Every bite of this Caramel Apple French Toast Bake will have you enjoying the tastes of Fall at breakfast. The combination of baked French toast, apples, custard mixture, caramel sauce, with a cinnamon streusel topping means lazy weekend mornings around the table will never be the same!
Sometimes you just need something really yummy for breakfast.
Ok, maybe there’s more than just sometimes.
Breakfast is a favorite meal at our house and at least once a week we have it for dinner.
And if we go to a restaurant that serves breakfast all day, you can bet your sweet bippy that that’s what I’m having!
SAVE THIS APPLE FRENCH TOAST RECIPE TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD!
This easy French toast casserole is a great make ahead breakfast, and is perfect to serve overnight guests when you don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking.
Every year I serve a breakfast casserole for Christmas morning breakfast because it’s easiest for me to put everything into the casserole dish and prepare it ahead of time so we can enjoy family time while it’s baking in the oven.
This decadent French toast along with the others make for a great brunch recipe.
What Do I need for this Caramel Apple French Toast Casserole?
- Challah bread, French, or Italian Bread
- Apples
- Eggs
- Milk
- Heavy Cream
- Sugar
- Vanilla Extract
- Lemon juice
- Caramel Sundae Topping
- Cinnamon
- nutmeg
- All-Purpose Flour
- Light Brown Sugar
- Salt
- Butter
How do I make this overnight French toast?
- In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon, sugar, and nutmeg for the cinnamon sugar mixture.
- In a medium bowl, toss the diced apples with the lemon juice. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over the apples and toss to coat.
- Place the bread cubes and apples in a large mixing bowl and lightly toss. Pour into a 9 X 13-inch baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk, cream, sugar and vanilla.
- Carefully pour the mixture of eggs and milk over the bread and apples.
- Cover tightly with plastic wrap and place into the refrigerator to sit overnight.
- In a medium bowl, make the streusel topping by combining the flour, brown sugar, and salt. Using a pastry cutter (this is the one I really like!), cut the butter into the mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Place the mixture into a plastic bag, seal, and refrigerate overnight.
- The next morning, heat oven to 350°F. Uncover the French toast, and drizzle 1/3 cup of caramel syrup over the the pan. Sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over it.
- Bake for 45-55 minutes depending on desired outcome. 45 minutes will result in a softer and soggier French Toast and about the latter will be firmer.
- Drizzle the top of French toast with more caramel sauce when serving, if desired, and / or maple syrup.
What kind of bread should I use for a breakfast casserole?
I mostly use a loaf of Italian Bread or French Bread when I make my overnight French toasts, but you can also use Challah.
Whatever type you use, you just want to make sure that you have about 10-12 cups of bread cubes.
Purchase the bread at least a day in advance so that the bread has a chance to harden a bit. Using day old bread will soak up more of the egg and milk mixture.
What apples are best for this Apple French Toast recipe?
I prefer to use Braeburn, but any apple that is best for baking can be used. They are:
- Jonagold
- Braeburn
- Honeycrisp
- Pink Lady
- Granny Smith Apples
Recipe Tip
I recommend putting a large cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil under the pan as it bakes. The bread expands as it bakes and the filling may drip out of the pan, so having something underneath will make clean up that much easier.
French Toast Recipes –
This isn’t the only baked French Toast here on 365 Days of Baking and More. I’ve got quite a few that are delicious all year long.
Since we’re talking Fall and caramel apples, this Pumpkin Spice Baked French Toast is perfect for this time of year, too.
Got a lot of fresh berries on hand? This Almond Berry French Toast Casserole is not only colorful, it’s delicious.
If blueberries are your favorite, then you’ll definitely want to give this Baked Blueberry Cream Cheese French Toast a go. Bursting with fresh blueberries, this recipe is a keeper all year long.
It might not have all the fixin’s the other French toasts above have, but this Baked Cinnamon French Toast, is one I’d eat all day, every day.So good and super easy, this recipe is perfect for holiday mornings or when you’ll have a busy day ahead and don’t want to spend a lot of time on making breakfast.
If you have a fondue pot, you’ll want to make this French Toast Fondue. It’s more of an experience and allows for great conversation while cooking your egg dipped bread cubes, and then dipping them in the maple butter.
Combine your love of strawberries and coffee in this Strawberry Stuffed Mocha French Toast. Stuffed French toast makes me swoon every time!
Breakfast Recipes
Looking for other menu ideas to serve for that first meal of the morning?
We absolutely LOVE these Loaded Huevos Rancheros. There is so much flavor in each and every bite, and it’s a dish that will leave you comfortable full and very happy.
Want muffins? I’ve got those, too!
These Apple Streusel Muffins are one of my favorites. Chocolate Banana Muffins, Strawberry Cream Muffins, and Lemon Zucchini Muffins are also good ones to put on the breakfast table.
These Raspberry Cream Cheese Scones are a reader favorite and these Cinnamon Sugar Palmiers are an easy breakfast treat that the whole family will enjoy.
This easy recipe makes a delicious breakfast and is a great way to use your favorite apples.
Caramel Apple French Toast Bake
Ingredients
- 1 day old loaf French Bread cut into one inch cubes
- 3 cups apples peeled, cored and chopped small
- 8 eggs
- 2 cups milk
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons vanilla
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- ⅓ cup caramel sundae topping plus additional for drizzling
Cinnamon Sugar Mixture
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
Streusel Topping
- ½ cup flour
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons butter cold
Instructions
- Spray an 9 X 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
- In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the cinnamon sugar mixture.
- In a medium bowl, toss the chopped apples with the lemon juice.
- Add the apples to the cinnamon sugar mixture and toss to coat
- Place the bread cubes and apples into a large bowl and lightly toss. Pour into the prepared baking dish.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, cream, sugar and vanilla.
- Evenly pour mixture over the bread and apples. I find it easiest to use a ladle to do this.
- Cover with plastic wrap and place into refrigerator to sit overnight.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, light brown sugar, and salt. Using a pastry cutter or two forks, cut the butter into the mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Place mixture into a plastic bag. Seal and refrigerate overnight. This step can also be done in the morning before placing baking dish into the oven – whichever you find is easiest.
- When you're ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Evenly drizzle the 1/3 cup caramel topping over the contents, and Sprinkle the Streusel topping evenly on top.
- Bake for 45 – 55 minutes depending on the desired outcome. 45 minutes will yield a softer, soggier result, and about an hour will be more firm.
- Drizzle with additional caramel topping before serving, if desired, and / or maple syrup.
Nutrition
I used to rate everything I make on a scale of 1 -4 and this Caramel Apple French Toast Bake earned 3 1/2 rolling pins.
I am absolutely in love with the fact that I can make a breakfast dish the night before and pop it into the oven with little prep the next morning knowing the whole family’s going to love it.
This post was originally published 10/7/2014. It has been updated with pics and in format on 9/24/2022.
Comments & Reviews
I love French toast and this recipe looks terrific, thanks Lynne!
One quick question is the french toast baked while covered? I have made French toast bakes that are and some that are not. In my oven right now. I will bake covered for half the baking time and then uncover to finish the baking time. Looks amazing.
Kristina, sorry for the delayed response! I hope you enjoyed it!
The French toast is covered overnight with plastic wrap and then uncovered to bake the following morning. The contents will slightly expand above the rim of the baking dish, so you want to allow that to happen.
sounds amazing. We have another recipe that is similar. I’m looking for how to make it vegan without eggs. Have tried it with oat cream and it’s worked in the past. I’ll use maple syrup in place of the caramel and gluten free flour. This could easily be a dessert bread pudding too. Thanks.
Thanks, Mark. I hope you enjoy it! Please let me know how it turns out with the changes you make as someone else might be interested in doing the same.