Make Ahead Oven Baked French Toast Recipe + Video
Oven Baked French Toast is perfectly sweet and has the texture of bread pudding. Perfect for overnight guests, weekend brunch, and holidays!
Ingredients
- butter for preparing baking dish
- 1 loaf French bread
- 8 large eggs
- 1 cup half and half
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste if you want to really jazz it up
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Praline Topping
- 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks, room temperature
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Instructions
- Prepare a 9"x13" baking dish by generously buttering the entire inside of the dish. Set the baking dish aside.
- Using a serrated bread knife, cut the French bread, on the bias, into slices approximately 1-inch thick. Arrange slices in the prepared baking dish in 2 rows, slightly overlapping the slices. Set dish aside. In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs. Add half & half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Whisk until well combined.
- Pour the egg mixture over the bread slices, making sure they are covered evenly with the milk-egg mixture. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. I like to make sure all my slices are good and coated. Even dunking them in the mixture sometimes. Cover casserole dish with foil and refrigerate overnight.
- The next day, set oven to 350°F to preheat. Meanwhile, prepare the praline topping by adding all ingredients to a medium mixing bowl, then stir to combine.
- Use a small scoop to portion the praline topping into 8 dollops evenly across the top of the casserole. Using a silicone spatula, spread topping evenly over the bread (like you are icing a cake).Bake for 40 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden.
- Serve warm drizzled with syrup and enjoy!
Video
Notes
How to prevent soggy French toast - We have been enjoying this recipe for 10 years. I have made a few changes. There is less milk/cream than in the original recipe, as the bread is sometimes too moist for my taste.
Substitute for half and half - Half and half is a dairy product found in the USA. You can substitute half cream and half milk for half-and-half. You can also use any combination of all cream to all milk as long as you are adding 1-1/2 cups total.
Praline topping - In the original recipe, the praline topping included corn syrup. It really doesn't need it, so it has been removed from the ingredient list.
Serving suggestions - This French toast casserole is amazing served with fresh berries instead of the praline topping if you are looking to lighten it up.
Freezing the casserole - The leftovers freeze VERY well! We eat about 1/4 of the pan. I freeze the leftovers in 3 containers, so when we want a special breakfast I just thaw it and pop it in the oven at 350 for about 10 minutes. Perfect.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 | Calories: 682cal | Carbohydrates: 61g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 43g | Saturated Fat: 20g | Cholesterol: 260mg | Sodium: 471mg | Sugar: 35g | Fiber: 3g | Calcium: 144mg | Iron: 3mg