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Easy French Toast Casserole Crème Brulee Style

January 27, 2021 by Mirlandra 35 Comments

Jump to Recipe

This Easy French Toast Casserole bakes up with it’s own crème brulee layer complete with caramelized sugar!  The luscious breakfast casserole can be put together the night before and baked in the morning for a no fuss breakfast! Three slices of creme brulee french toast casserole on white plates. One slice has strawberries on top.

I love a good fancy breakfast or brunch but also love to ease into my morning instead of hitting the kitchen at a dead run.  This easy French toast casserole is a heavenly overnight French toast recipe that always impresses my family, out of town guests, and whoever else shows up at my breakfast table. The casserole has a wonderful crème brulee layer over a caramelized sugar bottom that is decadent and amazing for that special Saturday breakfast or Christmas morning.

 

Easy French Toast Casserole – A Make Ahead Breakfast for a Hassle- Free Morning

French toast isn’t exactly hard to make but if you need to feed a crowd it can be time consuming. Enter the French toast casserole!  Whisk together the batter, dump over favorite bread and plop in the fridge for next day baking!  Got 15 house guests?  Make two pans!

 

Crème Brulee style is my favorite of all French toast bakes.  As I serve each piece I flip it upside down so the caramelized sugar layer is on top – just like crème brulee!  The presentation is beautiful. It turns out you really can knock people’s socks off with just a bit of bread and some eggs and cream!

 

What is the Best Bread for Overnight French Toast Casserole?

The truth is you can use any kind of bread in a French toast casserole.  I’m partial to thicker breads than the usual sandwich bread.  Day old French bread is always wonderful.  My favorites are brioche and challah bread. They are both richer breads that are sturdy enough to hold their texture well in a breakfast casserole.

 

Often I bake my own bread for French toast.  I happen to make good bread and I want the bread a day or two old – not a week old so I find it easier to whip out a loaf of my own instead of running to the store.

 

And for the cherry on top you can always chunk up a pile of croissants for the most epic French toast ever!

 

Tips for the Best French Toast Casserole

Bread:  Pick a good quality bread that tastes good by itself.  In other words don’t buy the cheapest white sandwich bread.  Try to avoid standard slices of thinner sandwich breads in general.

Soaking:  Make sure the bread has time to fully soak up the custard.  Sure, usually we make it the night before but you don’t strictly have to!  You just need to let it sit a good three hours.  If you rush it there will probably be dry spots.  But you can make it same day and serve it for a late morning brunch or breakfast for dinner.

Consistency:  Cooking the casserole less gives you a wetter texture.  Cooking the casserole more gives you a more crunchy top and firmer texture.  This is all up to personal preference!

Mix Ins:  All French toast casseroles are wonderful with mix ins.  This crème brulee style bake is no different.  Toss in chopped nuts, your favorite berries, slices of apples or pears, or even chocolate chips for fun new flavors!

 

Toppings for Overnight French Toast

You can absolutely serve this French toast bake just the way it is – because crème brulee style is SO lovely.  You can also jazz it up a bit with any of the following if you like!

  • powdered sugar
  • seedless blackberry syrup
  • Fresh Berries
  • Homemade Whipped Cream
  • Blueberry Syrup
  • Maple Syrup
  • Sticky Bun Syrup

More Top Shelf Breakfast Recipes

  • Easy Buttermilk Waffles
  • Blueberry Pancakes
  • Crispy Oven Hash Browns
  • Better than Cinnamon Cinnamon Rolls
  • Oatmeal Muffins
  • Sour Cream Coffee Cake
  • Apple Crisp French Toast Casserole
  • Breakfast Lit’l Smokies and Caramelized Onions
Three slices of creme brulee french toast casserole on white plates. One slice has strawberries on top.
Print Pin
4.03 from 38 votes

Easy French Toast Casserole Crème Brulee Style

This Easy French Toast Casserole bakes up with it's own crème brulee layer complete with caramelized sugar!  The luscious breakfast casserole can be put together the night before and baked in the morning for a no fuss breakfast!
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Keyword overnight french toast, creme brulee, easy french toast casserole, french toast bake, brunch
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings 8
Calories 590kcal
Author Mirlandra Neuneker

Ingredients

  • ½ cup butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons corn syrup
  • 1 pound bread French, challah, or croissants
  • 8 large eggs
  • 1 1/4 cups milk
  • 1 1/4 cups cream
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions

  • In a small saucepan cook the butter, brown sugar and corn syrup over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until smooth and tawny. Pour the mixture in an even layer into a 12"x 8" baking dish. (You can use a slightly larger baking dish but adjust the cooking time.)
  • Tear up bread into ragged chunks or cut into cubes about 1" in size (I cut). Add all the bread on top of sugar mixture and press lightly so the bread compresses a bit. Don't squish more than about 1/4 of the air out.
  • In a medium bowl or giant measuring cup with a spout whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, vanilla, and salt until combined well and pour evenly over the bread. Cover the casserole with cling wrap and refrigerate a few hours or overnight.
  • Preheat oven to 350 F and bring bread to room temperature.
  • Bake casserole, uncovered, in middle of oven until puffed and edges are pale golden, 35 to 40 minutes. The simplest method to check for doneness is with a digital thermometer. The casserole is ready when the internal temperature is 160.
  • Serve hot French toast immediately with fresh strawberries, butter, favorite syrup or whipped cream. It looks prettiest when pieces are served upside down.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Easy French Toast Casserole Crème Brulee Style
Amount Per Serving
Calories 590 Calories from Fat 297
% Daily Value*
Fat 33g51%
Saturated Fat 18g90%
Cholesterol 249mg83%
Sodium 558mg23%
Potassium 279mg8%
Carbohydrates 61g20%
Fiber 2g8%
Sugar 35g39%
Protein 14g28%
Vitamin A 1201IU24%
Vitamin C 1mg1%
Calcium 196mg20%
Iron 3mg17%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

I read each and every comment and I try to respond to questions asap, so ask away! If you’ve made a recipe, I would love to hear about it! Please come back and share your experience and give the recipe a 5-star rating so other people will know how much you loved it!

PIN FOR LATER

creme brulee french toast promo image

This recipe was originally shared in April of 2015.  It was updated in January of 2021.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kristen @ A Mind Full Mom

    April 10, 2015 at 6:10 am

    YUM! YUM! I am so in love with creme brulee and french toast is my favorite. I can’t wait to try it!

    Reply
    • Mirlandra

      April 10, 2015 at 9:09 am

      Its a match made in heaven!

      Reply
  2. Marye

    April 10, 2015 at 6:46 am

    OH! Creme Brulee French toast sounds perfect for breakfast! or lunch… or dinner… or …

    Reply
    • Mirlandra

      April 10, 2015 at 9:09 am

      Midnight snack? 😉

      Reply
  3. Ariel

    April 10, 2015 at 7:48 am

    Mirlandra this looks like the perfect breakfast for when you have company! Whenever I have friends or family over, I’m a huge advocate of having everything prepped as ahead of time as possible too; you want to be able to spend time with your out of towners! (As much as being in the kitchen is a blast!) I can’t wait to try this; what an interesting take on crème brûlée! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Mirlandra

      April 10, 2015 at 9:10 am

      I could not agree more. Time is the one thing in life you can’t buy more of and spending it with the people you care about is therefore priceless.

      Reply
  4. Valerie | From Valerie's Kitchen

    April 10, 2015 at 10:17 am

    Love the idea of using challah! Perfect for Mother’s Day 🙂

    Reply
    • Mirlandra

      April 11, 2015 at 5:30 am

      Thanks! This would be a great Mother’s Day recipe – maybe more so because older kiddos could make it with minimal supervision.

      Reply
  5. Abigail

    April 10, 2015 at 12:13 pm

    Wow! Looks like the ultimate breakfast treat – am sure there won’t be any left-overs! Pinning, too. 🙂

    Reply
    • Mirlandra

      April 11, 2015 at 5:30 am

      Not at all! In fact, I might have been known to lick the pan… 🙂

      Reply
  6. Chrisy @ Homemade Hooplah

    April 10, 2015 at 2:33 pm

    Looks delish! I’m a sucker for all kinds of french toast 😀

    Reply
    • Mirlandra

      April 11, 2015 at 5:31 am

      As am I!

      Reply
  7. Lily Lau

    April 14, 2015 at 2:14 pm

    5 stars
    So yummy! Tomorrow I won’t eat breakfast until I get them to look like in your photos! 😉

    Reply
    • Mirlandra

      April 16, 2015 at 9:56 am

      I hope it worked well for you! I just cut a square out and flip it over on the plate. To be totally honest I have been known to drop the square while flipping but not too often. Smaller squares are easy to flip over though and less likely to make a leap for it.

      Reply
  8. Daniel

    September 21, 2015 at 7:06 pm

    This looks absolutely delicious!!! My mouth is watering just looking at the picture.

    Reply
    • Mirlandra

      September 22, 2015 at 9:59 am

      Thanks, Dan! It is a wonderful simple way to make something stunning! I’m working on a new French Toast Casserole that I hope will be out this fall. It should also be pretty awesome 🙂

      Reply
  9. farahfutom

    November 20, 2015 at 6:50 am

    Hi! I plan on making this tonight but don’t have corn syrup. Is there anything I can use to substitute with considering my pantry items are pretty basic (granulated sugar, white sugar, brown sugar, honey, flour, corn flour)?
    Thank you so much in advanced for your response!

    Reply
    • Mirlandra

      November 20, 2015 at 11:35 am

      Try some syrup instead if you have some. You could also search online for ways tonuse sugar and water to make a substitute. Let me know how it goes!

      Reply
      • Stella

        February 09, 2017 at 11:53 pm

        Maple syrup works great in place of the corn syrup!

        Reply
        • Mirlandra

          February 10, 2017 at 9:06 am

          Oh yum! Thanks for sharing.

          Reply
  10. Melanie

    August 19, 2016 at 2:27 am

    I look forward to trying it. Unfortunately, I don’t have company that often, but I may half or quarter the recipe, and divide it into individual servings in mini-loaf pans.

    Reply
    • Mirlandra

      September 27, 2016 at 4:35 pm

      Sorry, it is a big pan! I think doing it as individual servings would be wonderful 🙂

      Reply
  11. Gale

    October 29, 2016 at 5:00 am

    I went to someone’s house who made this with some modifications that make this even easier than the original. Instead of making the milk mixture, buy egg nog and use that. The nice thing with egg nog is you can get flavored egg nog. Also try adding blueberries to the mixture, even though the above recipe states to add them outside the recipe and OMG!

    Reply
    • Mirlandra

      November 05, 2016 at 6:53 am

      Yes there are many variations on this theme.

      Reply
  12. Sherry Weekley

    December 20, 2016 at 1:43 am

    Made this Like five times last Christmas and everyone raved about it and one of the recipe! I think this time will make it once so I don’t gain 10 pounds LOL

    Reply
    • Mirlandra

      December 20, 2016 at 9:51 pm

      LOL! It is a very rich treat but so, so, so good! I am glad you all enjoyed it so much. Happy cooking!

      Reply
  13. jerry

    December 26, 2016 at 2:31 pm

    Q 12 x 8 casserole dish is uncommon. Do you use that size as a rule?

    Reply
    • Mirlandra

      January 02, 2017 at 2:40 pm

      No I use all sorts. I used to play the field a bit more but have started trying to make sure my recipes are primarily developed for a more standard size. Sorry about that! Sometimes us kitchen nuts get a little carried away with our dishes 😉

      Reply
  14. Susie Ledesma

    September 01, 2017 at 2:15 pm

    Hi Mirlandra, I have been making a French toast casserole for years, for Christmas and Easter. I make mine slightly different, I slice French bread and lay them in a buttere 9 by 13, then pour the egg mixture over the them. Then the caramel mixture over the top before baking. I also flip the bread before it gets baked which really helps to incorporate the egg mixture!

    Reply
    • Mirlandra

      September 05, 2017 at 10:43 am

      Thanks for sharing, Susie! That sounds like a great method. I want to eat breakfast at your house 🙂

      Reply
  15. Lissa

    December 14, 2017 at 3:53 pm

    If I use a standard 9×13 dish, how would I modify the cooking time, please? Thank you!

    Reply
    • Mirlandra

      December 15, 2017 at 10:57 am

      It will probably cook a bit faster depending on the temperature when you put it in the oven. Try checking it at 20 minutes and then keep an eye on it until it is done. Enjoy!

      Reply
  16. Sandy

    December 20, 2017 at 9:25 am

    5 stars
    My sister made this for a Sunday brunch a couple of weeks ago. Delicious! I am making it for our Christmas brunch.

    Reply
    • Mirlandra

      December 20, 2017 at 9:28 am

      Wonderful! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. I always love finding those fun new recipes that are worth making again!

      Reply

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Welcome!  I’m Mirlandra

I provide real dinner solutions so busy women can kick kitchen overwhelm to the curb and learn to make simple, healthy dinners to fit any schedule and family.

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