Overnight Creme Brûlée French Toast Bake
This easy, dreamy baked creme brûlée french toast, thanks to its overnight prep, is so simple and so delicious. It’s bound to be a new breakfast favorite!
Every year around Christmas time, I usually share a new holiday breakfast recipe perfect for a special breakfast. Emphasis on special. It’s very important that we all understand and know: ain’t nobody eating creme brûlée French toast on a Tuesday morning in my house.
We stick with our usual breakfast suspects during the week and save the special stuff…for special days.
I jumped the gun a bit and shared this baked Chocolate German Pancake a few weeks ago – it would be fabulous for Christmas morning, too.
But the real breakfast winner this holiday season is this overnight baked creme brûlée French toast.
Holy moly. It’s amazing.
And this is coming from someone who isn’t the biggest French toast fan on the planet. It ranks kind of low on my list of breakfast loves, but apparently, if you make it taste like creme brûlée, I’m going to be fighting young children for the leftovers.
Instead of doing full slices of bread, I opted to cut the bread into cubes and make more of a “bake” out of it instead of using full slices of bread. My main motive? Reduce the soggy factor.
I’m vehemently against soggy bread of all sorts (I’m so very sorry bread pudding – you’ll probably never have a place on my blog), but I love caramelized, golden pieces of bread lightly soaked in a sweet milk mixture.
Yes, that I like.
Keeping the crusts on the bread and cutting it into cubes helps this French toast bake reach absolute perfection.
As it bakes, the simple brown sugar syrup sitting under the bread cooks and bubbles and creates an absolutely magical creme brûlée crust for the tender French toast.
No extra syrup necessary, we serve this deliciousness with sweetened whipped cream and fresh raspberries and strawberries. The combo is spectacular.
The super simple overnight prep makes this holiday (or maybe lazy Saturday?) breakfast option a dream, especially since you take it out of the refrigerator and pop it in the oven as it preheats.
I will warn you, a 9X13-pan of this succulent French toast was pushing the limits on serving sizes for our family. Granted, I have five hungry boys (and two hungry girls!) to feed, but I’ve started doubling this for our family.
There are some leftovers doing it this way, but those easily get gobbled up later (ahem: lunch).
Creme brûlée is hands down one of my favorite desserts of all time, and this French toast version just makes me (and my whole family) so happy. This upcoming Christmas morning, I’m planning on serving it with these tasty Christmas Baked Eggs.
If you are looking for a special, fun breakfast for any of the upcoming holidays, let this be the one! You won’t be disappointed.
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Overnight Creme Brûlée French Toast Bake
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons (85 g) butter
- ¾ cup (159 g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, can sub corn syrup or pancake syrup
- 6 1-inch thick slices French bread, cut into 3/4-inch cubes (see picture in the post)
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Sweetened whipped cream + fresh strawberries/raspberries, for serving
Instructions
- Add butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup to a microwave-safe bowl, and microwave for 1-2 minutes, until the sugar is dissolved. Stir to combine. (This step can be done in a pan on the stove.)
- Lightly grease a 9X13-inch pan with cooking spray.
- Spread the brown sugar mixture in the bottom of the pan and arrange the bread cubes in a single layer over the top.
- In a bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, half-and-half, vanilla, and salt.
- Pour the mixture evenly over the bread.
- Cover the pan and refrigerate overnight (8-10 hours).
- Remove the pan from the refrigerator, uncover, and place in the cold oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Once the oven reaches temperature, bake for 30-35 minutes, until the bread is golden and the caramelly syrup is bubbling (alternately, if you want the golden syrupy goodness on top, the french toast can be baked for 20 minutes, then using a large, flat spatula, flip the bread pieces and bake for another 10-15 minutes).
- Serve immediately with sweetened whipped cream and fresh raspberries or strawberries.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted from this recipe at Allrecipes
185 Comments on “Overnight Creme Brûlée French Toast Bake”
I want to double this recipe. Can I still use the same size pan?
You will need a larger pan for a double batch.
So good! Made it for Christmas morning. Added some chopped pecans on the bottom of the pan and a sprinkling of cinnamon and nutmeg on top. A keeper, for sure!
Amazing!!! This has been a breakfast Christmas tradition since Mel posted it!! I look forward to it every year!
Can this be baked ahead and reheated?
I haven’t tried that, but I’m guessing it will work (I worry a little about the bread drying out, but it’s worth trying!).
This is a magical dish! I make en masse for the students at the school I work at going into Christmas break. They look forward to it all year and talk about the rest of the year after.
Hey Mel quick question: my oven preheats really hot – will that be an issue in terms of potential burning or total cooking time?
It could be – you might add the french toast bake a few minutes after preheating.
Turned out perfectly and was east to make. Tasted like a real expensive breakfast menu item.
I love this recipe and have made it many times over the years. Lately I’ve been freezing the heels of our sandwich bread (we go through a lot with three kids). I used the heels today in this recipe and it turned out delicious. I haven’t made the recipe the normal way lately so I’m not sure it’s quite as good but we all loved it and gobbled it up. I’ll continue to use up the heels with this recipe.
Mel, I have been making this for special occasions since you originally posted it. My kids call it “Mom’s Famous French Toast” I tell them that Mel made me famous!! Thank you for being my reliable source for favorite meals!!
Thanks so much, Molly!
This looks good. Did the 9×9 pan for the person who did it work? I am thinking to make it for my dad’s birthday but there is only 3 of us eating so a 9×9 pan.
Perfect I make this for Birthdays. Anniversary’s and Christmas
Excellent as is – didn’t even need the whipped cream.
love it
I am planning to make this for Easter breakfast tomorrow. So excited! I was wondering if I could do it in a 9×9 so it’s a little thicker. Thoughts?
Sorry I just saw this – did you end up baking it in a 9X9? I think you could definitely do that.
Hi Mel! How far in advance do you think this can be made without ending up soggy? Thanks very much!
Hey Theresa! I’ve only ever made it 24 hours in advance. Any longer and it might be a bit soggier.
What is the serving size?
I don’t have the serving size in weights – if the pan of french toast is cut into 8 pieces, it’s one of those squares (so 1/8 of the batch).
I am making this recipe now and am so excited! I’ve taken pictures and will post how it turns out!
Have a delicious day, steph
We made this for Christmas breakfast today and oh man! So yummy!! Thank you for sharing these amazing delicious traditions with us.
Perfection exactly as written! Everyone loved this for Christmas Day breakfast!,
My family loves this recipe. We have it every Christmas morning. I make 2 dishes of it now, as our family is growing. There are never any leftovers.
hi! this looks amazing. do you think it would work with brioche? or it would be too soggy. i’m with you on team no soggy bread
Yes, I think brioche would work just fine!
What kind of pan do you recommend for going straight from fridge to oven?
I usually use a ceramic or metal pan for this recipe.
Absolutely Amazing!!!
I made this with Gluten free bread and it was fantastic!!!!
This is one of those awesome recipes where GF bread SHINES!
This is a family favorite. I’ve made plenty of variations on it. I’ve done half milk and half cream when I forgot to buy half and half. We’ve tried it with leftover hot dog buns and even a few slices of wheat bread mixed in with some sliced white bread when I didn’t plan ahead with French bread. I’ve also made it the morning of instead of the night before and that turned out nearly as delicious. Obviously the best results come from following the recipe, but for those of you, like me, who can’t always get their act together, this recipe is pretty forgiving.
Hi, I was wondering if I can freeze this and then bake a few days later?
I haven’t tried that, so I’m not sure – but it’s definitely worth experimenting. If you freeze it, I think I’d defrost in the refrigerator overnight before baking.
I made this for a family brunch and it was a huge hit with our foodie family! Used 4 eggs and heavy cream as that’s what we had on hand, otherwise followed recipe . Will use it again over and over I’m sure!
Out of all the overnight toasts I’ve tried, this ones our favorite! We’ve done it for multiple guests and it’s always been a hit.
Unbelievably good!!! Thanks for another keeper!!! You made Christmas even better again!
Hi there! Creme brûlée is my absolute fave dessert so I will try the recipe as written 🙂 I’m wondering though if you have an eggnog French toast recipe or if I could substitute the half and half with eggnog in this recipe to make an eggnog creme brûlée? Thanks!
I don’t have an eggnog French toast recipe (sorry!) but I think you could probably try subbing the half and half with eggnog to see how it goes for this recipe.
We have made this several times, and it is always a huge hit, but this time was the first time we ate it with strawberries and whipped cream, and – WOW – that just put its deliciousness over the top! It was so, so good. The one thing I do differently from the recipe is I cut the French bread a little thicker than 3/4 inches, it’s more like 1 1/4 inches thick, and I use the bigger measurements for the liquid that you share in the notes. Comes out perfect. Two 9×13 pans of this fed my 9-person family with no leftovers today. (Perfect Conference-morning breakfast because I don’t have to get up early and make it!) Oh, also – I forgot to add the maple syrup to the creme brulee part of one of the pans, and couldn’t even tell which one it was. Both were absolutely delicious.
I made this to have for breakfast this morning for our special breakfast before a semiannual religious conference. It was DELICIOUS! The only thing I did differently was I that I didn’t put the bread in a single layer. I filled a square casserole dish with it and also reserved a little sauce to drizzle over the top.
It was perfect! It had a bread pudding consistency in the center and the caramel sauce was so scrumptious that my family asked me to make this a traditional pre-conference breakfast going forward. We just served it with sausage links and fried eggs to balance the sweetness.
I made this for a birthday brunch and wow, it is so good. I got quite a few compliments on it. I’ll be making this again for sure.
Mel-this recipe is amazing. I’ve made it too many times to count and I’ve found a great system. I buy the two pack of country loaf bread from the Costco bakery. I either freeze one loaf to use later or because it’s not hard to make two of I make one for a friend and drop it off the day before so they have breakfast ready to go. This loaf is a little more bread than this recipe calls for so I 1.5 times the other ingredients and it turns out perfect! Such an easy, delicious way to brighten someone’s day! Thank you
Thanks for adding those notes, Liz!
Oh. My. Gosh. I have made this recipe five times now and each time it gets rave reviews!!! I literally *cannot* stop eating it. It is my all time favorite breakfast! Thank you, Mel! PS- if anybody knows of any CBFTA (Creme Brûlée French Toast Anonymous) meetings let me know. Asking for a friend… 😉
Haha…you’re hilarious!
Um. I can’t believe I waited this long to make this. Well, I can, because I have wanted to make this at least 5 times but always the morning of. Sigh. So, I finally prepped the night before (I used sliced brioche bread because well, I forgot to get the other bread) and it was A-MAZ-ING! My kids barely said a word because they were happily stuffing their faces. My oldest (who loves to make creme brulee said, “mom, I don’t know if I will ever see French toast the same way again!” It was a winner. Maybe a new Easter morning tradition at the Marcroft house since I don’t have to stay up as late wrapping! Thanks again Mel for saving the day and making my house smell yummy and feeding my seven hungry kids!
Can crushed pecans be added to the sugar layer?
I’m sure they could!
Delish, Mel. Merry Christmas!
Is it possible to make this ahead and freeze it?
I haven’t tried freezing so I’m not totally sure but it’s worth a try!
There isn’t anything more I can say other than INCREDIBLE!
Has anyone ever made these in individual servings? You know like maybe in a ramekin, muffin cups or decorative paper baking cups?
I’m serving this in my restaurant in Roundup Montana this morning. People are freaking out! I gave you credit. I wanted all of the glory for myself, but that made me feel too guilty. It’s my new Sunday morning special for the foreseeable future. Thanks Mel! I can always count on your recipes!
Haha…thanks, Nina!
Can brioche bread or challah be used instead of french bread?
Yes.
I was looking for an easy breakfast for holidays, as I make the bulk of the food. This is perfect! It fits into my meal prep the day before beautifully. Everyone loves it. It’s in regular rotation and perfect way to use up any leftover French bread I make. Using your recipe, of course!
Tried this for when my daughter’s family when they visited. Every person at the table agreed it was the best breakfast they had ever had! Easy to make and it disappeared just as easily.
I made this for my early morning seminary class this morning and they devoured it. I feed them breakfast every Friday morning and they said this one definitely needs to be in the rotation of their favorites.
I wish there would have been 1 slice left over, but they were all begging for seconds and thirds. LOL!
What an awesome seminary teacher you are!
This is one of our family’s special breakfast go-to recipes. Our son just got home from studying abroad in China. This was his number one requested breakfast dish on his list of “American foods I can’t wait to eat again.” It is amazingly simple but delicious. Our three teens are up late for the sole purpose of getting a batch of this in the fridge for tomorrow after church. Our world traveling son has to have it before he heads back to Chicago for college. It’s that important!
Love to hear that your teenagers love this (especially that world traveler!). Thanks, Wendy!
This was PURE PERFECTION!!!! So so so yummy! My only wish was that I would’ve doubled it. Thanks for the amazing recipe!
Thank you so much for this recipe! I made it yesterday for my first time making a special Christmas breakfast, and I think it’s the one I’ll always do! I used brioche since I just happened to see it while looking for bread, and oh my, it was soooo good! Thank you!
I make this every year! My kids and husband loves it. I always do a couple of quiches to go along with it. I use Brioche and put orange extract and orange zest in it and it’s amazing!!
Can I make this two days in advance without baking?
I haven’t made it that far in advance so I’m not sure – sorry!
I just made this and served it at book group and it was hit! It was devoured. Not soggy, great flavor, and perfect with cream and berries. I forgot to make it the night before but it was still delicious! Thanks for another great recipe, Mel!
Would sour dough be good? I was eyeing the one at Costco this week. Everyone around me was grabbing it like it was a precious commodity
I think if you like the flavor of sourdough, it would be great!
We had this for GC weekend and it was AMAZING! Kind of left me in a sugar coma. In fact, I just ate the leftovers for dessert… SO SO SO good. Will definitely be making it again.
So you have it in there while oven reaches temp and then start the timer for 30 min?
Yes!
When you double the recipe, do you put it all into one pan or make 2 pans of it? We made this for Father’s Day and it was a definite win!! Thanks for sharing!!
I make two pans. Glad you loved it!
So good! Even with cheap white bread it turned out amazingly with that crust on the bottom. And it’s so easy to make I applaud your resilience to not eat it on a Tuesday morning. I am clearly not as strong as you haha
I just got some French Bread from Walmart Grocery pick up, and I didn’t realize the bread came pre-sliced. They are very thin slices! Will that work or will it make it too soggy?
I definitely think it helps to have thicker-sliced bread, but it’s probably worth a try.
Love this! Had it this morning with sweetend mascarpone and strawberries. It works well with gluten free bread.
Yum! A new favorite!
Merry Christmas, Mel! I just made this for my family’s Christmas brunch, and it was a big hit with everyone! We used brioche and doubled the recipe for our family of 6. I will definitely make this again in the future. I really liked how it wasn’t overly eggy and soggy. Everything I’ve tried from your website is always delicious.
Oh yum, brioche would be amazing! Merry Christmas!
Hi!
I’d like to make this for tomorrow, but I don’t have half-and-half… Can I use milk instead?
Thanks!
It’ll be a bit less rich (and the bread might have a different texture) but you can definitely experiment.
did you use 2 pans or layer? for the double recipe?
Hello, sorry for the delayed response. I used 2 9×13 pans.
Wow! Wow! Wow! So easy and delicious. And I can’t believe I’m saying this but it was even better heated up as leftovers (if you’re lucky enough to have any).
I decided to not flip it halfway through baking, I liked having the crisp toasted bread side. I topped it with fresh whipped cream and raspberries. Perfect! Our new Christmas breakfast! Thank you!!
The best French toast ever! This is our Christmas morning breakfast tradition. It’s quick, simple, failsafe, and delicious.
I agree with all those sentiments!! 🙂
This was awesome! I used torn up croissants and everyone loved it. Thanks for posting this great recipe for special mornings.
I am so with you on the Soggy bread thing! Its a texture i just can’t do.
Being an avid baker and recipe adventurer, my family always wants me to make bread pudding. Ummm, NO! Gag.
Can’t wait to try the recipe!
I made this last year for Christmas breakfast and it was a hit and so easy! Definitely making it again this year!
Oh I just found the way to pin it lol so that’s done. Thanks again for the delicious recipe!
Hi I don’t see a way to save this to Pinterest, would it be ok if I did? I made this last year for our Christmas breakfast and LOVED it, we had no left overs cause everyone went back for seconds, so we’re doing it again this year.
This sounds amazing, could I make a couple of days ahead and freeze?
Would it come out the same?
Hi Brianna – I haven’t tried freezing. Sorry! I’m guessing it would work just based on ingredients but I don’t know for sure.
If the oven has already been used for other dishes and is still warm, and I don’t have time to let the oven get cold again, what do you suggest for cooking time? Thanks!!!
I’d probably do about the same time…check 5-10 min early just to be safe
I am so excited to have found your blog, Mel. Your recipes look right up my alley 🙂 The French toast bake was my first recipe to try. I was a tad uncertain at first only because I’ve never made a recipe like this before and it seemed too easy to taste as good as the reviews made it out to be. However, it was delicious! I did flip it halfway through and it turn out perfectly. I’m reheating it for breakfast this morning.
Next up, Dan Dan noodles!
Thanks, Andrea! I hope you love any of the other recipes you try!
I have a question for you. I made a bunch of these and froze them yesterday as Christmas gifts. I did a test run and loved it but melted the brown sugar and butter in the oven as it was warming up to save time but it was difficult to melt the sugar. So when I made them, I melted the butter on the stove in a pan and it was still difficult to see when the sugars were melted to I brought it to a boil, just barely, just to make sure. As I was cooling, it formed a caramel in the bottom of the pan, not hard crack, it was still soft and moved some on the pan. Here is my question….will this melt in the oven again? I don’t ever make candy, so I don’t know the limits of sugars. Any advice is helpful!
Hey Beth, that’s a good question. In “Mel terms” when sugar is melted and boiled (like making caramel or candy), the higher the temperature, the harder the sugar will be when cooled, which you know. It can melt again, but it will still be hard when cooled because of the first boiling/melting stage. Does that make sense? So in the case of your gifts (great idea, by the way!), yes, the sugar will melt again…and depending on how long you let it boil, it might take longer to melt and/or might not be quite as soft in the French toast, but if it was only a few minutes of simmering, it should be fine!
Oh thank you. Yes I made 9 of them and if I go by my list, I have about 20 more. Going to have to cut the list. It is a very affordable gift though. It worked out to about $1.61 in cost! I am so glad it will melt again. Relieved. Nothing worse than a nasty tasting gift. I have had a few. lol
I prepped this last night so that my husband and his buddies would have a good breakfast the next morning while hanging Christmas lights. I had a frozen loaf of brioche, increased the liquid and added vanilla bean paste (for flavor and vanilla beann specks). This recipe was so easy and made my morning even easier as I just had to pop it in the oven. Definitely keeping this recipe to make for Christmas morning.
This is wonderful! I made it for Christmas Eve breakfast, have made it for my father-in-law’s birthday(because he liked it so much) and am making it again to take to him for desert tomorrow night 🙂 What is the absolute minimum time it needs to set in the refrigerator before cooking? I want to know if I have to make it ahead tonight or if I can make it in the morning and refrigerate for two to four hours before baking. Thank you for this delicious recipe !
I’ve only ever refrigerated it overnight, so I’m not sure how it would work out only made ahead a couple hours. I’d suggest making it per the recipe, if you can, so that it turns out delicious!
Made this. Loved it! Easy, very tasty! I would say it feeds about 3 people.
I’ve been experimenting with sourdough starters and whole wheat dough, which means every now and then I end up with bricks. This recipe was the save for one of those bricks! My family loved the treat of this dessert breakfast and I loved not wasting ingredients and effort! Thanks Mel!
Awesome!
This was a hit at our house on Christmas morning – definitely a decadent treat for special occasions!
Have you ever done the caramelized topping on top as well as on bottom and let it sit overnight. Just curious if it would be good or not…
I haven’t tried that…
We had this for Christmas breakfast and it was delicious and easy…double win! This is definitely going to be our new Christmas tradition (we had done cinnamon rolls in the past but it always led to way more work than I wanted to do on Christmas Eve). Thank you!
I made this for Christmas brunch along with your Christmas eggs, and got so many compliments! Thank you for making me look good, and everything taste amazing!
Like so many others, I also chose to make this for my family Christmas morning. I knew it would be tough to enjoy unwrapping gifts, get kids ready for Christmas church services, and crank out a nice warm Christmas-worthy breakfast. This did the trick. I prepped the ingredients Christmas Eve (it was a cinch), and when the kids woke up, I popped it in the oven. Once gifts were opened, I pulled it out, rinsed some berries and topped it with whipped topping (yes, our store was sold out of whipping cream). So easy! I will say that I fretted about the BREAD to use only because I wasn’t able to do my usual pre-Christmas shop-a-thon to get all the best ingredients for my meal plan before everything was picked over. I didn’t want to risk using the bakery “french bread” loaf, but I’m curious if others tried that route. To my surprise, I found a nice Sara Lee Artesano commercial bread that worked out lovely. Since it was already sliced, all I had to do was cube a few stacks of slices. Easy! I did feel like it might be missing some cinnamon. I think I’ll sprinkle the top with cinnamon the next time I make this because I will be making this again. Thanks, Mel. Happy New Year!
I agree — although not traditional “Creme brulee” flavored—- it was SCREAMING for cinnamon and that’s how I make it now! Love it!
I made this Christmas morning using a baguette and it’s now my new holiday breakfast treat. I was reluctant to replace my usual overnight Egg Nog French Toast recipe, but I was strong 😉 and changed it up anyway—and I am so happy that I did. I actually prefer my baked french toast a little more moist, so next time, I’ll increase the liquid part by half.
Sidenote: I purchased the very last baguette in my grocery store and was so happy to find it that I didn’t read the label. Turns out it was sourdough. I was disappointed when I realized that, but I made the dish anyway, counting on the high sugar content to mask the sourness of the bread. And it did. And even if it hadn’t, I’m pretty sure the dish would have been just as much of a hit.
Your recipes rock, Miss Mel. I’m making banana bread this morning and wanted to try a new recipe. And then I remembered that you’re my favorite recipe source and found one here. From now on and forever, I’m checking your website FIRST for a specific recipe.
I love that sourdough worked out just as well in this, Lorene! And thanks for having confidence in the recipes I post…that makes my day!
Great recipe. Made it for Christmas morning with a little changed. We had leftover Kings Hawaiian dinner rolls from our Christmas Eve party and instead of milk and vanilla used Eggnog.
Looking forward to making this again next weekend.
Sounds delicious!!
We had this yesterday morning and it was absolutely delicious! Easy to prepare the night before too. I did flip it half way through baking and loved how the caramel sauce surrounded the bread pieces. I’m not a soggy bread fan either, so I did 1 1/2 times recipe for a large 10×15 inch Pyrex dish. Between this and the Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake of yours that we made for our Christmas Eve family gathering, you have given us some tasty new Christmas traditions. Thank you, Mel! Blessings to you and yours for the New Year!
Happy New Year, Becky! So glad you loved this and thanks for including your modifications!
This was so good. I will make this over and over again! I flipped my pieces over after 20 mins and it was great. There are chewy caramel parts, crispy parts and creamy parts. It is the best breakfast bake ever. And Mel’s right, one pan Really isn’t enough! I’m a conservative eater, and I couldn’t stop eating it! Thank you!!!
So happy you loved it, Gen! Thanks for reporting back. 🙂
Holy cow, Mel, this is an amazing recipe, everyone just loved it! Definitely a new favourite special breakfast here. Thank you.
So happy to hear that, Fiona!
A winner for our Christmas breakfast this morning. Forgot to uncover it, forgot the raspberries, forgot the whipped cream (hectic Christmas morning). It was still delicious!
Sounds like it’s foolproof! Yay!
This made for a delicious Christmas Eve breakfast. Since I used oven toasted French bread (to mimic staleness), the top was crispy, which my husband loved. Thanks so much.
Oh yum!
The three most fabulous things about this dish: it is prepped the night before, it is simple to make and it is delicious!! We just had it for breakfast.
Using slightly stale French bread resulted in crispy edges of bread with gooey caramel.
Flipping the pieces just before serving put the caramel on the top without me having to turn the entire thing during cooking because I’m lazy about things like that.
Thanks for another winner Melanie. Merry Christmas to you and yours.
Those are all the reasons I love it, too! 🙂
Hi Mel! I’m so excited to make this for Christmas morning! I’m just wondering- how far ahead do you buy the bread? I don’t want to go to the store on Christmas Eve- does it need to be fresh bread? Thank you for your wonderful recipes- they are always a hit at our house (daily!). Merry Christmas to you and your cute family!!
You could definitely use 1 or 2-day old bread, especially since it soaks in the milk liquid.
Hi Mel.
Thanks for all of your fabulous, yummy recipes. What type of 6X9 pan did you use? Would it be OK to use a Pyrex dish?
Yes, you could use a glass Pyrex baking pan.
This looks lovely! Thank you! I’m going to make this for our Christmas breakfast. Quick question. If I’m doubling the recipe and baking 2 pans of it at the same time, do I increase the baking time?
Nope, I just bake it like normal.
So, one of the benefits of nursing a newborn baby is that I need so.many.calories!
That is why I had this on a Friday morning. Not the whole pan, obv…
It was really tasty and surprisingly really tastes like a creme brulee!
Thank you for a great recipe!
Could you use texas toast?
Could definitely try!
I’ve been making a recipe nearly identical to this one for years. It calls for Texas toast, 5 eggs, and 1 1/2 c. half and half and it cooks in an 18×13 pan (jelly roll pan). It’s so good!
Ok Mel … the question I have wondered for years following your blog… How the heck do you stay so slim?!?! Creme brule for breakfast?!?! This may be our Christmas breakfast too. Sounds wonderful.
Haha, well, I’m certainly not eating this for breakfast every morning. 🙂 AND, I’m probably not quite as slim as you think. I always tell people I exercise to support my eating habit! 🙂
Yum! I made this to surprise that sweet boy who married me (many moons ago) for a “just because” breakfast. 🙂 It was a hit! Thank you for all you do. I love your recipes. Merry Christmas to you and yours!
So happy you made it and enjoyed it, Jana! You are a sweet wife. 🙂
Annnnnd now I know for sure what we’re having Christmas morning!
Did you use your homemade French bread for this?
I have one time when I made it…and I’ve also used a more artisan-style loaf from Costco.
Hello,
Firstly I have to say I love your posts and am so very thankful for your recipes.
I live in Australia and need a little help with the bread used in the recipe. When you say French bread, do you mean Brioche? Or are you referring to a particular loaf that is sold in the US? Can you recommend what bread to use and how much is actually needed? I work in grams but if you can tell me how many ounces of cubed bread you use that would be ever so helpful ( I can easily convert it to grams).
I am wanting to do a trial before making on Christmas morning.
Thank you,
Warm regards from Australia,
Angela
Hi Angela – brioche would work just fine. Honestly, any kind of sturdy bread that can be cubed without disintegrating or falling apart would work. You just need enough cubes to cover the bottom of a 9X13-inch pan in a single layer. I’m sorry I don’t have the weight in ounces…
This is very similar to my fave french toast bake. yum!
Do you think it could be cooked in the slow cooker on christmas morning, perhaps on high for a couple of hours?
Certainly worth a try!
thanks!
Would it affect taste/texture if this was refrigerated for closer to 24hours??
I think that should be ok…I probably wouldn’t go over 24 hours though.
I am excited to try this! I recently made your cinnamon roll recipe under “The Best” section and it overflowed my mixer. Have you ever made it by half-ing the ingredients?
Yes, works great!
Thank you! This is going to be my Christmas morning so much easier.
Overnight French toasts are one of my favorite breakfasts! This one looks amazing!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Oh Mel thank you! This is going to be the first year in sooo long that we won’t be spending Christmas morning with our grandchildren. Their dad works at a church and when the subject of just having a church service or having the whole kit and caboodle regular Sunday came up, people went up in arms saying they had to have it ALL. That meant daddy would be gone for most of the morning and into the afternoon on Christmas. Our church is electing to throw open the doors and pack us all in for one glorious service, but I digress. My daughter also teaches Sunday school so she will be busy getting an almost 10 year old, a 5 year old and a 7 month old out of the house not having been able to open presents. When we were talking about when to celebrate we decided on Christmas eve as she will only have to work after late afternoon. I told her I would supply the food because she wanted to do it at her house so the kidlets could go on to bed, and we could relax together which is a rarity. With the ease of this recipe I can make up a double recipe last thing before heading over, leaving one at my house. When she gets up with the baby Christmas morning she can pop it into that cold oven and they will all feel like they are still having Christmas breakfast with Grandmama and Grandpa. We will have the other one at our house feeling the love of our dear ones. I don’t even need to try this recipe out before hand either. I have yet to have a problem with any of your recipes sweet Mel. To make it that much better… one of the 10 yr old, 5 yr old, and my daughters favorite desserts is Creme Brulee!
Thanks, TerriSue! You are such a sweet mom/grandma. I’m sure your daughter will appreciate that – sounds like they have a hectic Christmas weekend. I’m sure your efforts to help will go very far!
Thank you, thank you for posting this!! I have been hoping you would ever since you did your instagram story about it … with your cute kiddos. I often make french toast for Christmas morning because my children really like it… although I, like you, don’t LOVE it as my favorite thing. Last year we had the Christmas Eggs and they were a hit. So I can’t wait to add this to my Christmas morning.. Over Night Creme brûlée French toast for the Christmas morning win!! Merry Christmas Mel and gang!!
You just saved my Christmas morning! I typically make the more traditional French toast bake with the cream cheese pieces throughout which my husband and I love but a couple of my pickier kids have been (not to subtly) hinting that they would really prefer something without cream cheese and I’ve been searching high and low for something that would still fit the bill of put it together the night before and just bake in the morning that everyone would enjoy…. They are going to LOVE this!! Thank you thank you!!!
This looks delicious and I def shared it on my socials! Thanks for the recipe!!!
OMG, This is a perfect combination, you nailed it.
I make something similar to this and it’s a genius move to cube the bread! Can’t wait to try it this way!
Please tell me that I don’t have to flip it over to have it be delicious (?)
It’s delicious either way!
Hi Mel! You mentioned that you now double the recipe for your family, do you use two separate pans to maintain the single layer or do you double in one pan? This sounds wonderful….very similar to one I make (I add sliced Granny Smith apples before adding bread). Merry Christmas and thank you for feeding the blog world well!!
Yes, I double it in two 9X13-inch pans. Merry Christmas to you, too! 🙂
I am wondering if challah would work for this recipe? This looks amazing!!
Yes, I bet it would be amazing!
We love crime brûlée French Toast but have always made it with whole slices of Texas toast on a jelly roll pan. I’m excited to try this version.
Just want to be sure, we should pour the brown sugar mixture on the bottom of the pan before laying on the bread. The directions didn’t include that step.
Sorry about that! Yes, the brown sugar mixture goes in the pan and the bread goes on top. I just edited the recipe. Again, sorry!
Hi Mel,
It might just be me, but I think your recipe is missing a step. What do you do with the sugars you dissolved? Do you mix it into the egss/cream mixture? or do you add it to the bread separately? I love your recipes and really appreciate your willingness to share them! Merry Christmas!
Sorry, Beth! The brown sugar mixture goes on the bottom of the pan before the bread. I just fixed the recipe. Thanks for the heads up!@
Love this..gonna do this in AZ this weekend while out visiting my son, daughter in law and my Queen Creek grand babies
Maybe you forgot the step where you tell us what to do with the carmel-y stuff?
I sure did…sorry about that! I just fixed the recipe. 🙂