French Toast Casserole
This baked vegan French toast casserole can be made the day before for an easy holiday breakfast.
This overnight French toast casserole is super simple to make and tastes amazing. It’s also completely vegan, making it dairy-free and eggless.
You can bake this after 30 minutes of resting time or refrigerate it overnight and bake it in the morning. Both ways are delicious and always a hit for breakfast or brunch!
Recipe Features
- Dietary Features: Vegan (dairy-free, egg-free), can be gluten-free.
- Can be prepared a day in advance and baked in the morning.
- Great breakfast for the whole family.
- Perfect for holidays like Christmas morning or Mother’s Day.
- Easy to customize with different add-ins and toppings.
Ingredient Notes
This list is not complete. Please see the recipe card at the end of the post for the complete ingredient list with measurements and detailed instructions.
- Bread: Use day-old French bread, brioche, sourdough, or challah. If you don’t have stale bread on hand, you can dry it in the oven briefly or cube it and let it sit out overnight.
- Applesauce: Use unsweetened applesauce. Homemade or store-bought works.
- Coconut Oil or Butter: Either of these works well.
- Plant-Based Milk: Use light coconut milk, almond milk, cashew milk, soy milk or oat milk.
- Coconut Sugar: This can be swapped for cane sugar or brown sugar if needed.
- Cornstarch: Acts as an egg replacement. You can use arrowroot powder or tapioca starch as an alterantive.
- Flavour: I added cinnamon, vanilla and a pinch of salt for help enhance the flavours. Pumpkin pie spice also works nicely for a festive flavour.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Grease a 9×7-inch casserole dish and cut the bread into approximately 1-inch cubes.
Mix together the rest of the ingredients in a bowl until smooth and completely combined.
Add the bread to the greased casserole dish and pour the custard over top of it. Mix really well so all of the bread is coated in the liquid mixture. I find using my hands easiest to mix it up.
Cover the dish and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes up to overnight.
When you’re ready, preheat the oven to 350 F. Pull the casserole from the fridge and remove the cover.
Once the oven is heated, bake for 35-40 minutes until the top is golden brown. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes then slice and serve.
Enjoy with delicious toppings like maple syrup, caramel sauce, fruit or whipped cream.
Notes & Tips
- For add-ins, try diced apples, berries, raisins, pecans, cranberries, pumpkin seeds or chocolate chips.
- For toppings, try caramel sauce, maple syrup, powdered sugar and fresh fruit.
FAQs
Yes. The baked French toast casserole freezes well. Let it cool then cover well and freeze for up to 3 months. Let thaw in the refrigerator then reheat in the oven or microwave until heated through.
Any day-old, stale, hearty loaf works. You can use French loaf, sourdough, Italian loaf, brioche or challah.
It’s important that the bread is dry and not soft and fresh, otherwise the casserole will be soggy.
If you don’t have stale bread on hand, cube the bread and let it sit out in a bowl or on a baking tray overnight, or place on a baking tray in the oven at 200 F for 30-40 minutes.
Storing
- Fridge: Let cool then cover well in the dish or transfer to an airtight container and store for up to 3 days.
- Freezer: Let cool then cover well in the dish or transfer to an airtight container or freezer bag and free for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge.
- Reheating: Reheat the whole dish in the oven until heated through or reheat individual portions in the microwave briefly.
Did you try this recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Scroll down to the comment section to leave a star rating and review.
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French Toast Casserole
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 30 min
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8
- Category: Breakfast
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This vegan French toast casserole is perfect for the holiday season or any cozy Sunday morning for a delicious, make-ahead breakfast option that’s always a hit.
Ingredients
- 400 g day-old stale bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (brioche, french loaf or challah)
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce (200 g)
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil or vegan butter (30 g)
- 1 ½ cup almond milk (355 mL, or non-dairy milk of choice)
- ⅓ cup coconut sugar (55 g)
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch (25 g)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg, optional
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Prepare: Grease a 9 x 7-inch casserole dish and cut the bread into 1-inch cubes. Place the bread in the casserole dish.
- Mix the Custard: Add the rest of the ingredients to a mixing bowl and mix until fully incorporated.
- Assemble: Pour the custard mixture over the top of bread cubes and mix carefully with your hands ensuring that all the pieces of bread are coated.
- Cover and Refrigerate: Cover with dish with saran wrap and place in the fridge for at least 1 hour up to overnight.
- Bake: When you’re read to bake, remove the casserole from the fridge, remove the cover and preheat the oven to 350 F. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the top is golden brown.
- Serve: Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes, then slice and serve with homemade vegan caramel or maple syrup and fresh fruit and enjoy!
Notes
If you’re using melted coconut oil, make sure the milk and applesauce are at room temperature. Cornstarch can be replaced with arrowroot powder or tapioca starch.
Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days and reheated as needed in the oven or microwave. To freeze, let cool completely then wrap well and freeze in the dish or transfer to an airtight container or freezer bag and store up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge before reheating.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/6th of recipe
- Calories: 338
- Sugar: 17 g
- Sodium: 525 mg
- Fat: 7 g
- Carbohydrates: 61 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 9 g
