Name: Brioche French Toast Casserole
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 545 min
Ingredients: 1 loaf Brioche bread (stale (620g)); 6 large Eggs; 3 cups Half and half; 1/4 cup Brown sugar ((46g)); 6 tablespoons Butter (at room temperature (85g)); 1/2 cup Sugar ((109g)); 1 large Egg; 2 teaspoons Almond extract; 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract; 1/4 teaspoon Salt; 1 cup Almond flour ((113g)); 2 tablespoons All-purpose flour ((15g))

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Your family and friends will love this brioche French toast casserole, with its layers of soft, custard-like richness and a perfectly toasted top. This recipe elevates traditional French Toast Casserole with Brioche by adding a luscious almond frangipane topping – like the filling of an almond croissant, transforming it to ‘Toast Francaise’. Ok, linguistically, that doesn’t make sense, but I think you get the point.

side shot of maple syrup being poured out of a white ceramic jug onto a slice of brioche French toast casserole on a black plate. The golden syrup is glistening in the light and dripping down the front edge of the casserole. Fresh raspberries and blueberries are garnished on the side of the plate, and in the background are other breakfast items like a glass of orange juice and another serving of French toast.

I love making baked French toast brioche for all the reasons I’ve outlined below. But, while creating this recipe, I got an idea from browsing the internet and stumbling across a Bostock recipe. I had never heard of Bostock before, and to be honest, the name didn’t sound particularly enticing for breakfast—it brought to mind beef stock or something savory. Mmmm, beef stock for breakfast!

As it turns out, Bostock is a French recipe that uses up stale brioche bread. You brush the bread with a sugar syrup to make it moist, then top it with frangipane and sliced almonds. After baking, it’s dusted with powdered sugar. People rave about it (at least online), so I should probably try it. But, reading about Bostock inspired me to incorporate its flavors into French toast, and as it turns out, the combination is absolutely delicious! Maybe I don’t need to try traditional Bostock now that I’ve experienced French toast Bostock.

Overhead shot of a white casserole dish filled with golden brown brioche french toast casserole, sprinkled with icing sugar and dotted with some fresh blueberries and raspberries. The bottom left corner has a red and white striped linen and the upper right corner has two bowls one filled with blueberries and one with raspberries.

Why You’ll Love This Brioche French Toast Casserole

Baked French toast brioche is a great breakfast for so many reasons.

Convenience – Preparing French toast casserole-style, allows you to prep it the night before and just pop it in the oven the morning of and within 50 minutes you have an amazing breakfast ready to go!

Feeds a Crowd – French toast baked in a single dish and and sliced into portions allows you to feed everyone at the same time. You can even bake multiple Brioche French toast Casseroles at the same time if need be. Everyone eats at the same time family-style as opposed to making individual portions in the fry pan. Yes, you can keep French toast warm in the oven, but it is tastiest fresh out of the pan.

Minimal Supervision – Once you pop it in the oven, this French toast casserole with brioche, is pretty much hands-off and you are free to enjoy time with your guests, or prep other items for breakfast. Too often as not, we spend our time cooking and often miss out on socializing with family and friends. No one really wants to stand at the stove, flipping each piece, if they can avoid it.

Presentation – Brioche French toast casserole can be a showstopper on the brunch table, decorate with fresh fruit and icing sugar.

Leftovers – These leftovers heat up well retaining flavor and texture.

INGREDIENTS

Bread – stale brioche bread. Brioche has a great texture and is slightly sweet, making it perfect for this French toast casserole. If you don’t have access to brioche you can also use challah which has great texture and again a slight sweetness. And if you can’t get your hands on challah you can use an Italian bread or French bread. Stale bread is important, as its slightly drier texture absorbs the egg mixture better without becoming mushy. If you only have fresh bread you can make stale bread by cubing it, laying it out on a baking sheet and baking it in the oven at 250F for 10 min. You don’t want to make croutons, just dry it out a bit.

The batter is made up of eggs, providing flavor, texture, and structure, brown sugar for sweetness, and half and half for creaminess and flavor. If you don’t have half and half on hand, you can use milk, or make your own, see Note 1.

The frangipane is normally used as a creamy buttery filling in pastries like almond croissants, danishes, and bostock to name a few. It is made using butter which adds creaminess and spread ability, sugar for sweetness, almond flour provides nutty flavor, texture, and structure, while the all-purpose flour aids in absorbing moisture and extra structure. If you delete all-purpose flour, you will end up with a slightly softer texture. Salt balances out the sweetness, egg is used for flavor and structure, almond extract gives the frangipane its signature almond flavor, and finally vanilla extract adds depth in flavor and enhances the aroma.

Garnish with sliced almonds and icing sugar

How to Make Brioche French Toast Casserole

Butter a 9×13 casserole dish and set aside.

Cut your stale brioche bread into cubes, about 1″ by 1″. Place the cubes into the prepared casserole dish.

Mix together the eggs, half and half, and brown sugar until well combined. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the bread cubes in the casserole dish. Cover and place in the fridge overnight until ready to bake.

Overhead shot of a white 9x13 casserole dish filled with brioche cubed bread and the egg/milk mixture. The upper right hand corner has a loaf of brioche bread peeking in, and in the upper left hand corner is a blue ceramic egg holder filled with white eggs peeking in.

Preheat the oven to 350F

Take the casserole dish out of the fridge. I usually tilt it around to see if there is any egg mixture on the bottom. You can spoon up this egg mixture and pour it over any dry bread cubes that might be present on top. Bake in the oven uncovered for 25 minutes.

Make the frangipane by beating the room temperature butter and sugar together until nice and creamy. Add in the egg and extracts and beat to combine. Finally, add in the dry ingredients and beat until you form a smooth paste. Set the frangipane aside.

Side by side overhead shot of the making of the frangipane. The left hand picture is the mixing bowl after the butter and brown sugar have been creamed together and then an egg has been cracked into the bowl. Above the mixing bowl on the left is the vanilla and almond extracts that are to be added, and above on the right is a bowl with the dry ingredients that will be added. The picture on the right is the mixing bowl with a fairly smooth beigy yellow frangipane paste ready to be used.

After baking, spread the frangipane on top of the Baked French Toast Brioche. Sprinkle with sliced almonds and return to the oven for another 25 minutes.

Part of the process of making brioche french toast casserole outlined in 4 overhead shots. First shot in upper left corner is the french toast casserole after 25 minutes of baking, it is nice and golden brown. The second picture on the upper right is after the frangipane paste has been spread over the top and sliced almonds sprinkled on. The third picture bottom left is after the French Toast Casserole has been baked for another 25 minutes, the frangipane is a nice golden brown. The fourth and final image, bottom right, is the casserole dish after it has been fully baked and now sprinkled with white icing sugar.

After the final baking, the top should be toasty brown and the egg mixture all absorbed and cooked. Remove from the oven, slice into portions and serve. You can sprinkle the entire brioche French toast casserole with icing sugar if you like, or you can sprinkle individual servings. Fresh berries also look great as a garnish. I find this breakfast to be sweet enough as is, but you can also serve this with maple syrup if you want to go all out. Enjoy!

Notes on Brioche French Toast Casserole

If you don’t have half and half in your fridge, you can sub with milk. The final product will be a little less rich and creamy, but still very good. If you have heavy cream you can make your own half and half by using 1 ½ cups heavy cream mixed with 1 ½ cups milk.
You can also make the frangipane the night before and store in the fridge for the morning. Leave it out on the counter the morning of so it warms up and is easier to add/spread on top.
You can serve with fresh berries to add a refreshing pop of color
Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days. Reheat in the microwave for about a minute and you are good to go. You can also store leftovers in the freezer for up to 3 months. When I freeze it, I freeze individual slices in a zipper lock bag so I can grab one at a time as needed. Allow it to thaw in the fridge before reheating. If in a hurry you can also thaw with short bursts in the microwave.

FAQs for Brioche French Toast Casserole

What if I don’t like frangipane and would prefer a more traditional Baked French Toast Brioche?

Not a problem, omit the frangipane and add another 1/4 cup of brown sugar to the egg/milk mixture, as well as 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. You could even sprinkle with a little more brown sugar and cinnamon just before baking. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until done.

What is the Best Bread for French Toast?

Stale brioche is the bread of choice in this recipe, hence the name, Brioche French Toast Casserole. It has a great texture and is slightly sweet. As mentioned, this can be replaced by challah which is quite similar or French bread, or Italian bread which can be easier to find.

How do You Make Stale Bread?

Stale bread can be made by baking cubed fresh bread on a baking sheet at 250F for about 10 minutes.

Do I Have to Let my Baked French Toast Brioche Sit Overnight?

No, you can bake it the morning you make it if you like. You just need to make sure all the bread cubes are moist from the egg/milk mixture before baking. Having it sit overnight helps to ensure all the bread has absorbed the egg/milk mixture and it provides convenience in making it the night before.

Brioche French Toast Casserole

Leanne Neill

Your family and friends will love this brioche French toast casserole, with its layers of soft, custard-like richness and a perfectly toasted top. This recipe elevates traditional French Toast Casserole with Brioche by adding a luscious almond frangipane topping – like the filling of an almond croissant, transforming it to 'Toast Francaise'. Ok, linguistically, that doesn't make sense, but I think you get the point.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 50

Chill Over Night 8

Total Time 9 5

Course Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 12 slices

Ingredients

French Toast

1 loaf Brioche bread stale (620g)
6 large Eggs
3 cups Half and half
1/4 cup Brown sugar (46g)

Frangipane

6 tablespoons Butter at room temperature (85g)
1/2 cup Sugar (109g)
1 large Egg
2 teaspoons Almond extract
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1 cup Almond flour (113g)
2 tablespoons All-purpose flour (15g)

Instructions

Butter a 9×13 casserole dish and set aside.
Cut your stale brioche bread into cubes, about 1" by 1". Place the cubes into the prepared casserole dish and set aside.
In a mixing bowl, mix together the eggs, half and half, and brown sugar until well combined. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the bread cubes in the casserole dish. Cover and place in the fridge overnight until ready to bake.
Preheat the oven to 350F
Take the casserole dish out of the fridge. I usually tilt it around to see if there is any egg mixture on the bottom. If there are any dry bread cubes on the surface I will spoon this egg mixture over the dry bits until they are well moistened. Bake in the oven uncovered for 25 minutes.
While the French toast is baking, make the frangipane by beating the room temperature butter and sugar together until nice and creamy. Add in the egg, almond, and vanilla extracts and beat to combine. Finally add in the dry ingredients and continue beating until a smooth paste is formed. Set the frangipane aside.
After baking, spread the frangipane on top of the French toast casserole. Sprinkle with sliced almonds and return to the oven for another 25 minutes.
After the final baking, the top should be toasty brown and the egg mixture all absorbed and cooked. Remove from the oven, slice into portions and serve. You can sprinkle the entire brioche French toast casserole with icing sugar if you like, or you can sprinkle on individual servings. I find this breakfast sweet enough as is, but you can also serve this with maple syrup if you want to go all out. Enjoy!

Notes

If you don’t have half and half in your fridge, you can sub with milk. The final product will be a little less rich and creamy, but still very good. If you have heavy cream you can make your own half and half by using 1 ½ cups heavy cream mixed with 1 ½ cups milk.
You can serve with fresh berries to add a refreshing pop of color
Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days. Reheat in the microwave for about a minute and you are good to go. You can also store leftovers in the freezer for up to 3 months. When I freeze it, I freeze individual slices in a zipper lock bag so I can grab one at a time as needed. Allow it to thaw in the fridge before reheating. I have also thawed individual frozen portions with short bursts in the microwave.

Keyword Baked French Toast Brioche, Bostock, Bostock French Toast, Brioche French Toast Casserole, French Toast Casserole, French toast casserole with brioche

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