As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Holiday brunches are even better when this overnight brioche French toast casserole is on the table! Dressed to impress with brown sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon, and orange juice, it’s baked to pillowy, custard-y perfection.
If we’re ranking breads on a fancy scale, I think brioche lands right at the top. The French name, the buttery flavor, that fluffy texture—ooh, it’s fancy. And it’s also the most perfect bread for making this overnight French toast bake.
All the flavor in this French toast casserole is in the casserole, not added as a topping, which means you can set out a variety of toppings on the table and let everyone pick their faves!
Pair this sweet casserole with savory baked bacon, air fryer bacon, or air fryer turkey bacon and go live your best breakfast life.
Ingredient Notes
- Brioche bread – It absolutely needs to be stale or baked in the oven until dry. Fresh, moist bread will give you a mushy French toast casserole. And that is super sad.
- Heavy cream – This makes for a rich custard. Indulgent, you might say. It’s totally worth it.
- Orange juice – My little secret ingredient that makes THIS brioche French toast casserole the BEST one. The acidity adds a lovely little brightness.
- Brown sugar – Dark or light brown sugar both work. Try homemade brown sugar.
- Eggs – Let these come to room temperature.
How to Make Brioche French Toast Casserole
*I’ll walk you through it here with some photos and tips, and you’ll also find a printable recipe card at the bottom of the post with exact measurements, etc. You can also click “jump to recipe” to skip down.
Cut the brioche into cubes or tear it into pieces. Allow it to dry overnight or toast it in the oven at 300˚F for 20 minutes.
Whisk together the milk and cream, orange juice, butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, and cinnamon in a saucepan set over medium-low heat. Cook until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. Let this mixture cool.
In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs with the vanilla, then whisk in the cooled milk mixture.
Grease a baking dish with butter and add the brioche. Pour the custard over the bread; pressing and turning the cubes into the custard to make sure they soak up as much as possible.
Cover the pan with foil and chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of 1 hour, or up to overnight.
Bake covered for 15 minutes at 350ºF, then remove the foil and bake for 25 to 35 minutes more, or until the top is lightly browned and the center is no longer wet when you press it gently.
Let the brioche French toast casserole cool slightly, then serve with fruit, powdered sugar, maple syrup, or any of your favorite toppings.
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
- Let the milk mixture cool before you move on to the next step of the recipe. If you add it hot to the eggs, you’ll end up cooking them!
- Whisk the eggs well so they’re completely beaten and evenly distributed throughout the custard mixture. Sometimes when you don’t beat the eggs well, you end up with unmixed streaks of egg white when it’s done baking.
- You can use another type of bread for this recipe if you’d like. Challah is great or try day-old croissants like in our croissant bread pudding.
- Add a handful of chopped toasted pecans with the bread to give your French toast casserole some nutty flavor and crunch.
Prevent your screen from going dark
-
Tear or cut the brioche into 1-inch cubes.
10 cups brioche bread, day old
-
Leave bread pieces on a baking sheet overnight, or bake at 300˚F for 20 minutes, rotating the tray position in the oven at 10 minutes.
-
In a medium saucepan combine milk, heavy cream, orange juice, butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, and cinnamon, over medium-low heat. Cook until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Allow to cool.
2 cups whole milk, 1 cup heavy cream, 3 tbsp butter, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 2 tbsp maple syrup, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 cup orange juice
-
In a medium mixing bowl whisk room-temperature eggs, and vanilla, and then whisk in the cooled milk mixture.
6 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla
-
Butter a deep 9×13 baking dish and add brioche pieces.
-
Slowly pour the egg mixture over the brioche pieces, gently pressing and turning the cubes with a fork into the extra liquid in the dish.
-
Cover tightly with foil and refrigerate overnight or at least for 1 hour.
-
Bake covered at 350˚F for 15 minutes on the middle rack. Remove foil and bake for another 25-35 minutes, or until the top of the French toast casserole is lightly browned and all liquid has been absorbed.
-
Cool slightly and serve with a dusting of fruit, powdered sugar or maple syrup.
- Make sure the bread is stale or toast the cubes in the oven first. This will ensure that they absorb the liquid without getting too mushy.
- If you are pressed for time, heat only 1 cup of milk with the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Once butter and brown sugar have dissolved, stir in the additional cold milk and heavy cream.
- 10 cups of cubed bread was 8-9 standard-sized slices of brioche for me.
Serving: 0.5cupCalories: 771kcalCarbohydrates: 76gProtein: 20gFat: 44gSaturated Fat: 25gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 340mgSodium: 733mgPotassium: 96mgFiber: 0.1gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 1691IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 151mgIron: 2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
