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Overnight French Toast

Overnight French Toast


Prepped the night before, this sweet and delicious Overnight French Toast recipe is always a hit in our house for breakfast or brunch. Try it to believe it!

I am a big believer in having a hearty, healthy breakfast. I think that it really can set the tone for your entire day. That’s why I’m excited to share with you my newest breakfast recipe: Overnight French Toast!

My whole family agrees that a good breakfast is essential and, because of this, we love to try new breakfast foods to help keep our mornings exciting. We often grab new kinds of cereal when we see something interesting in the grocery store, we are always whipping up new egg dishes and you can often find a variety of bagels in my pantry.

However, one breakfast food that we all still go crazy for (even after having it hundreds of times) is French toast. We just can’t get enough of my homemade French toast in the morning!

overnight French toast recipe

THE HISTORY OF FRENCH TOAST

While I have made many different versions of French toast over the years, the earliest, first evidence of French toast actually dates back to the Roman Empire. Of course, it wasn’t called “French toast” just yet, but there are records of a sweet, egg dipped bread food being eaten way back then. Written recipes from the 17th century, have been found for a dish called “pain perdu” which translates to mean “lost bread”. This name comes from the fact that the bread used to make the dish was old and stale- it would have been lost and trashed if not for this inventive recipe! The old bread was dipped in a whisked egg and milk mix and then fried. Sounds familiar? That is because that is still how we make French toast today!

overnight french toast recipe

Pain perdu was brought to the United States by English settlers and it was then dubbed “French toast” since the dish was, by then, a French institution. This name stuck! Now, it is one of the most popular breakfast foods in the country. It is also a very versatile dish and you can customize it in so many ways. You can top your French toast with fresh fruit, drizzle it with syrup and even toss a few chocolate chips on it if you want a sweeter breakfast treat. As long as the base of the recipe is comprised of bread dipped in an egg and milk mix, it is still French toast!

overnight French toast

In a house where we eat French toast often, I am always playing around with how to make it new and interesting (but of course, my whole family would be perfectly happy with basic, delicious, classic French toast… but I like to switch it up!). Recently I started making overnight French toast which has completely changed my French toast game.

HOW TO MAKE OVERNIGHT FRENCH TOAST

To make the French toast, the slices of bread are lined up in a baking dish, overlapping them a little bit. I have found that a really crusty French bread works best. If you have an old baguette, that will be perfect!

French toast homemade

The eggs, milk, heavy cream, vanilla and cinnamon are whisked together in a bowl, just like if you were making regular French toast. However, instead of dipping the bread individually into the egg mix, the whole mixture is just poured over the bread in the baking dish. The baking dish is then wrapped and refrigerated overnight, letting the crusty bread soak up all of the eggy goodness and flavor. In the morning, all you need to do is pop the pan into the oven and your French toast is ready! There is no standing over a frying pan, cooking each piece of bread. There is no need to cook in batches and serve one person at a time (you can only fit so many slices of bread in a skillet at once!).

how to make overnight French toast

Eight servings of French toast are ready to enjoy with almost no morning-time effort at all! It really is my new favorite way to make my family’s favorite breakfast food.

If you and your family are big French toast lovers too, I highly recommend giving this overnight French toast recipe a try. Having a whole big tray of French toast ready to bake right when you wake up really is a luxury. French toast has never been easier and this is the perfect way to give your family that sweet, classic breakfast that they crave. Make this recipe as written once and then, the second time you crave a tasty treat, try tossing in a few fresh blueberries amount the layers of bread. Try adding some chocolate chips or even a few chopped pecans!

There are so many ways to make overnight French toast and this perfect recipe is just the beginning. Now, on to your new French toast journey! Pain perdu may be centuries old but there are always ways to make classics exciting again. Enjoy!

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Overnight French Toast

Overnight French Toast


Description

Prepped the night before, this sweet and delicious Overnight French Toast recipe is always a hit in our house for breakfast or brunch. Try it to believe it!


Ingredients

Scale

One loaf French bread, cut into 1 inch thick slices

8 large eggs

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup milk

½ cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

For Serving:

powdered sugar, optional

maple syrup, optional

fresh fruit


Instructions

  1. Coat a 13×9 baking dish with softened butter
  2. Slice bread and arrange in baking dish in two rows, overlapping if necessary
  3. In a large bowl, beat the eggs
  4. Whisk in the heavy cream, milk, granulated sugar, vanilla extract and cinnamon
  5. Pour milk mixture over bread, pressing down lightly to be sure the mixture covers the bread
  6. Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator overnight
  7. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes prior to baking
  8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
  9. Bake uncovered for 35-40 minutes or until browned and inside is set
  10. Serve with powdered sugar, maple syrup or fresh fruit
  11. Store leftovers in refrigerator for up to 2 days

LOVE THIS RECIPE? PIN IT HERE! 

overnight French toast

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Jocelyn Brown

A former school teacher, Jocelyn Brown created Hip Mama’s Place in 2007. Her motto for this blog is: get inspired, create and share! Jocelyn loves sharing about food and recipes, crafts, DIY projects and her random travels with her family. She also loves all things social media, but her latest obsession is Instagram.

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58 Comments

  1. Cheeia
    10/30/2020 / 7:56 pm

    I love doing pretty food recipes I think I am going to have to incorporate this into my blog too 🙂 Awesome post- here for the inspiration

  2. Angeline
    10/30/2020 / 6:16 pm

    Didn’t know you can overnight french toast! I always make them from scratch but on the same day. Looks so tasty!

  3. 10/30/2020 / 3:46 pm

    It looks delicious. I love French toast as well and we have it fairly often. I will definitely try it this way too.

  4. 10/30/2020 / 2:25 pm

    Wow! This looks really delicious. Thank you for sharing the recipe. I would love to try this. Very timely since I have lots of eggs available at home.

  5. Forever Freckled Blog
    10/29/2020 / 8:10 pm

    Frech toast is truly a family favorite! This recipe looks perfect

  6. 10/29/2020 / 4:28 pm

    I LOVE french toast and this looks like such a great recipe. Plus, I love anything that I can make the night before so that the kitchen is clean!

  7. Krystal Miller
    10/29/2020 / 4:09 pm

    My family loves french toast. What a great idea to make it up the night before!

  8. 10/29/2020 / 3:28 pm

    We love French toast and have never had overnight French toast before. Yummy.

  9. 10/29/2020 / 12:59 pm

    French toast is a favorite in my house! I can’t wait to make this!

  10. Ashley T
    10/29/2020 / 8:47 am

    This looks and sounds so delicious! I will definitely try this soon.

  11. 10/27/2020 / 1:25 am

    I’ve been looking for a good recipe for this! Thank you!

  12. Ruth I
    10/14/2020 / 7:28 am

    Oh how I love this breakfast idea! I admit that I only ate a frech toast once. I will give this a try!

  13. 10/11/2020 / 6:17 am

    Overnight french toast looks yum. love to try it for my self, Sure my kids will love it.

  14. 10/09/2020 / 3:17 pm

    I love French Toast and have been wanting to make some lately. Must try this recipe. Thanks for sharing.

  15. 10/09/2020 / 2:27 pm

    Overnight French toast is one of those versatile dishes I like to have on my menu. Everyone loves it.

  16. Nikki Wayne
    10/09/2020 / 12:07 pm

    Nice idea. I would try this so that my homies won’t have to wait for their piece of toast. 👌

  17. Nathalie Vorche
    10/09/2020 / 12:04 pm

    This french toast looks really good! I wanna try to so definitely do this recipe soon

  18. Jennifer Van Haitsma
    10/09/2020 / 11:27 am

    Yum! My kids have never had french toast, so I’ve been thinking about making it for them. I’ll have to try this!

  19. Catalina
    10/09/2020 / 8:29 am

    This is my kind of breakfast! It’s easy to make and so delicious. Everyone will love!

  20. Monica Simpson
    10/09/2020 / 4:16 am

    I have never made french toast like this before but now I want to try.

  21. 10/09/2020 / 4:02 am

    I love the idea of making this overnight french toast recipe. We all love eating French toast in this house, so it’s the perfect breakfast (or dinner) idea that I know will please every family member.

  22. 10/09/2020 / 12:33 am

    French toast is one of my favorites! This recipe is going to be added to my Christmas morning breakfast dishes!

  23. Amber Myers
    10/08/2020 / 9:49 pm

    This looks like my kind of breakfast. I will have to make this one morning. We’re all about French Toast.

  24. 09/28/2020 / 9:53 am

    This looks supertasty!
    And I love the fact that its an overnighter, I love the fact that you can prepare a head of time 🙂

  25. Erin
    09/28/2020 / 9:19 am

    I love french toast. this looks so delish!!!

  26. 09/26/2020 / 5:17 pm

    It looks so delicious. this is really perfect breakfast recipe. thanks for sharing.

  27. Natalie
    09/26/2020 / 3:22 pm

    My family loves French toast for breakfast. Letting it set in the refrigerator overnight is such a cool idea. I must give this a try. Thanks for sharing this.

  28. 09/26/2020 / 1:42 pm

    This is such a great way to start my day! Everyone at my house will surely love this!

  29. 09/26/2020 / 6:45 am

    What a yummy easy breakfast recipe! I love this for when you’re entertaining and you don’t wanna be too stressed

  30. 09/26/2020 / 2:51 am

    Ohh I love french toast. This looks like something that everyone can enjoy.

  31. blair villanueva
    09/26/2020 / 12:24 am

    I love French toasta! There are days that I make it quite fancy like you did here. And some days are the lazy version! But French toast is basically our breakfast staple.

  32. 09/25/2020 / 11:56 pm

    I am a huge lover of french toast and I know I would love this variation of it! I know my family would love this! I didn’t know that about the history of french toast either!

    Kileen
    cute & little

  33. Ryan Escat
    09/25/2020 / 12:53 pm

    I would love this on my breakfast with the coffee I love!

  34. 09/25/2020 / 12:21 pm

    This is such an amazing day starter!! A new favorite at my house!

  35. Erin
    09/25/2020 / 10:38 am

    Oh yum! I love French Toast! I’d love to have this for breakfast today! 🙂

  36. 09/25/2020 / 8:15 am

    Look so colorful and yummy that’s nothing overnight at all.
    Thanks for the introduction as I believe I used overnight bread for bread budding, and now I can try French toast too. – Knycx Journeying

  37. Kita Bryant
    09/25/2020 / 2:57 am

    this is the best thing for breakfast. It is so delicious and is a great reason to wake up.

  38. Sherry
    09/25/2020 / 2:23 am

    I haven’t had French toast in ages and I have never tried it baked. I see this happening for breakfast this weekend.

  39. Kathy
    09/25/2020 / 12:56 am

    I love overnight French toast. It’s so good. I’ve already saved this to make later. I can’t wait. It’s been a while since I’ve made French toast.

  40. 09/24/2020 / 11:38 pm

    We’re having company this weekend and this would make a perfect breakfast on Saturday morning! I can’t wait to try it!

  41. 09/24/2020 / 8:54 pm

    This sounds delicious. I need to make this for brunch this weekend

  42. Ben
    09/24/2020 / 3:54 pm

    That looks fantastic! I love the ease of it. This is perfect for breakfast on mornings when I lift.

  43. 09/24/2020 / 2:42 pm

    In addition to really enjoying French toast, I was intrigued to discover its story that I didn’t know! Wow!

  44. Kristine Nicole Alessandra
    09/20/2020 / 12:57 pm

    Thanks for the breakfast idea. This is going to make a lovely Monday Morning breakfast for the family. Your photos make it look so mouth watering!

  45. Alexis
    09/17/2020 / 8:31 pm

    We loe overnight French toast in my family. This recipe looks amazing!

  46. 09/17/2020 / 4:15 pm

    I love french toast, especially with fruit on it. I think I will make this tomorrow!

  47. 09/17/2020 / 11:47 am

    This looks divine! Can’t wait to indulge in this.

  48. 09/17/2020 / 6:47 am

    I love a good Overnight French Toast in the morning for breakfast. I hope I can make this later so I can let my brother try my cooking. Hehe!

  49. Heidi
    09/17/2020 / 12:31 am

    This looks sooo delicous! Love French Toast!

  50. 09/16/2020 / 6:50 pm

    One of my favorites to eat for breakfast. Would love to try your recipe too. Thank you for sharing.

  51. 09/16/2020 / 5:40 pm

    these ideas and ways are so damn helpful and they sounds so damn delicious and tasty one..indeed glad you shared these tricks and tips with us…great work though..

  52. 09/16/2020 / 3:59 pm

    Yummy! I love French toast, I have never made it like this before. Can’t wait to try it. 🙂

  53. 09/16/2020 / 3:17 pm

    Why have I never tried overnight french toast? I bet it’s amazing. Printing it out to try this weekend!

  54. 09/16/2020 / 1:17 pm

    That’s exactly what my mom used to do with old and stale bread! This French Toast looks a lot more luxurious though;) Thank you for sharing the recipe!

  55. 09/16/2020 / 10:47 am

    This sounds so good I love letting it set in the refrigerator overnight. That gets all that French toast goodness way down into the bread!

  56. 09/16/2020 / 10:42 am

    I’m going to start making French toast a lot more now that I have this recipe. It’s so much easier than regular French toast, and it sounds so good!

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