Brioche french toast casserole is a baked sweet bread pudding with a caramel and pumpkin spice topping. This easy french toast casserole is made with bakery brioche, eggs, milk, butter, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and pumpkin spice.
Brioche french toast is where it's at, and if you have a crowd, this recipe is an easy alternative in casserole form.
Sweet Brioche Casserole
Sweet buttery brioche is soaked in a sweet egg custard mixture, then baked with a pumpkin spice, brown sugar, and butter topping. Is it dessert? Maybe breakfast or brunch? Who knows and who cares- it's delicious!
This is the perfect breakfast recipe for occasions like Christmas or Easter. Just prepare this overnight french toast casserole recipe the night before, and pop it in the oven the next morning. It's also a great brunch recipe for weekend mornings or Mother's Day.
Ingredient Notes
- Brioche loaf: I highly recommend bakery brioche or challah bread for this recipe. You can also use french bread.
- Pumpkin spice: When Fall comes around, I put pumpkin spice on everything. This ground spice is found in most U.S. grocery stores. If you need to, substitute equal parts ground cinnamon for pumpkin spice.
How To Make Brioche French Toast Casserole
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the milk, half of the brown sugar, half of the pumpkin spice, all of the vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. Whisk everything together really well.
Cut the brioche bread into large chunks (about 1.5" in size). Add the bread cubes to a greased 9" x 13" baking dish.
Add the cubed brioche bread to a greased 9"x13" baking dish. Pour the egg and milk mixture over the brioche bread. Allow the brioche to soak up the mixture for a minimum of 20 minutes.
Slice the butter thinly. Lay it on top of the bread in a single layer. Sprinkle the remaining brown sugar and pumpkin spice on top of the casserole. Cover with foil and bake in a 350℉ (177 ℃) oven for 45 to 60 minutes. Halfway through baking (at about 30 minutes), remove the foil.
Dust with powdered sugar. Serve with maple syrup, fresh fruit, homemade sausage, or bacon.
📋 Recipe
Brioche French Toast Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 loaf brioche bread about 14 ounces
- 9 eggs
- 4 tablespoon salted butter
- 1 cup packed brown sugar packed tightly, can substitute white sugar
- 2 cups milk any type
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin spice substitute ground cinnamon
- pinch salt
Toppings
- powdered sugar optional
- fresh berries optional
- maple syrup optional
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, crack the eggs. Add half of the sugar, half of the pumpkin spice, all of the milk, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. Whisk until full combined. Set aside.
- Cut the brioche loaf into large chunks (about 1.5" in size).
- Grease a 9" x 13" baking dish. Add the cubed brioche bread. Pour the egg and milk mixture over the brioche bread. Allow the brioche to soak up the mixture for a minimum of 20 minutes. See note 1.
- Thinly slice the salted butter. Add a single layer of butter over the bread. Sprinkle the remaining sugar and pumpkin spice over the butter slices. Cover with aluminum foil.
- Bake the brioche french toast casserole in a preheated oven at 350℉ (178 ℃) for 45 to 60 minutes. Remove the foil halfway through the bake. The casserole is done when the egg mixture is cooked.
- Dust the casserole with powdered sugar. Serve with maple syrup and fresh berries.
Video
Notes
- The brioche bread casserole can soak overnight in the fridge. This is a great recipe for Christmas morning or holiday breakfasts. Prepare the casserole the night before (including the butter and sugar topping) and cover it in the fridge. In the morning, continue with the baking step.
- Recipe Tips:
- Use good-quality bakery bread. I don't recommend using sliced bread in the grocery store bread aisle.
- Weigh the sugar. Brown sugar is deceptive when measured by volume. When it's not packed, it takes up twice the volume.
- The casserole might puff up in the oven; this is normal!
- Storage: This french toast recipe can be made ahead. Store in an airtight container (or add plastic wrap on top) in the fridge overnight. Bake the next morning.
- Substitutions:
- Substitute challah bread or french bread for brioche bread.
- Use ground cinnamon instead of pumpkin spice.
- Substitute white sugar or light brown sugar for brown sugar.
Nutrition
FAQs
The breakfast casserole should not be soggy. It should have a custard-like texture and a golden brown top.
Serve french toast casserole with sausage, bacon, fresh fruit, and some maple syrup.
More Holiday Recipes
Two other great holiday recipes are the no-bake biscoff lotus cheesecake and pistachio cranberry biscotti! Or when you need some Fall flavors, my go-to recipes are sweet potato casserole and pumpkin cake with cream cheese icing.
Dana says
It was so jiggly even after adding 20 min to the baking time. Pretty disappointed... and yes, I cut the bread the day before and let the custard mixture sit in the bread for 20 min before baking it. I had to cover it at 40 min because the bread was starting to burn on top but it was not even close to being set.
Lily says
I’m going to revisit the recipe! Thanks for the comment.
Tish says
Can you use brioche buns instead of bread?
Lily says
Hi Tish, great question, yes you can use brioche buns! Just cut the bread into cubes.
Susan says
This was super yummy but I’ve got a few tips. The brioche bread matters. Don’t use the brioche sliced bread found on the bread aisle… use brioche from a bakery. The butter and brown sugar topping was ok, but I might actually melt the butter and sugar together over the stovetop then pour it on top instead.
Overall great flavors with the pumpkin spice- maybe you can try cinnamon too. Adding this to tried it and loved itz
Lily says
Thank you for sharing the mods you made to the recipe. I'll try it your way next time!