Brioche French Toast Casserole

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This amazing French Toast Casserole is made with a rich custard soaked into buttery brioche bread. The cream cheese filling and bacon, pecan streusel topping make this dish extra delicious and perfect for special occasions.

piece of casserole on white plate with baking dish in background

This is the perfect recipe for hosting and is great for a holiday morning like Christmas or Mother's Day. The cream cheese filling and streusel topping turn this simple casserole into an extra special treat that covers the breakfast basics of sweet, savory, smooth, and crunchy.

This baked French toast casserole can be put together first thing in the morning or the night before.

Classic French toast typically uses day old or slightly stale bread to help it hold up to the cream and egg mixture. In this recipe you can use fresh bread because once the bread cubes are in the baking dish they won’t be handled again.

Using fresh bread makes it easier to put this recipe together quickly as well because fresh bread will soak up the custard much more quickly.

Contents hide

Ingredients

How to Make it

FAQ

Diana’s Tips for Success

Related Recipes

📖 Recipe

Easy French Toast Bake with Brioche

Cream Cheese Filling

Bacon Pecan Streusel Topping

Ingredients

Brioche Style Bread- This type of bread has a soft texture and flavor enriched with butter and eggs. If you can’t find brioche, then challah bread, or even a Portuguese sweet bread will be delicious in this French toast bake.

How to Make it

Step 1

Make the cream cheese filling by placing softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, cream, and vanilla extract into a medium bowl and mix until smooth and well combined.

cream cheese filling in medium mixing bowl

Step 2

Cut brioche bread into 1 inch cubes.
Place some of your bread cubes into a prepared baking dish in a single layer.
Add several spoonsful of cream cheese filling to the first layer.
Then add more brioche cubes and more cream cheese filling. Do this until you fill your baking dish.

layers of brioche and filling in casserole dish

Step 3

Make the French toast custard by whisking together heavy cream, milk, eggs, vanilla, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl.

cream and egg mixture in large mixing bowl

Step 4

Pour the cream mixture over the brioche.
Next, cover the baking dish with plastic wrap.
Use your hands on top of the plastic wrap to press the bread cubes down into the custard mixture.
Let the casserole sit, covered, for at least 1 hour before baking. You can leave it overnight in the refrigerator and bake the next morning.

soaked brioche bread cubes in a baking sheet with plastic wrap

Step 5

Make the streusel topping by cutting chopped pecans, flour, brown sugar, and butter.

Step 6

Preheat your oven to 350°.
Remove the plastic wrap from your casserole. Sprinkle streusel filling crisp cooked bacon pieces over the top of the casserole evenly.
Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes.
After 35 minutes, remove the foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes until the crumb topping is golden brown. Use a toothpick or knife to check the center of the casserole for doneness. When the French toast bake is fully cooked, the custard in the bread cubes should be firm and hot.
Serve with warm maple syrup and a side of fresh fruit.

brioche french toast casserole with streusel topping

FAQ

Why is my French Toast casserole soggy?

There are two reasons why your casserole might be soggy.

Too much custard. You don’t want your cubed bread to be swimming. Ideally you should have just enough custard to come up about an inch from the top of your baking dish. The bread should soak up all of the liquid and still be firm.Under baking. You want to make sure you check the center of the casserole and that the custard filled bread has firmed up. The custard won’t set until it gets cooked and the soaked bread will be soggy.

Why is my Brioche French Toast Casserole Dry?

There are two main reasons why your casserole is too dry.
1. Too little liquid. If there isn’t enough liquid for every piece of bread to soak up you will end up with dry pieces of bread throughout.
2.Overbaking. Cooking this dish too long will allow moisture to escape and dry out the bread.

Diana’s Tips for Success

When you start to preheat your oven, take your casserole out of the refrigerator so that it will be closer to room temperature. This will help it cook more evenly.

Storage and Reheating

Store leftovers in the baking dish or in an airtight container.

Reheating this is very easy. Place individual servings in a microwave safe dish. Cover with a piece of damp paper towel and heat in 30 second intervals until it is warm throughout.