Brioche French Toast Casserole

Need a delicious, quick and decadent breakfast / brunch dish for the family this summer? You can’t go wrong with this brioche French toast casserole, which you can start the night before and pop into the oven the following morning.

This dish was inspired by Half Baked Harvest’s recipe for a brûléed French toast with raspberry preserves. What’s genius about Tieghan’s recipe is that she adds a hidden layer of brown sugar and maple syrup at the bottom of the casserole dish which gets the bottom of the French toast beautifully caramelized.

The prep for this dish couldn’t be easier. Just mix together your wet ingredients, soak your bread in the egg and milk mixture, assemble the casserole and refrigerate. The next morning all you have to do is throw the casserole in the oven and voila, 45 minutes later breakfast is served.

Brioche French Toast Casserole

• Author: COE

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 8 large eggs, beaten
• 2 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1 T orange juice
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 loaf challah bread, sliced into thick slices
• 1–2 tablespoons demerara sugar

For serving:

• Fresh raspberries
• Fresh blackberries
• Crème fraîche
• Maple syrup

 

Instructions

1. Grease a 9×13 inch-baking dish with butter. 
2. In a small bowl, combine the maple syrup, brown sugar, and the butter. Spread the mixture in the bottom of the buttered baking dish.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, orange juice, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
4. Dip each piece of bread into the egg mixture, letting the bread sit for at least a minute so that it soaks up the egg mixture.  
5. Arrange the bread in the prepared baking dish. Pour the remaining egg mixture over the bread slices.
6. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight. 
7. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. 
8. Sprinkle the French toast casserole evenly with the demerara sugar. 
9. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the casserole is golden and crisp.
10. Loosely cover the French toast with foil if the tops of the bread begin to brown too quickly.
11. Serve the french toast warm, topped with fresh berries, a dollop of creme fraiche and some maple syrup.