Brioche French Toast Casserole

A square of baked French toast garnished with lemon and blueberries.

Brioche French Toast Casserole

This simple recipe for Brioche French Toast Casserole is the easiest way to make French toast for a crowd - no dipping needed!

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Prep Time 25

Soaking time 1

Total Time 1 25

Servings servings

Calories 432

Author Dorothy Bigelow

Equipment

9X13" baking dish (23X33cm)

Ingredients

1 loaf Brioche bread stale, cut into 1 ½" cubes (approx. 14 ounces)
2 cups blueberries or fruit of choice
6 large eggs
3 cups half and half or 1 ½ cups each of milk and cream*
½ cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg

For serving (optional)

Powdered sugar
Maple syrup
Whipped cream

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Grease a 9X13” (23X33cm) baking dish.
Place half of the bread cubes into the bottom of the baking dish in an even layer.
Place 1 cup of the blueberries (or fruit of choice) over the top of the bread cubes.
Place the remaining bread cubes over the blueberries. Then sprinkle the remaining blueberries over the bread cubes.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, half and half*, sugar, lemon juice, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Pour the egg mixture over the bread and blueberries making sure to coat all of the pieces of bread. Use a spatula or spoon to gently press down on the top bread pieces to submerge them.
Cover the dish and let it rest in the fridge for at least an hour, or for the best results: overnight. The bread needs to have fully soaked up the liquids before baking.
When you’re ready to bake add the cold baking dish to the cold oven**. Set the oven temperature to 350℉ (177ºC) and allow it to gradually warm the baking dish to prevent temperature shock as it preheats.
Once the oven has preheated, start the timer and bake the casserole uncovered for 45-55 minutes or until the egg mixture is cooked through and no longer runny.
*If the top starts to brown too quickly, you can cover the dish with aluminum foil and continue baking until finished.
Serve warm and add desired toppings (maple syrup, powdered sugar, whipped cream, etc).

Notes

Stale bread: The bread needs to be stale and/or dry in order to work properly for French toast casserole. If your bread is fresh you can speed up the drying process by baking it in the oven (already cubed) at 275℉ for 5-15 minutes. Ensure you are flipping the bread and checking on it regularly while it’s in the oven.

*Half-and-half substitute: Use 1 ½ cups of whole milk and 1 ½ cups of heavy cream for the 3 cups of half-and-half called for in the recipe.

**In order to prevent temperature shock from the cold dish going into a hot oven, I recommend placing the cold dish in the oven before you even turn it on. Then, as the oven preheats it gradually warms the casserole dish - reducing the likelihood of it breaking.

Nutrition