Baked Bagel French Toast with Maple Glaze — Soft, chewy bagels make the best French toast! So easy, no flipping required, and tastes phenomenally good!!
French Toast Breakfast Casserole…With Bagels!
I’ve made my share of French toast. With Hawaiian bread, as French toast sticks, as muffins, with gingerbread, pumpkin, streusel topping, and peanut butter maple syrup.
But using bagels is a first and it won’t be the last. This fast, easy, no-flipping, no-stovetop-babysitting, baked French toast casserole is soft, chewy, moist, and tender.
It’s perfect for brunch or on a leisurely weekend. I made it over the weekend and wrapped up the leftovers in plastic wrap and had breakfasts ready for my daughter for the week.
I finished the dish with an easy whisk-together maple syrup glaze. It boosts the maple flavor even more, and adds a gooey, juicy, lusciousness to the French toast that’s more special than plain maple syrup.
Every bite of this French toast is like the sweet, soft, glaze-coated, perfect center bite of a cinnamon roll. It’s an easy, comfort food breakfast that’s guaranteed to be a hit.
What’s in Bagel French Toast Casserole?
To make this quick french toast casserole, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Eggs
- Milk
- Maple syrup
- Granulated sugar
- Light brown sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Cinnamon
- Salt
- Bagels
- Confectioners’ sugar
How to Make Bagel French Toast Casserole
Whisk together the melted butter, eggs, milk, maple syrup, sugars, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Add the diced bagels and toss to coat.
Turn the mixture into a greased 11×7-inch baking dish. Bake until the center is set and has dried out some, taking care not to over bake as you want the French toast soft and moist.
Once the french toast breakfast casserole comes out of the oven, drizzle with maple glaze.
Can I Prep This Easy Baked French Toast the Night Before?
I haven’t tried this myself, so I can’t say for sure whether you can transform this into an overnight french toast casserole.
Tips for Making Baked French Toast Casserole
I used Thomas’ Limited Edition Maple French Toast Bagels. Making French toast with French toast-flavored bagels is perfect destiny. The bagels are soft, chewy, full of robust maple and cinnamon flavor, and they smell amazing.
Even in the sealed bag they made my cupboard smell like a bakery. If you can’t find this flavor, use cinnamon-swirl, cinnamon-raisin, or plain bagels.
You’re welcome to use lite or sugar-free maple syrup in this recipe if that’s what you prefer.
Baked Bagel French Toast with Maple Glaze
Ingredients
French Toast
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup milk or cream, regular, soy, almond, cashew, etc.
- ¼ cup maple syrup, lite or sugar-free okay
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt, or taste
- 5 Thomas’ Limited Edition Maple French Toast Bagels (or cinnamon-swirl, cinnamon-raisin, or plain, diced in 1-inch pieces
Maple Glaze
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- about 1/4 cup+ maple syrup, lite or sugar-free okay, adding additional as necessary for desired consistency
Instructions
- French Toast:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a medium-large oval baker with cooking spray or grease and flour the baking dish. My baking dish measures about 11-inches by 7-inches. Alternatively, use a 9-inch square pan or a 9×13-inch pan noting that baking time will be reduced; set aside.
- To a large microwave-safe bowl, add the butter and heat on high power to melt, about 1 minute. Wait momentarily so you don’t scramble the eggs.
- Add the eggs, milk, maple syrup, sugars, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, and whisk to combine.
- Add the bagels and toss lightly to coat. Allow mixture to stand for about 5 to 10 minutes, stirring once or twice, giving bagels time to soak up the coating.
- Turn mixture out into prepared baking dish, loosely laying it in. Drizzle any unabsorbed coating mixture over the bagels.
- Bake for about 35 minutes (start watching more closely at 30 minutes), or until center is set and has dried out some taking care not to overbake as you want the French toast soft and moist. The coating does not have to be bone dry on all pieces. If you’re having difficulty judging doneness, try a small bite and if it seems too wet, moist, or underdone for your liking, bake longer. French toast will firm up more as it cools. Baking times may vary widely based upon bagels used, baking dish used, climate, and oven variance.
- While French toast bakes, make the glaze.
Maple Glaze:
- To a medium bowl, add both ingredients and whisk until smooth. You may need to play with the sugar or maple syrup amounts slightly to achieve desired consistency.
- Remove French toast from oven, evenly drizzle with glaze, and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Baked French Toast Recipes:
Overnight Caramel French Toast Casserole – EASY, soft, tender, and decadent French toast that’s coated in caramel sauce!! Assemble it the night before and wake up to an amazing breakfast or brunch that everyone will ADORE!!
Caramel Apple French Toast Casserole — An EASY recipe with a make-ahead overnight option so it’s perfect for weekend or holiday brunches!! Soft bread, juicy apples, and buttery streusel topping is pure DECADENT comfort food!!
Overnight Syrup-On-The-Bottom French Toast – Assemble it the night before and wake up to AMAZING French toast the next morning!! An EASY homemade syrup layer on the bottom with super SOFT challah bread on top!
Baked French Toast Muffins – French toast that’s baked in muffin cups is so much easier! No stovetop flipping needed!
Cinnamon-Sugar Streusel Baked French Toast — The perfect breakfast! No stovetop flipping and you can make it ahead of time!
Overnight Gingerbread French Toast Breakfast Bake – Easy, make-ahead French toast that’s perfect for winter weekends or Christmas morning! Easy, no-flipping-required recipe!
Post is brought to you by Thomas’. The recipe, images, text, and opinions expressed are my own.
We love this recipe, so yummy!! Just a quick question, can I substitute croissants for the bagels and vanilla creamer for the milk? I have an abundance of croissants right.
The issue with the substitution is that a croissant is light and flaky, and I feel like it would potentially either turn really mushy or disintegrate. Whereas bagels, especially if they’re slightly older, are very hardy and dense. So they can stand up to the moisture. You could try and see what happens. You never know, may work out fine.
https://www.averiecooks.com/sweet-cream-vanilla-coffee-cake/ if you have an abundance of creamer to use up, this little cake is easy and uses coffee creamer.