This baked french toast recipe can be made ahead of time or the day of! It gets topped with a cinnamon sugar topping and you can serve it with whatever fresh fruit is available. Great for Spring or Summer brunch!
On Saturday and Sunday mornings you can catch me watching cooking shows on Food Network. That is the only time I enjoy watching actual cooking shows from that channel. Otherwise, it’s just food competition shows or Guy Fieri.
If you like Ree Drummond recipes try Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies, Ree Drummond's Baked Ziti, or Ree Drummond's Knock You Naked Brownies.
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Why You Will Like This Recipe
Ree has been one of my favorites to follow for a while now and I’m still watching her. This recipe was shared back in 2014 and her show is still on the air today. I absolutely love this baked french toast casserole recipe of hers and when it comes to making the topping that goes on the casserole I kind of cheat.
Instead of incorporating the butter and cinnamon sugar mixture together I just pour the dry ingredients over the top and place butter over it everywhere. Either way will work and get the job done!
What Ingredients do I need?
- Bread - Any of these type of bread will be great with this casserole. Whole Wheat, Brioche Bread, Challah, or Ciabatta bread. Hot dog buns even work as well.
- Eggs - The best type of eggs you can buy at the store are organic or free-range eggs, while others may prefer eggs from specific breeds of chickens
- Whole Milk - I have made this with Soy Milk in the past when I had to deal with a lactose-intolerant husband before and it came out perfectly fine!
- Heavy Cream - This is not a lightened up or lower calorie casserole here. Use more whole milk but cream will make it even more decadent.
- Brown Sugar - Is made by combining granulated white sugar with molasses, which gives it a brown color and a slightly different taste than regular white sugar.
- Cinnamon - is a spice that comes from the inner bark of several trees from the genus Cinnamomum.
- See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
How to make Baked French Toast Casserole
Step 1: For the French toast: Grease the baking pan with butter. Tear the bread into chunks, or cut into cubes, and evenly distribute in the pan.
Step 2: Crack the eggs in a big bowl. Whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. Pour evenly over the bread. Cover the pan tightly and store in the fridge until needed (overnight preferably).
Step 3: For the topping: Mix the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and some nutmeg in a separate bowl. Stir together using a fork. Add the butter and with a pastry cutter, and mix it all together until the mixture resembles fine pebbles. Store in a re-sealable plastic bag in the fridge.
Step 4: Bake: When you're ready to bake the casserole, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the casserole from the fridge and sprinkle the topping over the top. Bake for 45 minutes for a softer, more bread pudding texture or for 1 hour or more for a firmer, crisper texture.
Step 5: Scoop out individual portions. Top with butter and drizzle with warm pancake syrup and sprinkle with blueberries.
Recipe Tips
- Slightly stale bread absorbs the custard better without getting soggy. Fresh bread = mushy middle. Brioche, challah, or French bread are perfect.
- Mix together butter, brown sugar, oats, chopped nuts, or even crushed cornflakes for a sweet, crispy topping.
- Add-ins like: Berries, sliced bananas, or apples, Cream cheese swirls, Chocolate chips, Bacon or sausage for a sweet + savory twist
Recipe FAQS
If the custard-to-bread ratio is off (too much milk/egg mixture), the bread can’t absorb it all and turns mushy.
Other Recipes to Try
- Cinnamon Roll Cake
- Trisha Yearwood's Country Quiche
- Peeps Cake
- Cinnamon Roll Cake
- Fruit Cocktail Salad
If you tried this Baked French Toast or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you go in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you! Follow along on Tiktok @jennarecipediaries
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Ree Drummond - Baked French Toast
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 1 hr
- Total Time: 1 hr 15 min
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Easy
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
This baked french toast recipe can be made ahead of time or the day of! It gets topped with a cinnamon sugar topping and you can serve it with whatever fresh fruit is available. Great for Spring or Summer brunch!
Ingredients
- French Toast:
- Butter, for greasing
- 1 loaf crusty sourdough or French bread
- 8 whole eggs
- 2 cups whole milk
- ½ cup whipping (heavy) cream
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- Topping:
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 stick cold butter, cut into pieces, plus more for serving
- Warm pancake syrup, for serving
- 1 cup fresh blueberries, for serving
Instructions
- For the French toast: Grease the baking pan with butter. Tear the bread into chunks, or cut into cubes, and evenly distribute in the pan. Crack the eggs in a big bowl. Whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. Pour evenly over the bread. Cover the pan tightly and store in the fridge until needed (overnight preferably).
- For the topping: Mix the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and some nutmeg in a separate bowl. Stir together using a fork. Add the butter and with a pastry cutter, and mix it all together until the mixture resembles fine pebbles. Store in a re-sealable plastic bag in the fridge.
- When you're ready to bake the casserole, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the casserole from the fridge and sprinkle the topping over the top. Bake for 45 minutes for a softer, more bread pudding texture or for 1 hour or more for a firmer, crisper texture.
- Scoop out individual portions. Top with butter and drizzle with warm pancake syrup and sprinkle with blueberries.
- Divide the casserole into 8 equal portions. Serving size ⅛th of the pan.
Notes
This is not a WW-friendly casserole recipe but with many substations, it can be.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 476
- Sugar: 49g
- Sodium: 201mg
- Fat: 12g
- Saturated Fat: 6g
- Carbohydrates: 79g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 10g
Recipe from Ree Drummond
Jenna says
It needs to be frozen after baking it.
Pat says
Can the Baked French Toast be made up and frozen before cooking?
Jenna says
I have never tried making this in a crockpot but I'm sure you can. Just look at other crock pot french toast recipes and see how long they bake them for.
Jessica says
Could you make this recipe in a crockpot? If so, how long on either high or low setting? TIA!
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