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.
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 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
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
My family loves this recipe so much they demand it every other week for meal prep. I did use coffee creamer instead of half and half to give it a bit more flavor than just the vanilla so I highly recommend it and I’m trying something different this week and I’m using a chocolate wine that’s basically Bailey’s. I’ll let you know how it turns out
Absolutely delicious! Rich and sweet, great as part of a brunch buffet as you may not want a whole plate of it. Made exactly as written with one small tweak: I sprinkled a bit of cinnamon on top before refrigerating overnight, also sprinkled a wee bit more onafter flipping the bread cubes over halfway through baking. We did not serve with whipping cream or syrup, just thawed some unsweetened frozen sliced strawberries to spoon over top. What a treat!
I made this using the extra egg/milk and French bread as directed – by morning the egg/milk mixture had settled to the bottom. I thought, when baking, it would bubble up through the bread – but it didn’t and the bread had a very dry crust on top. I tried to butter the top but it didn’t help. Maybe l should have saved some of the egg/milk mixture and put it on in the morning? My other concern was the brown sugar/butter on the bottom. If l wanted the French toast to be hot, the syrupy bottom burned my mouth. Really wouldn’t want to serve this to little kids!
I have made this recipe no less than 50 times. It is a family favorite and new guests always want the recipe! I use the ingredients as written (4 large eggs and 1 cup half and half) and flip the casserole halfway through baking so that the brown sugar mixture is on both the top and the bottom. (I cut it into small sections and flip each section one at a time.) I usually let the casserole cool just a bit so it doesn’t melt the whip cream. My kids have been eating this for the last 3 years (they are 5 and 7 and I serve it warm…not hot.) It is their absolute favorite and I’ve never had any issues with burning their mouths.
Really yummy! I was afraid it would be “dry” but it was perfect, as written, in that regard. Def enjoyed with the fruit to help cut down sweetness. Thanks for posting such a delicious recipe!
I didn’t like the bread I used. I used a take and bake French bread. It was crusty on the outside. I wish the recipe was more moist. I should have added more liquid. I did love the brown sugared bottom layer.
The best part of this recipe is that the calorie count was exact. There’s 9 servings in a 9×13 pan. My calorie count was 314 and hers was 315.
THIS IS SOOOOO GOOD! I am making it again for Christman…….THANKS!
What is French bread?
I know of French baguette and croissants, but not French bread.
It’s like a French baguette, just fluffier. But a French baguette may work too.
We made this this morning for a church Christmas party. We were just handed the ingredients and the recipe. Is there any chance that you might consider being more specific than just 6 slices of French Bread. The slices of French Bread we were given were much bigger than the usual so, having never made this before, I wasn’t sure if I had too much bread for the amount of liquids. In talking to others some people only put in half the bread they were given since that made one layer and others, like me, added extra milk and an egg. It would be nice to have a weight or at least how many cups the bread cubes make to make it more clear. Some of the bakers were new cooks–I don’t know what they did. Anyway, everyone loved it and there was none left by the end.
Hi Lorraine, sure, I’ll add some notes to the recipe to help.
I made this to take to a Church Christmas party asking for breakfast casseroles, sweet, or savory. The most difficult part of the recipe was cutting up the bread. I purchased a loaf of very fresh French bread from the grocery store. Your picture of the cut up bread in the pan looked much better than mine. I will cut the pieces bigger. It took almost the entire load, rather than 6 slices.
When you say you double it for your family, do you make a second pan, or put it all in one pan, just making the casserole thicker?
I have made several of your recipes over the years, and really love them.
Hi Brenda, when I double, I make two separate pans.
I hate it when people say I made your recipe and then describe how totally they changed it! So I hope you don’t mind that I made just one change – to use perhaps as an alternate ingredient. I had cinnamon rolls that were past their prime and I used them in place of the bread. This was spectacular. I’m with you – hate bread pudding but this is definitely not “bread pudding” – it’s a yummy breakfast/brunch. Thanks Mel
What a unique and great idea, Frances! Thanks for sharing!
This looks delicious! Can it be refrigerated for longer than 8-10 hours? Or, is less than 8 hours ok? Making it for a brunch. Christmas Eve brunch! Thanks, Mel! All your recipes are delicious.
Yes, I think the timing is flexible. I would suggest trying to refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
Do you think this could be made into muffins for easier serving at a brunch?
I think that sounds like a great idea!
This is my go-to recipe when we have guests and I want to wow them with breakfast, and we’ve used it for Christmas morning a few years. It’s delicious with fresh fruit, but when berries aren’t in season it’s still amazing with frozen (then obviously thawed) berries!
My husband makes this every Mother’s Day for me, just watched him prepare it for tomorrow and I’m so excited. We don’t cut the bread into squares and just leave the slices whole. Turns out amazing every time!
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.
This brightened my day, Michele!
What a lovely way to care for those (lucky) students
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.
I was afraid of breaking my dish so I let my oven heat to 150 degrees, then put it in and when oven had reached 350 I cooked for the 30 minutes. Worked great.
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).