Overnight Creme Brûlée French Toast Bake

Prepped overnight, this incredible baked creme brûlée french toast is one of the easiest and most delicious breakfasts ever.

This overnight French toast bake is perfect for holiday mornings, brunch menus, fun weekend breakfasts, and more. With over 300 5-star reviews, it really is one of the best breakfast recipes ever!

How to Make Creme Brûlée French Toast

This French toast bake comes together very quickly and involves five basic steps:

1. Heat butter, brown sugar and maple syrup until melted and mostly smooth. Spread it in the bottom of a 9X13-inch pan.
2. Spread 1-inch thick bread cubes in an even layer across the caramel mixture.
3. Whisk together eggs, half-and-half, vanilla and salt, and pour this mixture over the bread.
4. Refrigerate for 8 to 10 hours.
5. Bake until the bread is golden and the caramel is bubbling.

Optional: the French toast bake can be flipped halfway through baking with a large, flat spatula if you’d like the golden caramelly mixture to end up on top.

Say No to Soggy French Toast

There are many reasons this overnight creme brûlée french toast bake shines.

• It is a make-ahead breakfast, which is dreamy when you’re feeding company or need a no-fuss breakfast for a busy or holiday morning.
• It is crazy delicious.
• It is NOT soggy.

And I don’t know about you, but that ⬆️ may be the winning factor for why this breakfast bake is the best.

I despise soggy bread (you longterm readers are like, “yes, Mel, WE KNOW”), which means I am very, very particular about French toast in all its variations.

This creme brûlée french toast has the perfect ratio of milk/eggs to bread ensuring that the bread bakes up custard-like and soft without being soggy. 🙌🏼

Serving Suggestions

My top tips for serving this delectable French toast bake are as follows:

• Serve it warm so the bread is soft and the “brûlée” layer is syrupy.
• Cut the breakfast bake into squares and dish it up with a flat spatula, making sure to scrape up all of the caramelly goodness underneath the bread as you serve it.
• For a prettier presentation, when serving, flip the pieces onto the serving plates so the syrup layer is on top.
• Serve with whipped cream and berries (optional, but so very lovely and delish!).

This creme brûlée french toast bake is truly exceptional! It has become a favorite Christmas morning breakfast for thousands of families everywhere (including us!).

Overnight Creme Brûlée French Toast Bake

Yield: 8 Servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 40 minutes mins

Chilling Time:: 8 hours hrs

Total Time: 8 hours hrs 55 minutes mins

4.74 stars (330 ratings)

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Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons (85 g) butter
• ¾ cup (159 g) packed light or dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, corn syrup or pancake syrup
• 6 to 8 1-inch thick slices French bread, cut into 3/4-inch cubes (see picture in the post – also, see note)
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• Sweetened whipped cream + fresh strawberries/raspberries, for serving

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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 to 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 warm with sweetened whipped cream and fresh raspberries or strawberries.

Notes

Texture: I like my French toast on the firmer (read: less soggy) end of things (although it’s still plenty soft and delicious as written). However, if you like a softer/milkier/soggier French toast OR your bread is thicker than 1-inch slices, increase the half-and-half to 1 1/2 cups and use 5 eggs instead of 4.

Bread: if you are using an artisan-style bread with heavy, thick crusts, consider cutting the crusts off the bread (no need to do that if the French bread you use is soft with a thinner crust).

The number of slices of bread in the ingredients list is a general guideline for the bread. You need enough bread cubes to cover the bottom of a 9X13-inch pan in a single layer. It’s ok if there are a few cubes of bread stacked, but for the most part, the bread should be in a tight even layer across the caramel mixture. 

Author: Mel

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American, French

Method: Bake

Serving: 1 Serving, Calories: 315kcal, Carbohydrates: 39g, Protein: 7g, Fat: 15g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Cholesterol: 116mg, Sodium: 326mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 24g

Recommended Products

Mixing Bowl

9X13-inch Metal Baking Pan

Liquid Measuring Cup

Recipe Source: adapted from this recipe at Allrecipes

Recipe originally posted December 2016; updated May 2025 with new photos, recipe notes, etc.

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