Overnight French Toast

Overnight French Toast

Happy Labor Day weekend, everyone!! I hope you all are enjoying your weekend thus far.

If you’re thinking about preparing something extra special for breakfast, or brunch, for your Labor Day holiday, you may want to consider whipping up a batch of this Overnight French Toast. The best part is that you can prepare this dish the evening before you want to serve it, so all you have to do in the morning is pop it into the oven and 30 – 35 minutes later, you have a delicious breakfast for you and your family.

~Enjoy~




Overnight French Toast

1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) butter, melted
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
10 slices of thick-cut french bread
8 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup pecans, measured then chopped
maple syrup and/or powdered sugar for topping (optional)

Directions:
In a small bowl, combine melted butter and brown sugar. Pour on the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish.

Arrange slices of bread in the baking dish, overlapping if necessary.

Combine eggs, milk, vanilla extract, cinnamon, ginger, and salt in a bowl and pour evenly over bread slices.

Sprinkle chopped pecans over bread slices.

Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 4-12 hours.

In the morning, take the baking dish out of the refrigerator and let sit on the counter for at least 10 minutes – while you preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Bake for 30-35 minutes. If the top starts browning too quickly, place a piece of aluminum foil loosely over the top of the pan for the last 10 minutes or so.
You want it to cook long enough to make sure the bottom part is cooked, but don’t dry it out completely.

Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving. Serve with maple syrup and/or powdered sugar, if desired.

59 Responses

  1. Every so often I stop in for a visit. It’s a nice surprise to see you are back! Your French Toast sounds wonderful. I’ve never used Ginger when making it. What a great flavor and so easy when it’s prepped the night before! Thanks.
    ~Judy

  2. Yummy! I can’t wait to try this one – it looks absolutely delicious!
    I am so happy your back to posting your awesome recipes again.

  3. AlaskaMom!! So good to see you again! 😀 And I agree with JG, that French Toast recipe sounds great, and would be perfect to make up at our Adirondack place! Glad you’re back and I look forward to more wonderful recipes and photos of your awesome state! 🙂

    • Thank you so much, Carole!! It’s so good to be back and I’m so happy to see that many of my readers continued to visit my blog even though I was away for so long. 🙂

  4. sounds yummy! thank you for posting!

  5. Just found your blog. Does it have a name? All I have is the address for the make ahead French Toast. Thanks….that looks like a great recipe.

  6. What a delicious toast is this!! Thanks for sharing.

  7. looks yummy! I will try this soon…

  8. Love new recipes. My daughter shared your site. I’ll be doing your French toast for Christmas brunch. Merry Christmas to you and yours.

  9. Yum!!! I can’t wait to try this for our annual Memorial Day Breakfast:)

  10. This was THE absolute best French Toast I have EVER had! Instead of pecans, I used almonds. The outside was slightly crisp, the inside like an awesome custard. Spoon some of the ‘juice’ from the bottom of the pan over the toast, and you will not need syrup. This recipe could easily be posted in dessert categories too. SO GOOD!!

    • Thank you for your comment and review Jim. I’m thrilled to hear that you enjoyed the French Toast! I’m going to make a note to myself to use almonds the next time I make it. 🙂

  11. […] back to the kitchen now. We’re having an all-day potluck at work on Monday and I’m bringing Overnight French Toast. I really hope they like […]

  12. I am going to try this for sure! Thank you for posting it!

  13. This is in the oven as we speak. Smells delicious. I’ll come back to visit again!

  14. […] alskamom.wordpress.com via Julie on […]

  15. How many people does this serve? It sounds heavenly! I’m helpint to host Thanksgiving next weekend and I’m in charge of Monday’s brunch! I will have 36 family here, and was thinking of using your French Toast dish for the children (there will be 13 of them). So I need to know how many it serves. Thank you so much!

    • The serving size will depend on how many slices each person will be eating. This recipe makes 10 slices of French Toast, so if each child only has one piece, it will serve 10. If they have two pieces, this recipe will serve 5. You’ll probably want to make at least two batches of French Toast, if you decide to use this recipe.
      Thank you so much for visiting, Colleen! I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend and a great brunch!!

  16. Was this dish soggy! Like bread pudding?

    • No, this dish has never turned out soggy when I have made it Leshon. The french toast slices should be firm, just like typically prepared french toast. Did yours turn out soggy?

  17. Is it possible to have the baking pan covered with aluminum foil from the start of baking til finished so it won’t get brown?

    • I’m not sure covering the pan with foil from start to finish would be a good idea, as it would probably trap too much moisture in and make the french toast soggy. (you want it to get a little brown and dry out a bit)
      If you’re worried about it getting too brown, you could check it about 15-20 minutes into the baking process and, if it’s beginning to turn browner than you like, then you could place a piece of aluminum foil loosely over the top of the pan for the last 10 minutes or so.
      I hope this helps!

  18. This looks fabulous, I will try this recipe this Christmas, getting tired of the usual breakfast casserole. Thanks for posting!

  19. If you have enough room in your pan, you can lay them down flat Kimberly. If necessary though, you can overlap the bread as shown in the picture. It kind of depends on the size of the bread. With the bread I use, I always need to overlap. 🙂

  20. Tried this tonight, after 45 minutes the bread was still mush, and after I turned the oven up to 400 for another 15 then broiler for another 10 they FINALLY started to get toasted. I followed the recipe exactly and there was no flavour at all. Will not make this again

    • I’m so sorry that you had such bad luck with this recipe. I’m not sure what could have gone wrong, but I’m very sorry it didn’t turn out well for you.

  21. Found you via Pinterest. I think this is going to be on my Christmas Morning menu! Thanks for the recipe.

  22. What if it’s in the fridge for more like 16 hours? make a difference?

    • I’ve never kept in the fridge for longer than 12 hours Lindsay, so I’m not sure if it would make a difference or not. If you do keep it in for longer though, I’d be interested to know how it turns out.

  23. Hey! I’d like to know if it will work with the regular sliced bread you find on the supermarket. I’m not from the US and I don’t quite understand what you mean with French bread, is it a special brand or kind of bread? Would it work if I use the regular Holsum like sliced bread? Thank you!

    • Hi Eugenia. French bread is a kind of bread. It’s a crusty white bread baked usually in long thin loaves. I haven’t tried using regular sandwich-type supermarket sliced bread when making this french toast, as it is usually sliced pretty thin, and I’ve found that a thicker cut of bread works best in this recipe. I’m not sure what Holsum bread is, but if it’s a thick-cut bread, it may work. If you do decide to use regular sliced bread, I’d be interested to know how it turns out.
      Thank you for your comment, and thank you so much for visiting my blog!

  24. i tried it love it will make it for son and grand sons when we go to maryland

    • I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed it Carol! Thank you so much for leaving a comment to let me know. I hope your son and grand sons enjoy it too. 🙂

  25. Ok Made the French toast this morning.. Flavor was Good, I never follow exact recipes. The only thing I would recommend is the Bread Lay Flat in a pan. I will try this next time. When the bread leans on each other, I found Most pieces Stick together with the egg mixture.. I used the Thick sliced Sweet Hawaiin Bread comes in a loaf at grocery stores.So I made do.. I pulled out the Pieces. Cut them in 1/2 triangles on the plate , and with the powdered sugar, It looked pretty and was delicious..!

  26. […] recipes that I’ve served on holidays in the past – Bacon-Cheese Pull-Aparts, and Overnight French Toast. Overnight French Toast has consistently been the most viewed recipe on my blog since I posted it […]

  27. […] I was surfing the net and came upon this wonderful little recipe.  It is AMAZING!  Thank you to https://alskamom.wordpress.com/2011/09/04/overnight-french-toast/ for posting such a lovely recipe.  My teenagers think I am SUPER […]

  28. Made this with 12 slices of regular white bread. Followed the recipe exactly, except that I placed 6 slices of bread in the bottom of the 9×13 flat and then layered another 6 slices on top. Very excellent, not soggy at all!

  29. This looks delicious! Could you use Sour dough bread?

    • I’m sure sourdough bread would work very well in this recipe, Shay. I’ve made this a couple of times with a combination Sourdough-French bread, and it turned out great. Just be sure that the bread is thick-cut.
      Thank you for your question!

  30. […] found this recipe here and just had to share […]

  31. Made this for my Christmas breakfast and it was a big hit. I usually make a crock pot breakfast casserole, but wanted to change things up this year. It was so easy and yummy! Everyone including my picky daughter loved it. Thanks for a great recipe!!

    • I’m so happy you and your family enjoyed this, Rita! Thank you very much for leaving a comment and visiting my blog!

  32. Made this for dinner tonight & I can’t wait to try this…whats the nutritional value for it?

    • I’ll have to check and see if I have the nutritional value written down anywhere for this recipe. If I find it, I’ll post it here in the comments section.
      Thank you for visiting and trying this recipe. I hope you enjoyed it.

Leave a comment