Baked French Toast
May 01, 2019, Updated May 08, 2025
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This oven baked French toast is prepped ahead to make your mornings easier and to let the bread soak up the tangy cream cheese custard. A bit of powdered sugar, sweet strawberries, and chopped nuts make it the perfect easy breakfast!
If you want more make-ahead magic, this blueberry bread pudding is a keeper. Prefer savory? Go for my breakfast casserole with sausage.
This custard-soaked baked French toast is a major time-saving recipe for weekends or special holidays. It’s an easy, make-ahead breakfast that you can assemble the night before and pop into the oven in the morning! This isn’t just any French toast, either! It’s soaked in cream cheese custard with cinnamon, maple syrup, and orange zest. The flavors are cozy and zesty, and the bread bakes up moist inside and crispy on the edges like a German pancake.
I love serving my baked French toast dusted with powdered sugar and topped with fresh berries and chopped nuts. But the toppings are totally up to you!
What Makes This Oven Baked French Toast So Darn Good
- Dessert for breakfast. Baked French toast is a sweet breakfast option that tastes even more like dessert thanks to the powdered sugar and your favorite toppings.
- Great for leftovers. Got extra bread? Perfect! This recipe is the tastiest way to use up leftover or day-old bread, kind of like what I do with leftover cinnamon rolls in my cinnamon roll casserole.
- Perfect for brunch. Place the baking dish on the table and let everyone help themselves to as much French toast as they want. No need to stand over a hot griddle!
5 Star Review
“Hi Katerina, kudos to your recipe. These are perfect to try with tea and coffee. My wife liked them so much. Keep sharing such recipes.” – Mike
You’ll Need These Ingredients
Maple syrup adds sweetness to make this baked French toast recipe taste just like the pan-fried version. Scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact quantities.
- Cream Cheese – Use full-fat or low-fat cream cheese.
- Eggs – A carton of liquid eggs works great for this.
- Whole Milk – You can use 2% milk if you prefer. Avoid plant-based milk.
- Maple Syrup – Raw honey and agave nectar can be used instead.
- Vanilla Extract – Almond extract is a good swap.
- Ground Cinnamon – Feel free to use a bit of ground nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice.
- Orange Zest – Freshly-grated zest is best, but dried works, too.
- Day-old Bread – Fresh bread doesn’t work for this because it’ll soften very quickly. See below for details.
- Powdered Sugar – If you don’t have any on hand, make your own by processing 1/2 cup granulated sugar until it’s very fine. Use it for the recipe and store the rest for later. Cinnamon sugar is another great way to add sweetness.
What’s The Best Bread for French Toast?
Any plain, stale bread with an airy crumb is the best kind for this baked French toast casserole. I prefer sliced baguettes, brioche, or challah for an extra-rich flavor. Make sure it’s thickly sliced for best results.
Helpful Tips and Variations
- Use leftovers. Add all your leftover bread slices to the baking dish. It doesn’t matter if they’re different kinds of bread as long as they’re not savory. Go for croissants, baguettes, brioche, and challah, taking inspiration from my challah French toast recipe.
- Make it chocolatey. Sprinkle 1/4-1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips between and over the bread slices. This will add lots of chocolatey goodness. Use white, milk, semi-sweet, or bittersweet chocolate.
- Add fall-vibes. Beat 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin spice or apple pie spice into the cream cheese mixture for some fall flair.
- Same-day baking. In case you don’t want to wait overnight, assemble the casserole and let it sit for 20-30 minutes before baking.
- Line the baking dish. Use foil or parchment paper to line the baking dish for easy clean-up. Don’t forget to grease the foil or parchment too.
Optional French Toast Toppings
For topping ideas, these are some of my favorites:
- Sliced strawberries or strawberry sauce
- Strawberry jam or plum jam
- Berry compote (like you’ll find in my protein baked oatmeal)
- Chopped nuts
- Maple syrup or honey
- Peanut butter
- Whipped cream
- Chocolate chips
Serving Suggestions
This baked French toast is great on its own with a cup of tea, coffee, or a glass of milk. If you’re a coffee person, try my coffee frappe or dalgona coffee. A side of crispy bacon and scrambled eggs or a frittata is great, too. Try these apple cider mimosas for a fun, seasonal sip.
Tools For This Recipe
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Baked French Toast
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 4 large eggs
- 1¼ cups whole milk
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 loaf stale bread, like a large French baguette, sliced (about 14 slices)
- powdered sugar
- sliced strawberries, for garnish (optional)
- chopped nuts, for garnish (optional)
- maple syrup for serving, (optional)
Instructions
- Prepare. Butter or lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish. Arrange the bread slices in the baking dish and set aside.
- Make the custard. Cream the cream cheese in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer. Add in the eggs and continue to mix until combined. Add milk, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, and orange zest; continue to mix until thoroughly incorporated.
- Combine. Pour the prepared cream cheese mixture evenly over the bread.
- Refrigerate. Cover the baking dish and refrigerate overnight. If making the same day, let it stand 20 to 30 minutes before baking.
- Prep. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Remove the baking dish from the refrigerator and let it stand on the kitchen counter for 15 minutes.
- Bake. Place the baking dish in the preheated oven and bake, uncovered, for 35 to 40 minutes, or until set and the top is golden brown.
- Finish and serve. Remove the French toast from the oven and sprinkle it with powdered sugar. You can also garnish it with strawberries or nuts and serve it with maple syrup.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
How to Make Baked French Toast
I LOVE the texture of this oven baked French toast. The cream cheese mixture bakes into a custard-like consistency that makes every bite extra indulgent. Follow the steps below, and your casserole will be ready to bake the following day.
- Prep the baking dish. Lightly grease a 9×13″ baking dish with cooking spray.
- Add the bread. Arrange the sliced bread in the baking dish. Set it aside.
- Make the cream cheese mixture. Beat the cream cheese in a large mixing bowl until soft and fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time. Pour in the milk, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, and orange zest. Mix until smooth.
- Pour it. Drizzle all of the prepared cream cheese mixture over the bread.
- Chill it. Cover the baking dish with foil and refrigerate it overnight.
- Prep the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Set the baking dish on the counter for 15 minutes to take the chill off.
- Bake. Uncover the baking dish. Pop it into the oven for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown.
- Serve. Remove the casserole from the oven. Sprinkle the French toast with powdered sugar. Garnish it and enjoy!
How to Store Leftovers
This baked French toast recipe isn’t freezer-friendly because the cream cheese mixture would split.
- Fridge: Place it in an airtight container for up to 5 days. You can also keep it in the baking dish if you cover it tightly with foil.
- To reheat it: Microwave it in 30-second intervals until warm. For large portions, reheat it in the oven at 300°F for 15-20 minutes.
Hi Katerina, kudos to your recipe. These are perfect to try with tea and coffee. My wife liked them so much.
Keep sharing such recipes.