Overnight Cinnamon French Toast Bake

Hands down the best French toast casserole, this overnight cinnamon French toast bake can easily feed a crowd, or just your family! It’s like a cinnamon roll made out of bread. Delicious!

Well, it’s Christmas Eve tomorrow, and I am about 70% prepared. I have all of the present shopping done, but none of the wrapping! It struck me this morning too, that I still need to go buy 2 cards for family that I’ll be seeing on Christmas. Little details. 

Since we got home from Hawaii, it’s just been go, go! We were thrown right into the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, and to be honest, I have loved it. Sure, it’s been crazy busy and at times I feel like my mind is running on an endless loop of plans, lists and worries, but I’ve got my tree up, the fireplace going and the Christmas music blasting. It really is one of my favorite times of year! I would say THE favorite, but since I’m a summer girl through and through, I just can’t bring myself to declare a winter holiday as my “favorite”, ha!

So I had about 10 other recipes I wanted to post on the blog before Christmas, but it’s just been so busy I haven’t gotten around to them all. I guess I’ll be a step ahead next year when it comes to recipe testing, right? For a few minutes, I thought about beginning my break from work after last week’s post, but I really wanted to get this overnight cinnamon French toast bake out to you before Christmas, because it is THE BEST HOLIDAY BREAKFAST!

What is a French toast bake?

It’s basically cubes of bread that have been soaking all night long, in a mixture of eggs, milk sugar and cinnamon. In the morning, you can just pop the whole thing into the oven and bake it up while you sip your morning coffee in the sunshine. A much better alternative to standing there and flipping individual pieces of French toast while your toddler pulls on your leg.

There are many variations to an overnight French toast casserole, but what makes this recipe extra special, is the cinnamon cream cheese and DECADENT toppings that go with it! Baked right into the casserole are dollops of rich and creamy cinnamon cream cheese, and when the casserole comes out of the oven, you’ll top it with a cream cheese frosting and a cinnamon sugar topping. Drool! 

I’ve been making overnight French toast bakes now for a few years, and this particular recipe is my own creation after many, many delicious test runs.

How do you make overnight cinnamon French toast bake?

To make this recipe, you need to start with some fairly basic ingredients:

• bread
• milk
• cinnamon
• eggs
• brown sugar
• cream cheese

The night before you plan to eat this casserole, start by cutting up your bread into 1″ cubes and spreading half of them into a large casserole dish, typically 9 x 18″.

What kind of bread should you use?

My favourite kind of bread to use for this recipe is sourdough, but challah is also a great option. You want a bread that’s fairly hard and dare I say it, stale. Since the bread will be soaking all night long, you need to use something that will hold up well. You could use regular bread, but be sure that it’s not super soft and fresh. Choose a bread that’s a bit on the drier side!

Once you layer half of the bread slices, prepare the cinnamon cream cheese by mixing together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, cinnamon and vanilla extract together, either by hand or with an electric mixer. Drop the cinnamon cream cheese, one spoonful at a time, throughout the chunks of bread.

After dropping in the cream cheese, add the other half of the cubed bread into the casserole dish.

Next, whisk together the eggs, milk, cinnamon and brown sugar. Pour this egg mixture all over the cubed bread, being sure to make every piece of bread wet with the eggs. The bread doesn’t have to be totally submerged, just moist.

Cover the dish tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and place it in the fridge for at least 8 hours, or overnight.

Can you use dairy-free milk?

Yes! I’ve made this recipe with both almond milk and regular cow’s milk with great success. I imagine that coconut milk would work as well, although I would suggest the thinner, refrigerated kind of coconut milk versus the thicker, canned coconut milk.

Keep in mind that if you’re looking for a dairy-free breakfast, you will want to leave out the cream cheese mixture, as well as the cream cheese topping! There is also butter in the cinnamon topping, so use a dairy-free butter or coconut oil.

How long does the French toast bake spend in the oven?

After removing the casserole from the fridge and preheating the oven, the French toast bake will need about 45-50 minutes. Just enough time to prepare the toppings (and make your coffee).

The cinnamon topping is composed of MORE cinnamon, brown sugar and butter. I usually microwave my butter, then whisk in the brown sugar and cinnamon. It takes all of 3 minutes!

For the cream cheese frosting, I would advise the use of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or an electric mixer. The frosting is simply cream cheese, milk and powdered sugar.

Once the French toast bake comes out of the oven, immediately drizzle both toppings over the surface, and serve!

This casserole is equal parts hearty and decadent. The bread chunks are perfectly soft and cooked, and the cream cheese in every bite is pure joy! Your whole family is guaranteed to love it, and probably ask for more. This recipe makes quite a bit, so you’ll have enough to feed 6-8 people. Luckily, the leftovers keep quite well in the fridge, so you can always eat it over 2 days!

Since this is my last post of the holidays, I want to wish you a VERY Merry Christmas. I hope it is filled with delicious eats and drinks! Thank you for following along with me this past year! 

Cheers!

I LOVE BREAKFAST. If you do too, you’ll LOVE these other breakfast options:

• breakfast croissants
• crockpot apple cinnamon oatmeal
• Nutella-pear French toast bake

Or try these cranberry orange eggnog pancakes by Flavor the Moments!

Print