Make your french toast creamy and creamy with brioche the best way brioche french toast casserole with this super customizable recipe, prepare a friendly recipe worthy of a special occasion!
And instead of a boring (and more complicated!) streusel topping, I make delicious, crunchy cinnamon croutons with the same brioche bun as the topping. That’s TWO decadent breakfast choices with a baked French toast casserole!
I’ve always loved eating French toast casserole and its close cousin, bread pudding!
What I love most about these two dishes is the contrast between the soft, sweet center and the crunchy topping. Many recipes create a streusel topping for the crunchy component on top. BUT I prefer the crunch and crunchiness that comes from the caramelized bread on top!
That’s why I love this Brioche French Toast Casserole recipe. I prepare a crunchy crouton with the same bread to garnish instead of streusel or icing sugar. It tastes like my cinnamon toast recipe and has the texture of honey butter toast! I’ll share mine too the secret to a super crunchy topping it’s so good and addictive that you’ll want to eat it alone!
Step 1: Prepare the bread
For this overnight French toast casserole, you can use bread slices or bread cubes. I personally prefer cubed bread, as the smaller pieces absorb the custard more evenly. For the flan you can use either slices or cubes, but the topping must be diced bread.
Cut the brioche into thick slices – about 1 inch thick (image 1). Then cut the slices into 1-inch sticks and then into 1-inch cubes (image 2). You can also do the same with croissants if you prefer to use those.
Step 2 – Dry the bread (or use stale bread)
As I talk about in my brioche French toast post, you can quickly prepare stale bread in the oven for the purpose of making French toast or French toast casserole.
Arrange the bread cubes on a wire rack and then rack on a half-sheet pan (image 3). Preheat the oven to 250 F and toast the bread for about 15 – 20 minutes, or until the bread cubes are slightly dry. You can also let the bread cubes stale at room temperature by leaving them out for about 1 – 2 days.
When the bread is ready, separate the portions of bread for the filling and the French toast casserole.
Step 3: Prepare the custard
Place all the ingredients for the custard in a jug or bowl (image 4). Use an immersion blender or regular blender to blend the ingredients until smooth (image 5). I like to add the zest last, so that the grains of zest are more visible in the custard, but this is optional (image 6).
You can also use a whisk to mix the ingredients, but mix the cornstarch with a little liquid to make a paste before adding it to the custard.
For the custard you can absolutely add cinnamon! But since the topping will also have cinnamon, I prefer not to add cinnamon to the French toast casserole component. But feel free to add cinnamon to the saucepan too, along with the zest, if you like.
Step 4: Prepare the French Toast Casserole
Butter the saucepan (image 7). This will prevent the French toast casserole from sticking to the plate after cooking. I use a casserole dish about 9 x 13 inches.
Arrange the brioche cubes in the baking dish for the flan portion and set the bread aside for the cinnamon toast (images 8 – 9). Pour the custard mixture evenly over the bread (image 10). Gently mix the custard and pieces of bread, folding the mixture with a spatula (image 11). You can also do this in a separate bowl, but it’s simply more convenient to do it in the same baking dish we’ll use to bake the brioche French toast casserole.
Press lightly on the bread so it absorbs the liquid (image 12). Let it rest for about 15 minutes, until you get the cinnamon bread topping (image 13).
Then gently fold the mixture again and press it. This step will help all the pieces of bread to completely absorb the custard.
Cover and refrigerate the casserole for at least 4 hours or up to 1 day.
Step 5: Make the cinnamon toast
Melt the butter and sugar together in the microwave or on the stove (image 14). Add the salt and cinnamon and mix very well until you obtain a smooth mixture. Scrape the mixture into a large bowl.
Add the bread cubes for topping into the butter mixture (image 15). Mix until the bread is absorbed and coated in the butter and sugar mixture (image 16). All the bread cubes must be covered with the mixture. Although they can be used immediately, cinnamon toast croutons can be stored in the refrigerator until ready to eat.
Step 6: Bake the Brioche French Toast Casserole
When you’re ready to cook the French toast casserole, preheat the oven to 350 F/180 C.
Remove the plate with the soaked brioche bread from the fridge (image 17)as well as cinnamon croutons. Sprinkle the cinnamon croutons on the surface of the brioche bread soaked in custard (images 18 – 19). If you prefer, you can also break the cinnamon rolls into smaller pieces.
Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 40 – 60 minutes, until the custard is well cooked and the croutons appear caramelized and crunchy. (image 20). If the crispy croutons darken too much, cover the casserole with aluminum foil.
The inside of this baked French toast casserole should register at around 165-170 F. Remove from the oven and let it sit on the counter for a few minutes to cool slightly.
Storage Tips
You can store leftovers in the refrigerator for approximately 3 – 4 days. Make sure it’s in an airtight container.
You can also store leftovers in the freezer. To ensure you don’t repeatedly thaw and freeze leftovers, cut the casserole into individual portions and wrap each portion individually in plastic wrap or freezer-safe foil. And store them properly to avoid freezer burn.
Although the casserole can be reheated in the microwave, the topping will not be crispy. To ensure that the covering is also crispy, heat the casserole in the oven at a low temperature to ensure that it heats up without burning.
Although both dishes are very similar, there is a small difference.
French toast casserole is based on French toast and therefore has a higher egg content than bread pudding. Bread pudding in contrast is a dessert and custard is more like pouring custard (crème anglaise) where there is more dairy.
Additionally, French toast casserole is primarily a breakfast/brunch dish, while bread pudding (sweet version) is served as dessert. The savory version – in layers, is served both as breakfast and as a main meal.
For the French toast casserole, the custard ratio is 1/4 – 1/3 cup milk per egg. So, 3 – 4 eggs per 1 cup of milk.
With bread pudding, the ratio of custard is 3/4 – 1 cup milk for 2 eggs. So, 4 – 5 eggs for 2 cups of milk.
There are two reasons because a saucepan can be soggy.
The main reason is because the The french toast casserole was not cooked. Leaving behind a raw, watery custard that makes the bread pudding soggy.
The next reason is one of two using the wrong type of bread or using too much custard. If the bread can’t absorb all the custard and hold its shape, the French toast casserole may end up soggy with mushy bread, or feel like there’s too much custard and not enough bread in the casserole.
To fix this, you can mix the bread and custard separately overnight, then transfer ONLY the soaked bread to the baking dish and bake it. Leaving the “extra custard” behind. This is never a problem if you follow this recipe correctly.
Because french toast casserole is made with eggs! The French toast casserole should have a ratio of about 50:50 eggs to milk, or more eggs. So it must taste like eggs!
If you prefer to taste fewer eggs, a bread pudding dessert might be the best option for you. Alternatively, adding citrus peel and vanilla also helps reduce “eggy smell”.
It’s best to store the casserole in the refrigerator up to 24 hours before cooking (so it works really well as an overnight French toast casserole). And it’s best served hot and the cinnamon toast is crunchy. The crunchiness will be lost if the casserole is cooked and then stored in the refrigerator.
However, recipe components such as the bread cubes and dressing can easily be made a few days in advance!
Since French toast casserole is primarily served as a breakfast or brunch dish, it can be served in many ways! Leaning into breakfast, this casserole can be served with fruit, fruit compote or jam (strawberry jam, plum jam, and grape jelly are some of my favorites), maple syrup, and maybe a little extra whipped cream .
But you can also dress it up more for a hearty brunch meal! Serve it with French vanilla ice cream, salted caramel sauce, or dark chocolate sauce for a sweeter, richer option!
We also often serve eggs and bacon with this Brioche French Toast Casserole.
