Overnight Cinnamon Apple French Toast Bake
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Prepare the night before! Soaked in maple syrup, tender cinnamon apples + topped with toasted pecans. SO GOOD.
There is truly nothing more delightful than waking up to this casserole with a warm cup of coffee.
With all the hard work taken care of the night before, you can roll on over to the kitchen in your PJs and simply pop this in the oven, letting you continue your morning with basically zero effort. And in just one hour, you’ll have the most wanted breakfast all. season. long.
Made with tender cinnamon apples nestled in brioche bread cubes, soaked in maple syrup with pockets of an ooey gooey cream cheese filling. Not to mention the perfectly toasted pecans right on top for that added crunch.
Sounds like the perfect morning, right? Because guess what? It really is. It makes enough for company or for a family of four who doesn’t want to share.
Overnight Cinnamon Apple French Toast Bake
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 large apples, peeled and diced
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
- 1 16-ounce loaf brioche bread, cubed
- 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, cubed
- 12 large eggs, beaten
- 2 cups whole milk
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- 1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add apples and cook, stirring often, until just tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in brown sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon; continue cooking until sugar has dissolved, about 1-2 minutes. Let cool.
- Lightly coat a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick spray. Place a layer of bread cubes evenly into the baking dish. Top with cream cheese and half the apple mixture in an even layer. Top with remaining bread cubes and remaining apple mixture.
- In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, maple syrup, vanilla, salt and remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Pour mixture evenly over the bread cubes. Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove baking dish from the refrigerator; let stand 30 minutes.
- Sprinkle with pecans; place into oven and bake, covered, for 30 minutes. Uncover; continue to bake for an additional 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown and center is firm.
- Serve immediately, sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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How does this hold up after cooking? I want to make it to take to a potluck brunch, would it still be good after an hour or so out of the oven?
Can this be frozen. We are going camping in our trailer and would like to make ahead of time. If so, should I cook it before freezing or wait until taken out of freezer?
Absolutely delicious!! Let
It soak overnight and was so moist!
Was excellent! Like apple pie. I used more apples though. I wonder if you can use other fruit as well? This receipe is a keeper
Yes! This recipe is the best I’ve ever had! Great job 🙂
Seriously good! I love all of your recipes and so does my family!
delicious!!! I used walnuts as I didn’t have pecans on hand. Everybody LOVED it!!
it was awsome
This was super easy to make and a crowd pleaser! I used an extra apple because mine were more “medium sized” and I didn’t add the pecans because I honestly forgot but they weren’t missed. The cook time was longer than the recipe stated so I’d be aware you might need about a half hour longer to bake than the recipe calls for. It is definitely a make again recipe!
this was wonderful. my family lives it and I plan on adding it to our holiday line up when we have overnight company.
What can you sub for brioche bread?? I have never seen that here in Japan. But this looks yummy. Is brioche a sweet bread? I do not know what it is. Someone please help.
Yes, brioche is a sweet bread. I used French bread instead and it came out wonderful. I also used Sourdough crusty bread because that is what I had on hand, and it so came out wonderful..
Hello!! I know I am late, but brioche is a mildly sweet buttery bread where instead of white, it’s more yellow. I lived in China and I know they sold it there, but it wasn’t what they called it. I would think Japan should have it too! They are often sold sliced and the top of the bread is rounded, if that helps.
Absolutely delicious- cooked as directed, 25 minutes covered, about 30 minutes uncovered and it was perfect. Added a little pumpkin cream liqueur as part of the milk portion.
This reminds me of a banana and cream cheese baked bread pudding that I had years ago at a hotel in NH
Now that I found gluten free brioche I’ll be able to make your delicious looking recipe
I love that it is sweetened only with maple syrup
This was incredible. Made it today for Mother’s Day. I was able to do overnight and it came out great. As other folks have noted, I was about 90 minutes on the cooking time, but I was able to plan for it, thanks to other commenters. The flavors were great. I might mix the cream cheese and thin it out more like a swirl than chunks, but that’s just being nit-picky. This will be a holiday favorite for sure!!
Made this for a breakfast for dinner night for a special treat for my daughter. Very easy to come together. I had the brioche in the freezer so it wouldn’t go bad before I had a chance to make it and accidentally discovered how easy it was to cube the bread when it’s still mostly frozen. I ended up needing to cook this for about 1hr and 20 minutes to get it set in the middle. Great flavor!
Want to make this ahead of time for Easter! Pla to make it Saturday night so its ready to go in the oven Sunday morning. I’m wondering – do you follow the exact recipe for prepping ahead or do you omit certain steps until day of?
This recipe turned out perfectly. Like others, I baked it a bit longer to get the center firm. I left out the cream cheese, and it worked well without it. I’ll add a bit more Apple next time, but it’s wonderful. Dried cranberries would be a fun addition too!
So good for Christmas brunch! I made a bit of a smaller batch. I used a whole loaf of 365 Cream Cheese Swirl Brioche from Whole Foods, 3 Red Delicious apples, the same sugar and butter, 6 eggs, 1 cup of milk, 2/3 of the vanilla, syrup, and salt, about 1/3 of a block of cream cheese, and a whole lot of cinnamon. I skipped the nuts and powdered sugar, but added a little extra maple syrup before serving. My pan was 9 x 9 and shallow, so just one layer of each item. It came out beautifully! I was a little worried that it would be too much cream cheese, but is was perfect. 365 also makes a Cinnamon Swirl Brioche that I thought would be great too. Highly recommend!
Wonderful flavors. So delicious. Definitely one to put on your Christmas brunch list. I had to cook mine a little longer too because of the eggs.
I made this last night and served it for brunch today. It was so good! Bread was fluffy, very flavorful, just sweet enough. I served with maple syrup on the side for people want to add a little more sweetness. This is the 2nd recipe I’ve tried from this website, will definitely look for more!
Excellent, so far everything on this site has been a winner
Hello. I do not have brioche. I have Italian grinder rolls I would like to use. Should I add sugar? And do you think the recipe will work without the brioche?
Thanks
Made this for a Christmas brunch, (prepared the night before) and it was an absolute winner!
I have yet to be disappointed by a damn delicious recipe! This one was easy, delicious, and not super sweet. I did omit the cream cheese. I used 3/4 the amount of bread. The next time I make this I will double the apple mixture.
DELICIOUS! Made as directed with the exception of adding extra pecans and cooking them in a little butter and brown sugar before adding them on top. Not too sweet, surprisingly light in texture. Did need an extra 10 minutes cooking time. Will be making again during the holidays.
Do you think you would be able to meal prep this and it would stay in the fridge good for a day or two? Or is it really only good the day of?
This is truly best when served immediately. 🙂
Yes, brioche is a sweet bread. I used French bread instead and it came out wonderful. I also used Sourdough crusty bread because that is what I had on hand, and it so came out wonderful..
Does it make a difference what type of the Apple you use? I would like to make this for Christmas morning.
Honeycrisp and/or Grannysmith are usually great for recipes like this. 🙂
This looks soo divine
Do you have to add the cream cheese?
You can omit the cream cheese if you wish, Christine. 🙂
I just bought purchased 2 bags of freshly picked apples- they are Gala & Golden Delicious..Some apples are more tart than others- do you have a preference in this recipe?
Do you also have a link for Apple Crisp? I’m in Apple baking Mode!!! Cannot wait to make this- this weekend..I’m hosting a baby shower for my first grandchild- she arrived early! Her name is Valentina..
Love LOVE Love your recipes
Congratulations on becoming a grandma! We have a Slow Cooker Apple Pear Crisp recipe that you can try! 🙂
Can’t wait to try. Looks like a very good recipe for Christmas morning.
This looks really good. I see the maple syrup is added to the wet ingredients. So for your picture did you pour more syrup on top and then sprinkle with powdered sugar? I don’t see how the syrup would be on top otherwise. Thank you.
Yes, for the purpose of the pictures, we added additional syrup on top but that is completely optional. Hope that answers your question!
looks wonderful – can I halve the recipe and bake in 8×8?
Hi Cat! That shouldn’t be a problem but as always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications. Good luck! 🙂
If the recipe is cut in half and baked in an 8×8 pan, would you recommend an adjustment to the baking time?
Yes, baking time will have to be reduced accordingly. 🙂
So is it half the time (~15 mins) or more like ~20 mins?
I am making this next weekend. My kids love French toast so this will a special treat, now hopefully I remember to make it the night before.