Overnight Caramel French Toast Casserole

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Caramel Overnight 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!!

overnight french toast casserole drizzled with caramel sauce on a white platter

Caramel Overnight French Toast Bake

This is possibly my new favorite French toast casserole, and my recipe for Overnight Syrup-On-The-Bottom French Toast is hard to top.

This caramel French toast is delicate and tender on the inside, with a touch of firmness on the outer exposed edges. If you like French toast that has a lot of chewiness and is very hearty, this is not that. Like buttah is how I would describe the texture.

The star of the show though is the layer of caramel sauce. It creates itself in the pan when you bake the French toast — love that.

I love this recipe because you assemble it the night before and so when you wake up the next day all you have to do is put it in the oven, which is a big win when you’re possibly half asleep, hungover, or are making this for guests for brunch and have other things to tend to. 

If you’re gluttonous like I am when it comes to French toast, you can either add additional prepared or homemade salted caramel sauce and/or maple syrup. Neither are necessary, but I did drizzle the top with salted caramel sauce and loved every juicy bite.

This French toast is perfect for lazy weekend mornings, an easy-peasy brunch since you can preassemble it, or for a special holiday breakfast celebration. You’ll thank yourself the next morning that all you had to do was pop it in the oven and anyone you serve it to will thank you, too.

overnight french toast casserole drizzled with caramel on a white platter. A serving it missing.

What’s in Overnight French Toast Casserole? 

To make this easy overnight french toast bake, you’ll need: 

  • Unsalted butter
  • Light brown sugar
  • Eggs
  • Milk
  • Vanilla extract
  • Cinnamon
  • Ground ginger
  • Kosher salt
  • French bread
  • Caramel sauce and / or maple syrup, for serving (optional) 

a portion of caramel overnight french toast bake on a white plate with a fork.

How to Make Overnight French Toast Casserole 

Mix together melted butter with brown sugar and scatter that in the bottom of your baking or casserole dish. This is what turns into the caramel sauce as the French toast bakes.

Mix together eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, and add one pound of cubed French bread to the mixture.

Cover the casserole dish with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, or up to 12 hours overnight.

When you’re ready to bake, uncover it, bake it off, and immediately after baking, invert the casserole dish over a large serving platter so that the caramel sauce that was on the bottom of the casserole dish is now on top. It’s so beautiful to see all that glistening caramel.

caramel overnight french toast bake

What’s the Best Bread for French Toast? 

Do not use regular bread from an average loaf of bread. It’s too thin, not hearty enough, and will disintegrate.

I used day old French bread, but even my day old bread was still very soft and tender and I was a bit worried it would be mushy after an overnight stint in the egg and milk mixture, but it was fine.

Can I Halve This Recipe? 

Sure thing! I know not everyone needs a 9×13-inch pan of overnight french toast bake. If that’s the case, halve the ingredients and bake the french toast in an 8×8-inch baking dish. 

Caramel Overnight 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!!

Tips for Making This Easy Overnight French Toast 

Make sure you cut your bread into cubes about 1 to 1 1/2-inches. It’s okay if they look a little big at first. Remember they will appear to ‘shrink’ as they absorb the liquid mixture. Cubes that are initially too small tend to turn mushy and disintegrate.

Be sure to add some kosher salt to the French toast batter. It won’t make the french toast casserole salty, it will just balance out the flavors. 

This recipe is best warm and fresh. You can prep it overnight as the name suggests, but once you’ve baked it you need to eat it right away. 

Caramel Overnight 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!!

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4.57 from 64 votes

Caramel Overnight French Toast Casserole

By Averie Sunshine
EASY, soft, tender, and decadent French toast casserole that's coated in caramel sauce!! Assemble it the night before and wake up to an amazing breakfast or brunch that everyone will ADORE!!
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Additional Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
Servings: 8
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Ingredients  

  • ¼ unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 8 large eggs
  • 1 ½ cups milk, I prefer 2% or whole
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • ½ to 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
  • 1 pound French bread, diced in 1 to 1 1/2-inch cubes (I used day old)
  • caramel or salted caramel sauce, optional for serving
  • maple syrup, optional for serving

Instructions 

  • Spray a 9x13-inch casserole dish with cooking spray; set aside.
  • To a medium bowl, add the melted butter, brown sugar, and stir to combine. Mixture will have the consistency of wet sand. Scatter this mixture in the bottom of the prepared pan. You will not have complete coverage; set pan aside.
  • To a large bowl, add the eggs, and lightly beat to break the yolks and combine.
  • Add the milk, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and whisk to combine.
  • Add the bread to the bowl and toss well, but lightly, with a spatula to evenly coat the bread in the egg-milk mixture.
  • Turn bread out into the prepared pan, cover pan, and place it in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, or up to 12 hours overnight.
  • Preheat oven to 350F and remove pan from the fridge while oven is preheating. Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes or until the caramel sauce underneath is lightly bubbling and the top of the bread is slightly crusted over and lightly browned.
  • Immediately after you take the casserole dish out of the oven, place a very large serving platter over the casserole dish and invert it so the casserole 'plops' out onto the serving platter. Use caution since the casserole dish is hot and heavy.
  • Using a spatula, scrape any caramel sauce from the baking dish onto the French toast casserole.
  • Optionally, if desired, lightly drizzle extra caramel or salted caramel sauce over the top, and/or lightly drizzle maple syrup, and serve immediately.
  • Recipe is best warm and fresh.

Nutrition

Serving: 1, Calories: 503kcal, Carbohydrates: 89g, Protein: 14g, Fat: 10g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g, Cholesterol: 197mg, Sodium: 748mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 56g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

More Easy French Toast Recipes: 

ALL OF MY FRENCH TOAST RECIPES!

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! Great for brunches and holiday mornings!!

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana-Stuffed French Toast – A decadent twist on peanut butter and banana sandwiches!! Great for lazy weekend mornings or holiday brunches!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana-Stuffed French Toast - A decadent twist on peanut butter and banana sandwiches!! Great for lazy weekend mornings or holiday brunches! Easy and the BEST French toast ever!!

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!

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Cannoli French Toast Rollups – Don’t settle for plain French toast when you can roll it up with cannoli filling! Sweet, creamy, luscious, and loaded with chocolate chips! Easy and perfect for lazy weekend mornings or holiday brunches!

Cannoli French Toast Rollups - Don't settle for plain French toast when you can roll it up with cannoli filling!! Sweet, creamy, luscious, and loaded with chocolate chips! Easy and perfect for lazy weekend mornings or holiday brunches!!

Hawaiian Bread and Maple Banana Baked French Toast – Super soft Hawaiian bread with maple and bananas! So easy because it’s baked! A hit with everyone!

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Croissant French Toast – Soft, tender, and so buttery it just melts in your mouth! Fast, easy, and a breakfast worth waking up for!

Croissant French Toast - After trying French toast on croissants, you'll never go back to using bread!! Soft, tender, and so buttery it just melts in your mouth!! Fast, easy, and a breakfast worth waking up for!!

Baked Bagel French Toast with Maple Glaze – Soft, chewy bagels make the best French toast! So easy, no flipping required, and tastes phenomenally good!

Baked Bagel French Toast with Maple Glaze - Soft, chewy bagels make the best French toast! So easy, no flipping required, and tastes phenomenally good!!

Cinnamon-Sugar Streusel Baked French Toast – The perfect breakfast! No stovetop flipping and you can make it ahead of time!

Cinnamon-Sugar Streusel Baked French Toast - The perfect breakfast! No stovetop flipping and you can make it ahead of time!! It's a keeper!!

Cinnamon Sugar French Toast Sticks – Portable French toast that’s just begging to be dunked! Fast, easy, and double-dipping is totally ok!

Cinnamon Sugar French Toast Sticks - Portable French toast that's just begging to be dunked!! Fast, easy, and double-dipping is totally ok!!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Overnight Pull-Apart French Toast – Make breakfast the night before and pop it in the oven the next morning! So easy!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Overnight Pull-Apart French Toast - Make breakfast the night before & pop it in the oven the next morning! So easy!

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Please note: I have only made the recipe as written, and cannot give advice or predict what will happen if you change something. If you have a question regarding changing, altering, or making substitutions to the recipe, please check out the FAQ page for more info.

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Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Me again…I made it!!! I halved the recipe and it turned out great! So easy too. We had leftovers and I put it in the oven for about 15 minutes…it was still tasty the next day!

  2. 5 stars
    Me again…I made it!!! I halved the recipe and it turned out great! So easy too. We had leftovers and I put it in the oven for about 15 minutes…it was still tasty the next day!

    1. Thanks for the 5 star review and glad this turned out great and that the leftovers were still tasty, too!

  3. I’m going to make this soon, so I’ll let you know how it turns out. I do have a question. Your recipe calls for 1/4 stick of butter. That would be 2 tablespoons. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t supposed to use 1/4 cup of butter.

    Thank you!!

    1. Probably will be fine.

      However I haven’t tested them to see how the caramely sauce will or won’t thicken up with vegan butter, eggs, and milk. That is a bit of a tall order to replace 3 items with vegan products but possibly will be fine.

  4. 5 stars
    This was very tasty. To me it had a traditional french toast taste but in a fun and easy casserole form. It was a little tricky to invert onto a platter but I was wondering if making it in two cake pans for instance would make that easier in the future (or in a large oval dish, I suppose it would depend on what shape and size you were inverting it on to). I left out the ginger but followed the recipe otherwise and would make it again for a special breakfast! I even enjoyed it heated up in the microwave the next day. Thanks for the recipe!

  5. 5 stars
    This was very tasty. To me it had a traditional french toast taste but in a fun and easy casserole form. It was a little tricky to invert onto a platter but I was wondering if making it in two cake pans for instance would make that easier in the future (or in a large oval dish, I suppose it would depend on what shape and size you were inverting it on to). I left out the ginger but followed the recipe otherwise and would make it again for a special breakfast! I even enjoyed it heated up in the microwave the next day. Thanks for the recipe!

    1. Thanks for the 5 star review and glad you will make this again for a special breakfast and that even the leftovers were good in the microwave the next day!

    1. I haven’t tried either way so not sure what to say but I would say possibly after, but you’d have to test it.

      1. Personally this is a recipe I would not freeze before cooking. Nor really after. It’s best served warm and fresh like any other type of French toast or pancake, breakfast, etc. type of recipe.

  6. 5 stars
    This was so good, and nice to prepare the night before and forget about it! I halved the recipe and used only one layer of bread, so used only 2 eggs and less milk.