Brioche French Toast Casserole

This Brioche French Toast Casserole is such an easy breakfast recipe to feed a crowd on weekend mornings. Moist buttery brioche bread soaked in a cinnamon-filled custard and baked until fluffy on the inside and golden on top. Top with powdered sugar, syrup, and berries! Great for a holiday morning, Mother’s Day, or any cozy Sunday! 

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Ingredient substitutions
• Step by step instructions
• Tips and tricks
• What to serve with french toast casserole
• Storage and reheating
• FAQs
• More brunch recipes 
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Ingredients

This easy french toast bake takes just a few simple ingredients outside of kitchen staples: 

• Brioche bread: brioche is different from other breads because it’s made with an enriched dough (specifically eggs, butter, flour) and has a slightly sweeter flavor. It’s incredibly soft and fluffy, making it perfect to soak up the custard mixture. 
• Heavy cream and whole milk: these are the base of the creamy custard. I really like going 50/50 on these, but you could do all whole milk if you prefer. All cream might be a bit too thick. 
• Eggs: large eggs. Get pasture raised if you can, this means the chickens have full range of a plot of land outside to live on. 
• Cinnamon: plenty of cinnamon brings such a classic french toast flavor to this casserole.
• Nutmeg: a little nutmeg just adds depth of flavor with the warm spice. 
• Vanilla extract: another element of flavor – the combination of vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg is a perfect trio.
• Salt: balances everything out. 
• Butter: a little bit of unsalted butter to rub on the casserole dish before adding the bread. 

Ingredient substitutions

A few substitutions you can make are listed below in the event you don't have everything needed on hand.

• Instead of brioche bread you could use challah or french bread
• Make this french toast casserole dairy free by using coconut cream and coconut milk. I have not tried almond milk or oat milk, but if they are full-fat they are likely fine.
• Use any combination of spices you’d like – cinnamon and cloves, cardamom and nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, etc. – I’d recommend just saying within the “warm spices” category
• Use vanilla bean paste in place of vanilla extract if you have it

Step by step instructions

This is a super easy french toast casserole with brioche, check out the steps below! Full recipe can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

1. Cut the bread. Using a bread knife, cube the brioche bread slices into 1-inch cubes. 

2. Make the custard. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, whole milk, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. 

3. Prep the baking dish. Grab your 11x7 baking dish (you can also use a 9x13) and rub the butter all over it. 

4. Add your bread. Place the bread cubes into your buttered casserole dish, doing so pretty densely to make sure there are no large holes. 

5. Add the custard. Pour the milk mixture over the top of the casserole in the baking dish. Make sure it’s covering the entire surface level and all pieces of bread are wet. Cover with plastic wrap and set it in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight. 

6. Bake. Remove the casserole from the fridge at least 30 minutes before baking (so your dish doesn’t crack). Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 50 minutes until golden. 

Tips and tricks

Absolutely crush this baked french toast casserole recipe by following the tips and tricks below.

• How to avoid a soggy french toast casserole – let the custard fully absorb into the bread, make sure your oven is at the right temperature, and bake it for the full 50 minutes. All of these steps combined should ensure a non-soggy casserole. A casserole gets soggy when the custard to bread ratio is off, it is not soaked for enough time, and/or it is not baked long enough.
• Make sure when you put the cubed brioche bread into your casserole dish you’re really packing it in there – fill any gaps! 
• If you want, add fresh blueberries or chocolate chips into the casserole before you bake so they bake right in there.
• Keep an eye on it in the oven – when it’s done it’ll be puffed up and the center will have just a little jiggle. 
• This recipe actually doesn’t use any sweetener because brioche is a rather sweet bread, but if you want, you can add some maple syrup, brown sugar, or granulated sugar to the custard mixture. Alternatively, you can top it with a cinnamon sugar mixture before baking for a sweet little crust. 
• If you can’t find a brioche loaf, you can use brioche rolls and cut them into smaller pieces.

What to serve with french toast casserole

This breakfast casserole will be the star of the table and pairs so nicely with a variety of other breakfast foods. I recommend serving with:

• Pure maple syrup
• Homemade whipped cream
• Powdered sugar
• Bacon or sausage
• Fresh fruit or fresh berries 
• Overnight oats
• Scrambled eggs or other egg dish (such as a quiche)

Storage and reheating

Instructions on storing, reheating, and freezing this brioche french toast casserole are below:

To store, cut the casserole into serving sizes and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. 

Reheat in the oven at 350°F until warmed through, or in the microwave for a few minutes.

To freeze, let it come to room temperature, cut it into individual servings, then wrap tightly. It’s good in the fridge for a few months. Reheat in the microwave. 

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