be done the night before also. Whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add cold butter, roll butter and flour mixture through your fingertips until the mixture resembles wet sand with a few larger butter lumps in it. Place mixture into a baggie and place in the fridge overnight, or you can do this first thing in the morning before baking the french toast – your choice.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°, sprinkle pecans on top of the bread, sprinkle all of the crumble on top. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, let cool slightly and serve.
See how easy it is to whip this up? The hardest part is waiting. Even the crumble topping is quick and easy to make, I know it’s an extra step but it is absolutely worth it.
More great breakfast options include Breakfast Enchiladas, Sour Cream Coffee Cake, and Chocolate Chip Muffins!
How to store:
This can be stored in an airtight container like a Tupperware container or ziptop bag for up to one day, you won’t want to leave it much longer than that.
You can also freeze this Overnight French Toast, the best method is to wrap the whole casserole dish in plastic wrap two times, then once in foil. The french toast bake will keep in the freezer for up to 2 months.
The night before you are going to serve, take the casserole dish out of the freezer and place in the fridge overnight to thaw. In the morning, bake as directed in the recipe below.
Tips and Tricks:
- You can use any kind of bread that you like, you do not have to use the cinnamon swirl if it’s not your thing, but it is highly suggested.
- This recipe calls for vanilla paste, if you cannot find vanilla bean paste you can swap out vanilla extra for the same amount.
- Make sure for the topping your butter is super cold.
- Baked French Toast can be frozen, see my storing tips up above.
- You can easily make a few batches at a time, depending on how many people you are planning on serving.
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Tools used to make overnight french toast recipe:
- 9×13 baking dish
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Whisk
- Bowls
- Vanilla Bean Paste
- Plastic Wrap
- Ground Cinnamon
As you can tell, by laying the bread slices into the casserole dish, and overlapping slightly, this is the lazy version!
If you would like the casserole to be more of a bread pudding style, just cube the bread into bite-sized pieces, and do everything else the same.
Baked French Toast overnight is great served with just powdered sugar, maple syrup, or even cinnamon buttermilk caramel sauce – the sky is the limit!
If you like this recipe you might also like:
If you’ve tried this OVERNIGHT FRENCH TOAST let me know in the comments how it turned out! You can follow me over on PINTEREST, INSTAGRAM OR FACEBOOK to find some more of our mouthwatering recipes!
Overnight French Toast
Ingredients
- 12 slices cinnamon swirl bread
- 8 eggs
- 2 cups milk
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
- 2 tablespoons vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
Cinnamon Crumble
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- pinch salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter cold, small dice*
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans or nuts of your choice
Instructions
- Grease a 9x13 baking dish well, lay pieces of bread into the baking dish in two rows, overlapping. Set aside.
- Whisk together the eggs, milk, heavy cream, sugars, and vanilla. Pour mixture over the bread. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight.
Cinnamon crumble**
- Whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add cold butter, roll butter and flour mixture through your fingertips until the mixture resembles wet sand with a few larger butter lumps in it.
- Preheat oven to 350°, sprinkle pecans all over the bread, coat evenly in the crumble. Bake for 45 minutes for a more custardy texture and up to 60 minutes for a crisper crust. Let cool slightly and serve.
Notes
- You can use any kind of bread that you like, you do not have to use the cinnamon swirl if it's not your thing, but it is highly suggested.
- This recipe calls for vanilla paste, if you cannot find vanilla bean paste you can swap out vanilla extra for the same amount.
- Make sure for the topping your butter is super cold.
- This recipe can be frozen, see my storing tips up above.
- You can easily make a few batches at a time, depending on how many people you are planning on serving.
- Make the crumble the night before with the french toast, put it into a baggie and place in the fridge overnight. OR, you can make this in the morning, your choice.
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