Brioche French Toast Casserole

Brioche french toast casserole is a delicious breakfast. Easy enough for lazy Sunday mornings, but pretty enough for special occasions, this is a versatile french toast recipe your whole family will love.

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Baked french toast casserole is a perfect breakfast for lazy weekend mornings. Rather than making breakfast piece by piece, standing over a hot skillet, this easy french toast bake comes together in just a few minutes, and then cooks while you sip your coffee on the couch. Made with thick slices of buttery brioche bread, brown sugar and cinnamon, this breakfast is as delicious as it is simple.

This easy french toast casserole recipe is perfect for a holiday morning. You can make it the night before and just pop it in the oven the next day while you focus on celebrating with your family. Top it with a cinnamon streusel topping, or with fresh berries and a drizzle of maple syrup (my favorite). Serve it with fresh fruit and homemade air fryer hash browns for a memorable and hearty breakfast.

For more simple but special breakfast recipes, try my sweet cream pancakes, cranberry streusel coffee cake or pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. For more overnight breakfast prep, try vanilla overnight oats.

You Will Love This

• This delicious breakfast makes a great Christmas morning, Easter morning or Mother’s Day brunch recipe.
• Topped with fresh blueberries and raspberries and a sprinkle of powdered sugar, this easy breakfast casserole is super pretty for your holiday table!
• This recipe can be assembled the night before or the morning of, making it a great recipe for any occasion.

What is Brioche?

Brioche is type of bread called “enriched bread,” which basically means it is made with eggs and butter. It is a pillow-soft french bread with a buttery rich and slightly sweet flavor. You can buy a sliced brioche loaf in most grocery stores. Some stores also sell a sweet brioche bread (for example, I’ve seen brioche with vanilla cream and chocolate chips at Aldi). This recipe is plenty sweet already, so I recommend plain brioche. If you can’t find brioche, challah bread would be a great substitute.

Ingredients

For this delicious casserole, you will need the following simple ingredients (exact measurements are in the recipe card below):

• Brioche bread: If you can’t find brioche, you could substitute challah or french bread. This is also a perfect recipe to use up slightly stale bread. The cubes will soak up all that custard mixture and be perfect in this recipe.
• Eggs
• Milk: I used 2% milk. You could use whole milk for a richer french toast.
• Butter: I used unsalted butter, but salted butter would also be fine in this recipe.
• Cinnamon
• Vanilla extract
• Brown Sugar

Instructions

Step One: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare the bread. Cut the fresh bread slices into small pieces. Approximately 1-inch cubes will work best. Add the bread cubes to a medium casserole dish.

Step Two: Make the custard mixture. Melt the butter and let it cool slightly. You don’t want it to be too hot, or it could cook the eggs when you add it to the custard. Crack the eggs into a large mixing bowl, and beat with a whisk. To the egg mixture, add the milk, cinnamon and vanilla, and whisk together. Add the cooled melted butter and the brown sugar, and stir until all ingredients are well combined.

Step Three: Pour the custard mixture over the cubed bread. Stir the bread to make sure all pieces are coated in the custard. Spread the bread cubes out into an even layer, and press them down into the pan a bit with the back of your spoon.

Step Four (Optional): If you are making your casserole ahead, cover the dish with aluminum foil and put it in the refrigerator for up to eight hours. The next morning, remove the prepared baking dish from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature for about 10 minutes while you preheat the oven. Proceed with baking as described below for an easy way to have a delicious homemade breakfast on a busy morning!

Step Five: Put the casserole dish in the oven on the middle rack. On the bottom rack underneath the casserole dish put a baking sheet to catch any drips that might bubble over as the casserole bakes. The bread puffs up a lot as it bakes, and this will save you from having to scrub your oven. Bake for approximately 45 minutes to one hour, until the top of the casserole becomes golden brown. You may need to tent some aluminum foil over your baking dish for the last 10-15 minutes if your bread is starting to brown too much.

Can I make this ahead?

Absolutely! One of the best parts of this recipe is it’s versatility. You can bake it right away, or you can assemble it and let it sit in the refrigerator for up to 8 hours before baking. We have had it both ways, and both were delicious. The casserole that we made ahead was a little more custard-like, with a texture very similar to bread pudding, which we all loved. The casserole that we baked right away was more fluffy and spongy, with a crunchier top, which was also delicious.

Storage and Reheating

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. Reheat individual servings in the microwave for about 30-45 seconds. Top with a drizzle of maple syrup, and enjoy!