Overnight French Toast

An easy overnight French toast casserole that can be prepared in under ten minutes. Great for serving company! MORE+ LESS-

By Girl Who Ate Everything

March 7, 2017

Ingredients

1/4

cup (half a stick) butter, melted

3/4

cup packed light brown sugar

loaf brioche or challah, cut into 1 1/2-inch slices

eggs, slightly beaten

cup whole milk

tablespoon vanilla extract

teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4

teaspoon ground ginger

1/2

cup pecans, chopped

1/8

teaspoon salt

Maple syrup and powdered sugar for topping (optional)

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1

In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and melted butter and pour on the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish. Arrange slices of bread in the baking dish, overlapping if necessary.
2

Combine milk, eggs, vanilla, salt, cinnamon and ginger in a bowl and pour evenly over bread slices. Sprinkle chopped pecans over bread slices.
3

Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 4-12 hours.
4

In the morning, take the casserole out of the fridge for at least 10 minutes while you are preheat your oven to 350°F.
5

Bake casserole for 30-35 minutes. If top starts browning too quickly, loosely cover with foil for the last 10 minutes or so to keep the casserole from drying out.
6

Remove casserole from oven and let it cool slightly before serving. Serve with a dusting of powdered sugar and a drizzle of maple syrup.

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

I’ve always been a lover of French toast and would take French toast over pancakes any day of the week. So you would think that I would be crazy for French toast casserole. But I’ve tried several recipes over the years and they have all been disappointing. I have what I call “Goldilocks Syndrome": That recipe is too sweet, that recipe is too eggy, and that recipe is too dry. Maybe Goldilocks wasn’t high maintenance. Maybe she was just a girl who knew what she wanted. Because when I tried this Overnight French Toast Casserole, I knew exactly what I was looking for and had plenty of other similar recipes in my mind to compare it to. What would Goldilocks say about this one? There’s no doubt in my mind that she would say this one was just right. And I love that this is an overnight casserole recipe. Have I mentioned I’m not a morning person? This French toast casserole took me under ten minutes to prepare the night before. We often have company staying at our house so I’m always looking for a breakfast dish that I can prepare ahead of time so that when morning comes little old grumpy me can just throw in the oven. Although it doesn’t need much, a dusting of powdered sugar and a drizzle of maple syrup finish it off beautifully. Adapted from Ezra Pound Cake