Sourdough French Toast Casserole
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Brighten your mornings with this Sourdough French Toast Casserole. It has everything you love about traditional French toast piled into one dish.
With a brand new stand-up mixer in the house calling my name, I decided to show it some love and use it to make homemade sourdough bread the other day.
Typically, I’ll make this with French bread or Italian bread, but since I always have a starter on hand, I decided to give it a try.
The results were beyond what I would ever have expected!
I really love making French toast into a casserole since it’s so easy, at least compared to my cast iron pancakes.
Just know you can use any bread to make this! From homemade artisan-style bread to bakery bread at your local grocery store!
Table of Contents
Recipe Ingredients
- Sourdough bread: You can use pretty much any bread. Slightly stale bread actually works great! I also love using my homemade cast iron loaf bread and my no-knead artisan-style bread.
- Eggs: You’ll need plenty of eggs for this recipe!
- Butter: I love salted Kerrygold butter!
- Whole milk: I use whole milk, but you can also use 2% or a combination of half and half and whole milk.
- Honey: I love the flavor of honey in my French toast casserole. I know it’s not the most common ingredient, but it really contributes to the texture and flavor.
- Sugar: We’ll use a combo of brown and white sugar.
- Cinnamon: Adds delicious flavor to the filling and topping!
- Salt: Just a pinch is all you’ll need.
Recipe Variations
- Switch up the spices: I know it’s the holiday season right around the corner. Consider swapping the cinnamon for pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice!
- Orange zest topping: Zest an orange and sprinkle the top when there are about 5 minutes left on baking. This is not for everyone. I recommend trying it at least on one half of the dish.
- Top with nuts: Add your favorite nuts for a little added crunch: pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, macadamia, etc. Mix the nuts in when adding the bread.
Sourdough French Toast Casserole Recipe
Step 1: Start by chopping up a loaf of sourdough or your preferred choice of bread into decent-sized chunks. Add to a large, 12″ cast iron skillet.
Step 2: In a small mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, honey, sugars, cinnamon, and salt. Mix well and drizzle evenly over the top of the bread. (*see expert tips below for making ahead)
Step 3: Dot the top of the dish with small chunks of butter.
Step 4: Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, then bake at 375°F for 35 minutes or until done. Oven times greatly vary, so adjust cooking times accordingly. Let rest 5-10 minutes before serving.
Expert Tips
- If the top starts to brown too quickly, loosely tent it with aluminum foil.
- For make-ahead French, prepare your French toast casserole the night before. After pouring the custard mixture, cover and refrigerate overnight, allowing the bread to fully absorb the liquid. In the morning, simply proceed to step 3 and bake as directed.
- Consider using stale bread. Stale bread, in fact, is the ideal choice for French toast as it readily absorbs the custard mixture, resulting in a more flavorful and tender dish.
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to five days and reheat it in the oven for a delightful breakfast or brunch.
Recipe FAQs
Any bread will work. I like French, sourdough, Italian, Brioche bread, and even cinnamon swirl bread to give the dish a different “vibe.”
Usually, adding too much dairy is the cause of a soggy French toast casserole. You can try reducing the amount of milk or substitute half and half for the milk.
There are a few reasons why your French toast casserole might not be setting properly. One common culprit is insufficient dairy. Make sure you’ve added enough milk, cream, or a combination of both to your custard mixture. Additionally, using fresh bread can hinder the setting process. Stale bread, on the other hand, absorbs the custard better, resulting in a firmer casserole.
This French toast casserole has quickly become a beloved breakfast in our household. Between this delightful dish, my cranberry French toast casserole, and my chocolate chip brioche French toast, we’re well-equipped for a season of sweet morning meals!
Related Breakfast Favorites
- Sausage Egg Breakfast Casserole
- Dutch Baby Pancakes
- Ham and Cheese Quiche
- Banana Nut Bread
- Honey Butter Biscuits
If you tried this Sourdough French Toast Casserole Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Sourdough French Toast Casserole
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 loaf sourdough bread or any stale bread!
- 6 eggs
- 6 tbsp butter chopped into small pieces
- 1 ½ cups whole milk
- ½ cup honey
- 2 tbsp sugar reserve 1 tbsp for topping
- 2 tbsp brown sugar Reserve 1 tbsp for topping
- 2 tsp cinnamon Reserve 1 tsp for topping
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F
- Chop up bread into bite-size chunks, add to 12" cast iron skillet.
- Whisk eggs, milk, honey, salt, 1 tbsp of sugar, 1 tbsp of brown sugar and 1 tsp of the cinnamon in a small mixing bowl.
- Pour over the top of the bread.
- Dot the top of the bread with butter and sprinkle with remaining sugars and cinnamon.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until eggs are cooked through.
- Let rest 5-10 minutes before serving.
Notes
-
- If the top starts to brown too quickly, loosely tent it with aluminum foil.
- For make-ahead French, prepare your French toast casserole the night before. After pouring the custard mixture, cover and refrigerate overnight, allowing the bread to fully absorb the liquid. In the morning, simply proceed to step 3 and bake as directed.
- Consider using stale bread. Stale bread, in fact, is the ideal choice for French toast as it readily absorbs the custard mixture, resulting in a more flavorful and tender dish.
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to five days and reheat it in the oven for a delightful breakfast or brunch.
Made this for a snow day. My family really enjoyed it! Thanks!
Thanks for this tasty recipe
Question :
Can u make night before set in fridge and bake in morning?
Hugs Della Dawn
Absolutely. In fact, some prefer it that way. It saves time in the morning and allows the mixture to soak into the bread!
Do u use the whole loaf?? I have used about 5 pieces and it is filling the skillet?
Just enough bread to fill the skillet. My homemade bread was the perfect amount but do adjust accordingly.
I made this with an almond flour bread and it worked well! Still did honey but used some brown sugar to make up part of th sweetener. You could tell it was a less fluffy and nutty tasting bread but everything tasted the same from your recipe’s stand point! The bread didn’t loose it’s shape either
This is the bread recipe I used. https://healthyrecipesblogs.com/gluten-free-bread/
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
In your directions you never mention when to put the eggs in until step 6 “or until eggs are cooked through”
Thank you, I just updated it.