This French Toast Casserole has fluffy French Toast style bread topped with diced apples and drizzled with a sweet cinnamon brown sugar topping. Make it the day before and finish in the oven for an easy breakfast!
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Your house will be filled with the scents of cinnamon and brown sugar as you get ready for the day. Your kids will wake up and ask, “What’s that yummy smell?” You can be the hero of Christmas breakfast or Tuesday’s breakfast. This casserole is perfect for both!
This Apple French Toast Casserole hides a frugal secret: You can make it solely from the ends of the loaf of bread!
For years I struggled with the dilemma of eating the worst sandwich imaginable with 2 loaf ends or just throwing them away. I hated both options.
Now, I save up the bread ends until I have enough to make this much-anticipated breakfast. This casserole turns the worst slices of bread into the best breakfast!
Make-Ahead Apple French Toast Casserole Ingredients
This recipe was originally based on The Pioneer Woman’s Baked French Toast. The ingredients were simplified to be more frugal common household ingredients.
Bread
The base of this recipe. You can use any type of bread and any combination of breads. I have used sourdough, white, cinnamon-swirl bread, and other various breads, all with great success.
The bread must be well-dried. Fresh bread doesn’t absorb the egg mixture well enough, and the casserole will end up with an unappealing, eggy taste.
Frugal Secret Ingredient
While you can make this casserole with 10 cups of regular bread slices, this recipe can be elevated in frugality by using only the ends of the bread!
I have tried this recipe both ways, and no one could tell the difference!
I was pretty nervous the first time I made it with bread ends. Would I be wasting a giant breakfast casserole? Would everyone hate it? No and no! It was equally delicious with loaf ends as with the middle slices!
I even recommend using only loaf ends to make this dish for guests. I have brought this to many pot lucks and used it for holiday breakfasts using bread loaf ends. It is superb!
Drying Out Bread Slices
As you finish a loaf of bread, leave the ends out on a plate until dried out. Store in the bread bag they came in or a gallon-sized baggie. Keep in the freezer until you have enough to make a casserole.
This recipe uses 10 cups of cubed bread, which is enough bread to almost fill the a bread bag or about 3/4 of a gallon baggie.
Don’t want to wait for your family to eat 10 loaves of bread? Add a few middle slices of bread or use a whole loaf, either store-bought or homemade.
Remaining Casserole Ingredients
Eggs
Milk: I recommend 2% or whole milk.
Sugar: granulated sugar
Vanilla
Flour: all-purpose flour. Measure by gently spooning flour into the measuring cups and then level off the top. Alternatively, measure by weight.
Topping Ingredients
Brown Sugar: Packed tightly in the measuring cup
Cinnamon
Salt
Nutmeg: optional, but gives it a nice flavor with just a pinch.
Butter: salted or unsalted. Melted to easily mix topping.
Apples: Peeled, cored and diced to about a size of 1 cm. Any baking apple works well here. Classics include Granny Smith for tart or Gala or Fuji for sweet. Cosmic Crisp is my favorite apple.
Not a fan of apples? Leave them out or swap them for a different fruit.
How to Make Apple French Toast Casserole
This recipe was originally based on The Pioneer Woman’s Baked French Toast. The construction of this dish was simplified to be easier to put together and easier to bake in the morning while still maintaining flavor and presentation.
Assembling the Casserole
Grease a deep-dish 9″x13″ baking pan (also called a lasagna pan) with butter. I like to use this glass Pyrex dish (Amazon link).
Cube your dried-out bread slices. Measure out 10 cups and pour into the prepared dish.
Note: Be sure your bread is really dried out. Bread that is fresh won’t absorb the egg mixture well and you’ll end up with a flavor that it more baked-eggs than French-Toast.
In a medium-sized bowl, mix the eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla. Pour over the cubed bread.
Sprinkle diced apples over the top.
If you don’t like apples, you can swap out for a different fruit or leave it out altogether.
Making the Topping
The topping couldn’t be simpler! In a small bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. Melt a stick of butter, pour over the top and mix until well combined.
Transfer the topping to a baggie. I find the easiest way to do this is by putting a baggie inside a cup and turning the top over the rim of the glass.
Cut off the bottom corner and pipe over the top of the casserole.
Cover your beautiful casserole with plastic wrap to keep it moist and stick it in the fridge overnight.
Baking in the Morning
Simply remove the plastic wrap and bake for about an hour as you get ready in the morning. Let sit 10 minutes before serving. The flavor of this French Toast improves as it cools a bit.
Storing French Toast Casserole
Store tightly covered in the fridge up to 1-2 days.
Can I Freeze Baked French Toast Casserole?
You bet! This makes a lot of breakfast, so if you aren’t feeding a crowd, you can either freeze the leftovers right in the dish, or portion out smaller servings.
Cover single-sized portions in plastic wrap. Put the packages in a large freezer baggie and store up to 1-2 months.
Special Baking Equipment
This dish bakes best in a deep-dish 9″x13″ dish, also called a Lasagna Pan. I bake mine in a glass Pyrex dish (Amazon link).
Will you be making this for a busy weekday breakfast or serving it on a lazy Sunday? Let me know in a comment below!
Happy Baking!
Make Ahead Apple French Toast Casserole
Equipment
- Deep Dish 9×13" Pan (also called a Lasagna Pan)
Ingredients
Casserole
- 10 cups dried bread cubes see notes below
- 8 eggs
- 2 ½ cups milk
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons vanilla extract
Topping
- ½ cup all-purpose flour (65 grams for ½ cup of flour)
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- pinch nutmeg (optional)
- ½ cup butter, melted
- 1 to 1 ½ cups apple, peeled, cored and diced to about 1cm cubes 1 large apple
Instructions
Casserole
- Grease a deep-dish 9"x13" pan with butter.
- Cut dried bread slices into cubes and measure out 10 cups. Pour into pan.
- In a large bowl, whisk 8 eggs, 2 ½ cups milk, ¾ cup granulated sugar and 2 Tablespoons vanilla extract. Pour over bread cubes.
- Sprinkle diced apples evenly over top.
Topping
- In a medium bowl, mix ½ cup all-purpose flour, ½ cup packed brown sugar, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon salt and a pinch nutmeg if using. Pour melted butter over top and mix well to combine.
- Transfer topping mixture to a sandwich baggie. Cut off tip and pipe over casserole.
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
- In the morning, preheat oven to 350°F. Bake 60 minutes. Rest 10 minutes before serving.
- Store tightly covered in the refrigerator up to 2 days. Freeze for longer storage.
Notes
- Cubed bread can either be from homemade bread, store-bought bread slices or my frugal favorite: loaf ends.
- To save up enough loaf ends to make a full casserole: As you finish a loaf of bread, leave the ends out on a plate to dry. When the bread feels dry, place the slices in a bread bag and freeze until it’s full.
- Using homemade bread? Store slices in a gallon baggie until about 3/4 full.
- Not a fan of apples? Feel free to leave them out or swap them for a different fruit.
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