Easy Baked French Toast

My family loves this easy baked French toast recipe. It is lightly spiced, slightly sweet, perfectly soft in the middle, and has the must delicious buttery cinnamon sugar top. You can make this right now or prepare it in advance for a stress-free breakfast or brunch!

I’ve always loved French toast! We’ve even shared a classic stovetop French toast on the blog, but this oven baked French toast recipe has quickly become my favorite. 

It’s incredibly delicious and perfect for prepping ahead or serving a crowd. You can even make it the night before!

Key Ingredients

• Bread: Use high-quality, day-old bread from a local bakery for the best baked French toast. French bread, sourdough, or a rustic loaf are great. Try enriched bread like Brioche or Challah for French toast that’s soft and buttery in the middle. If you don’t have the time to wait for day old bread, we added a step into our recipe that dries the bread anyway.
• Eggs: The base of our rich and delicious custard.
• Milk and cream: Are whisked with the eggs for the custard. I love the combination of milk and cream when making French toast. I use heavy cream, but whipping cream is fine.
• Maple syrup and vanilla extract: Add a touch of sweetness to the custard.
• Spices: The perfect blend of cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg makes our baked French toast taste and smell incredible.
• Butter: I pour melted butter over the French toast for a golden brown and crisp top before baking.
• Cinnamon sugar topping: While optional, I love the sweet crunch of a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar before baking.

How to Make Baked French Toast

Whenever I make French toast, especially baked French toast, I check my bread. Really fresh bread will turn to mush, so you really want to use drier, day old bread. If you’re sitting there with a fresh loaf, no worries! You can dry it in the oven before making this recipe. Simply slice it and bake it in a 350°F oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

Whisk eggs, milk, and cream together to make the rich and creamy custard. Then, add maple syrup (I like using pure maple syrup), vanilla extract, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, and salt for some sweetness and flavor.

When I first tested this recipe, I poured the custard over bread slices lined up in a baking dish. That worked, but the custard didn’t cover all of the bread. So now, I dip each slice into the custard first, guaranteeing every bite tastes amazing. Then, I pour over the rest of the custard.

Before baking the French toast, I recommend setting it aside for 30 minutes. This will give the bread a chance to absorb as much of that delicious custard as possible. You can leave it longer if you want. Just cover it and refrigerate it (it’s fine in the fridge overnight).

To bake the French toast, cover it and slide it into your oven for 30 minutes. Uncover it and then bake another 10 minutes until the bread looks puffed and golden brown on top. For a buttery, crisp topping (it’s so delicious!), pour melted butter over the top and sprinkle cinnamon sugar before baking the final 10 minutes.

Baked French Toast Variations

This French toast casserole is delicious, as written, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few changes you can make to make it your own. Here are a few suggestions:

• Add dried fruit or nuts: For more texture and color, add 1/2 cup of nuts or dried fruit to the custard before pouring it over the bread.
• Add pumpkin puree: For pumpkin French toast, whisk 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree into the custard. For inspiration, here’s our baked pumpkin French toast.
• Add sliced bananas: After baking for 30 minutes, uncover the casserole dish, add the melted butter and sliced bananas, then top with the cinnamon sugar topping. Bake another 10 minutes.
• Add fresh berries or fruit: Sprinkle fresh berries or cinnamon apples over the baked casserole, or add them to the dish before baking. I also love adding a dollop of whipped cream when serving.
• Add cheesecake filling: Beat 6 ounces of room-temperature cream cheese with maple syrup until whipped and slightly sweet. Dollop the cream cheese between slices of bread in the casserole dish before baking.