Baked Cinnamon French Toast is a delicious make ahead breakfast packed with sweet cinnamon sugar flavor. Turn day-old French bread into the perfect weekend breakfast with this easy French toast bake recipe!
The cinnamon crumb topping elevates simple French toast casserole to incredible heights!
Assemble it the night before, then pop it in the oven the next morning for a hot, homemade breakfast.
It’s an easy breakfast recipe that’s perfect for Christmas morning, a holiday brunch or any special occasion. I’m sure mom would even love it for Mother’s Day!
Classic French toast was my son’s all time favorite breakfast when he was growing up and he still really loves it along with this Loaded Huevos Rancheros recipe.
SAVE THIS EASY OVERNIGHT FRENCH TOAST RECIPE TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD!
But, you might be wondering: why bake French toast?
As a busy mom, I usually didn’t want to stand over the stove on a Saturday morning making individual slices of French toast. All the dredging and flipping seemed to take an eternity and by the time I could sit down to eat everyone else was long finished.
French Toast Casserole is baked in the oven instead! It has all the delicious flavor of classic cinnamon French toast, only with far less work. It’s an easy recipe and everybody gets to eat at the same time.
The best part about this baked cinnamon French toast recipe is that you can prep it the night before. That means so much less hassle in the morning.
Let it bake while you brew a pot of coffee and you’re ready for an amazing start to your day!
What do I need?
I use these ingredients to make overnight French toast.
- Bread – Use a loaf that is a day old or slightly stale.
- Eggs
- Milk
- Heavy cream
- Vanilla extract
- Cinnamon
For that irresistible cinnamon topping, you’ll also need . . .
- Cinnamon
- Brown sugar
- Flour
- Butter – Make sure it’s COLD straight from the fridge.
- Salt.
What is the best bread to use for cinnamon French toast casserole?
Baked French Toast Casserole tastes best made with sturdy, quality bread. French baguettes, sourdough bread or a rustic Italian style bread are the perfect choices!
Challah and brioche are two more great choices for an easy French toast casserole.
A soft bread, like that store bought white loaf of bread called Wonderbread won’t work well in a baked French toast recipe because it will get soggy and soupy.
Slightly stale bread is better than fresh bread for perfect French toast texture. As it soaks up the milk mixture, it softens without getting soggy.
How do I make it?
Making French toast in the oven is even easier than making it on the stove.
- Start with cubes of bread and place them in a well buttered casserole dish.
- Whisk together the remaining ingredients for the French toast (not the topping). Pour the mixture over the bread cubes.
- Now combine the ingredients for the topping in a separate bowl.
From here you have two choices: you can bake the French toast it right away OR for the best results, let it chill overnight.
For overnight French toast, cover your baking dish tightly with foil or plastic wrap, and put it in the refrigerator. Store the topping mixture separately in a plastic bag or make it the morning of.
When you’re ready to bake French toast, sprinkle the cinnamon streusel topping over the casserole. Bake at 350° F for a cooking time of 45 – 60 minutes.
The longer you bake it the more “well done” the French toast will taste. For a softer consistency that’s similar to bread pudding, take it out of the oven closer to the 45 minute mark.
Serve with plenty of maple syrup or even some cream cheese icing for French toast heaven that the whole family will enjoy!
Baked French Toast Recipes
Once you find out how easy it is to make French Toast recipes in the oven, you’ll want to try ALL the variations!
This Easy Peaches and Cream French Toast Bake is another family favorite. The juicy peach flavor in the buttery French toast reminds me of a peach pie, but for breakfast! If you like fruit in French toast, don’t miss out on our Blackberry Baked French Toast and our Blueberry French Toast Bake too.
We loved that blueberry version so much, I made it again with cream cheese! And I can’t mention berries without remembering how delicious this Almond Berry French Toast Casserole turned out.
For a breakfast casserole that doubles as dessert, this Easy Chocolate Croissant Baked French Toast is a clear winner. I mean, croissants and chocolate? I’m in.
Here are few more baked French Toast casserole recipes my readers rave about:
- Pumpkin Spice Baked French Toast – Perfect for autumn weekends.
- Peanut Butter and Jelly French Toast Casserole – The classic sandwich baked in a casserole!
- Eggnog French Toast with Maple Butter – A decadent holiday breakfast.
Breakfast Recipes
With all of those French toast recipes on the site, you might assume that’s all I make! I promise you I have a ton of other impressive and easy breakfast recipes for you. Although my son would be pretty happy if French Toast WAS all I made!
From the savory to the sweet, these dishes are worth waking up for!
- Mexican Breakfast Casserole
- Blueberry Bagel Breakfast Bake Recipe
- Baked Blueberry Oatmeal
- Strawberry Cream Muffins
- Baked Blueberry Waffles
- Cinnamon Peach Pancakes
- Chocolate Cherry Pancakes
- Lemon Poppy Seed Dutch Baby (aka German Pancake)
- Dairy-Free Lemon Poppy Seed Waffles
- French Breakfast Puffs
- Baked Apple Cinnamon Pancake
- Easy Almond Banana Overnight Oats
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A crispy cinnamon topping and soft, sweet morsels of bread make this Cinnamon French Toast Bake a breakfast favourite!
Baked Cinnamon French Toast
Equipment
- Large Mixing Bowl
- medium mixing bowl
- cutting board
- bread knife
- 9 X 13-inch casserole dish
- plastic wrap
- sealable plastic bag
Ingredients
French Toast
- 1 loaf day old French bread
- 8 eggs
- 2 cups milk
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons vanilla
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
Cinnamon Topping
- ½ cup flour
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter chilled
Instructions
- The night before you want to bake and serve this French toast, prepare a 9 X 13-inch baking dish by generously greasing it with butter.
- Cut the loaf of French bread into 1-inch cubes and place into baking dish, spreading evenly.
- Into a medium bowl, break open the eggs.
- Add the milk, heavy cream, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix well to combine.
- Pour the mixture evenly over the bread.
- Cover the baking dish tightly with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight.
- The topping can be prepared either the night before and placed in the refrigerator in a plastic bag or made the morning of baking which is what I did.
Cinnamon Topping
- In a small bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt.
- Cut butter into pieces and add to bowl.
- With a pastry cutter, cut butter into dry ingredients until mixture resembles course meal.
- Place in bag to store in refrigerator overnight or place on French Toast the morning you bake it.
To Bake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Remove baking dish from refrigerator and uncover.
- Distribute cinnamon topping evenly over french toast.
- Prepare a baking sheet by covering it with foil and place the baking dish on top to help prevent any overflow onto the floor of your oven. It will expand when it bakes, but deflates as it cools.
- Bake for 45-60 minutes depending on how well you want it cooked. 45 minutes and you will have a softer, bread pudding-like texture or 60 minutes for a drier and firmer dish.
Nutrition
This post was originally published on 2/5/2012. It has been updated in format and with pictures on 6/29/22.
Comments & Reviews
This looks SO good! Almost like a delicious combo of french toast and bread pudding all in one!
This looks amazing – love anything with cinnamon in it… but you know what… I don’t think I’ve ever had French toast!
It does look a bit like bread and butter pudding though
Lynne, this is perfect, I just baked 2 loaves of french bread today! I know what’s happening with one of them in the morning!
I made this for our Christmas morning breakfast! Everyone loved it!! Very good recipe !!
Do you think it would taste good with raisins added?
Donna, I think it would be great with raisins!
Let me know what you think after you make it!
Definatley … Golden raisins are very good as well much sweeter!!
#destinydawnsdesserts #capemaybakery
Can we use other type of bread as long as its day old? Excited
To do this.
Sure Elizabeth! Yes, just make sure it’s slightly stale being a day old as it will soak up the mixture better.
I bought french bread today and it’s in a plastic bag w a twist tie. Should I take it out of the bag if I want it day old by tomorrow night??
I made this Thanksgiving morning and I used braided Challah bread and it was fantastic!!!!
YAY, Cynthia!! SO glad you enjoyed it!! I’ve been using Challah bread lately in my French Toast Casseroles and I can’t get over how delicious they are just by changing the bread!
When I saw the picture without reading the title first I thought of bread pudding. I bet there’s a way to turn this into bread pudding
It is bread pudding…. with an added topping ?
I was a little confused while making this. When it came to baking it the directions say take it out of the oven and bake it for…. I assumed it meant take it out of the refrigerator, duh, but had to read a few times to make sure I didn’t miss a step. I was double checking whether this was to be baked covered or uncovered. I did uncovered and it’s in the oven now. Hopefully I am right! Can’t wait to taste it!
can you make this using home-made bread with thick slices?
I just want to be able to print this recipe for the Baked Cinnamon French Toast.
Could u add apples to this?
You can definitely do that, jc!
We call this bread pudding, although made with a few less eggs, and with raisins and/or nuts And we eat it as dessert topped with whipped cream or ice cream
Sooooo. Any way around the whole refrigerating for 8 hrs, hahaha didn’t read all the way through before I decided I need this for breakfast , now I’m disappointed
Tiffany, you can just put it right into the oven without refrigeration. Just bake for about 45-55 minutes until the middle no longer appears to be wet.
Can’t wait to try this… I am sure hubby will love it!!
Can I prep,this and cook it the same day? What is the shortness amount of time I can keep it,in the fridge befor e I cook it?. I
Thanks so much
Isla, sorry for the late response.
I would at least let it set for 4 hours. The bread needs to soak up a good amount of the batter.
Awesome. I have a collection of crusty loaf bread ends and a very stale frenchc stick
I can make this and not waste them!
A collection? haha L. Michelle, I can’t think of a better way to use it up! Enjoy it!!
Wish you had a print button for recipe only. I don’t need to print out all the pic’s. Just a thought
Leslie, if you go to Printfriendly.com, you can print our any recipe on the web without pictures. Just copy the url of the recipe you want, paste it onto their site and click “without images”.
Approximately how many cups of bread is this? I eat gluten free so I can’t use the regular French loaf of bread. I would need my gluten free bread which the slices are smaller than norm bread. Would be nice to know the approximate cup amount. Thanks. 🙂
R, the amount of bread comes to about 12 cups and I think gluten free would work! Please let me know as I’d be interested to hear what you think.
13 pages to print a recipe is obscene!!!. Just list ingredients and give directions – too much paper and ink!!!!!!!!!!!!
k, thank you for bringing this to my attention and I apologize. There are still some recipes that need to be changed in format and this is one of them. I’ll get on that!
I have it baking right now and I can’t wait!
Connie, thanks so much for visiting and I hope you enjoyed it!
This looks so delicious! I would love to be able to make it Dairy Free for my kids! ?
Thanks, Amanda! You should be able to if you use a soy or almond milk and I found this for substituting the heavy cream:
http://www.godairyfree.org/dairy-substitutes/how-to-substitute-cream
Let me know how it goes!
Can I freeze remaining
Marilee, yes, you can freeze the remaining amount of Baked French Toast after it’s been cooked for up to two months. After it’s cooled, wrap the remainder tightly in plastic wrap and then in foil. Store in a Ziploc plastic freezer bag and be sure to write the date on it. To defrost, place it into the refrigerator about 24 hours before you plan on eating it. To reheat, remove the plastic wrap and cover again in foil. Preheat your oven to 350 and place it into the oven for about 20 minutes.