Smaller French Toast Casserole (2024)

4.32 from 114 votes

French Toast Casserole is a classic breakfast/brunch dish for family gatherings or holidays. With this small batch recipe, you can easily make it for two or a crowd.

A Christmas morning tradition in many families, it is simple to make ahead in one dish, refrigerate overnight, and bake it in the morning.

Ingredients

Bread—French bread or other
Eggs
Milk
Pantry ingredients—salt, cinnamon, sugar, vanilla extract
Topping—butter, sugar, cinnamon

How to Make a Small French Toast

1️⃣Coat a 6 by 9 baking dish with butter.

2️⃣Cut 8 oz of crusty French bread into 1-inch cubes and add to the pan.

3️⃣Whisk 4 eggs, 1 ½ cups milk, 2 teaspoons sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon vanilla, and ½ teaspoon cinnamon. Mix lightly.

4️⃣Pour the egg mixture over the bread cubes, cover with foil or plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight, or you can proceed to the next step and cook now.

5️⃣In the morning, remove it from the refrigerator and uncover it. Preheat the oven to 350°. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in the microwave and brush top.

6️⃣Mix 2 tablespoons sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon and sprinkle on top.

7️⃣Bake until golden brown and an internal temperature of 165°—about 40-45 minutes. Helpful hint: the bread will puff up some near the end. When the center is puffed, that is about the minimum time, but it will be soggy still. Go a little longer to get a dryer casserole.

8️⃣Allow to cool for 5 - 10 minutes before serving. Top with butter and maple syrup, fresh fruit, or a dusting of powdered sugar.

See Also

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For more details, keep reading. See theRecipe Cardbelow for complete instructions and to print.

✔️Tips to make it right every time

Baking without the overnight soak is OK, but it misses the point of having a dish to toss into the oven with little fuss in the morning while you enjoy the fun. But still, it is OK to mix and bake.

For food safety, please bake until an internal temperature of 165°.

You can bake the casserole covered with aluminum foil for the entire time, but I wanted some crispinessand baked entirely uncovered. Again, a matter of taste.

🥖What type of bread to use

While the most common bread recommended was a crusty French, almost any bread should be fine. If you buy a loaf of bread for this recipe, get a small loaf or baguette of French, but sourdough, Italian, or brioche bread are also good choices.

The best choice is mildly stale, crusty bread cut into cubes. A softer bread will tend to get mushy. If you have a soft bread you want to use, toss it on a tray in a 200° oven for about 10 minutes first to dry it some.

Breakfast Recipes

Serve with breakfast meat like Oven Baked Bacon or Oven Baked Breakfast Sausage. Check out these other breakfast recipes, like Baked English Muffins, Blueberry Breakfast Cake, Cinnamon Roll Cake, and Healthier Sausage Gravy and Biscuits.

↕️How to make French toast casserole for two or double for family size

This is an easy recipe to cut in half or double to fit your needs

The full recipe needs a 6 X 9 baking dish for six servings. You can also use a 9-inch round or 8-inch square baking pan. A double recipe needs a 9 X 13 casserole or cake pan. A half recipe needs a 6-inch round baking dish or something similar.

1. Use the recipe card and adjust the number of servings to half or double.
2. Use the amount of ingredients in the ingredient list, not the instructions—those do not adjust.
3. Use the pan sizes discussed above.
4. Cook until browning and 165° for safety. Baking time for a half recipe will be 25 to 30 minutes, depending on thickness. A double recipe will need 50 to 60 minutes.

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🍴How to serve French toast casserole

Serve with butter and a generous amount of Maple syrup for topping. Sides of breakfast meats like bacon or sausage

❄️Storage and Reheating

After cooking, it can be stored, covered, and refrigerated for 2-3 days. Or freeze for 3 months.

If frozen, thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating. It is best if reheated in the oven or an air fryer at 350° for 10 to 15 minutes. This will help crispen the crust some more. When reheating it with a microwave, it will be soft.

Smaller French Toast Casserole

French Toast Casserole is a classic breakfast/brunch dish for family gatherings or holidays. With this small batch recipe, you can easily make it for two or a crowd.

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Servings #/Adjust if desired 6 servings

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Do you have a question?Leave a comment to ask or check the recipe post above for most common questions and variations.

Some recipes have an option to display the photos here with a switch above these instructions but the photos DO NOT print. Otherwise step-by-step photos are in the post.

Your Own Private Notes

To adjust the recipe size:

You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.

Nutrition Estimate

Calories : 191 kcal (10%)Carbohydrates : 27 g (9%)Protein : 8 g (16%)Fat : 5 g (8%)Saturated Fat : 2 g (10%)Cholesterol : 114 mg (38%)Sodium : 446 mg (19%)Potassium : 89 mg (3%)Fiber : 1 g (4%)Sugar : 6 g (7%)Vitamin A : 217 IU (4%)Calcium : 36 mg (4%)Iron : 2 mg (11%)

Serving size is my estimate of a normal size unless stated otherwise. The number of servings per recipe is stated above. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.

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