French Toast Bake
Serving an overnight French Toast Bake for breakfast is like starting the day with a warm hug! This sweet baked casserole recipe is easy to make. In fact, you only need 10 minutes of prep time the day before to assemble the casserole, then all you have to do is bake it in the morning!
Ingredients
- 1 loaf challah or brioche bread, 16 ounces
- 1 cup fresh cranberries
- 1 pear, diced
- 2 cups milk
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 8 large eggs
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Instructions
- Coat a 9 inch x 13 inch baking dish in cooking spray.
- Slice the loaf of bread into 1 inch cubes. Place the cubed bread in the baking dish, toss in the cranberries and diced pears.
- Whisk the milk, heavy cream, eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg together in a mixing bowl.
- Pour the mixture into the baking dish over the bread. Use a spatula to press down on any bread cubes that aren’t covered in the liquid. Cover with a piece of aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Place the casserole on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 30 minutes, covered with foil.
- Uncover and bake for an additional 30 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
- Remove the cranberries and pear for a traditional french toast bake.
- Replace the cranberries and pears with the fresh fruit of your choice. In the summer months, I love to add fresh berries, like raspberries, blueberries or strawberries, to this casserole. You can also replace the cranberries and pears with apples, then drizzle caramel sauce over the casserole before serving to make caramel apple french toast.
- If you don’t want to soak the casserole overnight, I recommend using a softer, lighter bread, like King’s Hawaiian Rolls or white sandwich bread. You will want to reduce the milk by one cup and reduce the eggs from 8 to 4. If the bread doesn’t have time to soak up the liquid, it can create a soggy casserole. This is why I recommend cutting down the liquid if you’re not going to soak it overnight.
Nutrition Facts
Serving 6servingCalories 415kcal (21%)Carbohydrates 56g (19%)Protein 14g (28%)Fat 15g (23%)Saturated Fat 7g (35%)Polyunsaturated Fat 2gMonounsaturated Fat 5gCholesterol 217mg (72%)Sodium 311mg (13%)Potassium 298mg (9%)Fiber 3g (12%)Sugar 27g (30%)Vitamin A 688mg (14%)Vitamin C 3mg (4%)Calcium 184mg (18%)Iron 3mg (17%)
Did you make this recipe?Tag @WhitneyBond on Instagram and hashtag it #WBRecipes!