This Crockpot French toast casserole recipe is easy to make and never soggy. Simple make-ahead or same-day Crock Pot recipe made with regular everyday sandwich bread and a scrumptious cinnamon brown sugar topping. It’s perfect for your lazy weekend brunch or holiday breakfast!
French toast has always been a rare breakfast treat, but it can be a hard dish to make for a crowd. This recipe was inspired by my kids’ favorite overnight French toast casserole baked in the oven, except slow cooker French toast casserole makes it so much easier to keep everything warm until everyone is ready to eat.
Why Make My Crockpot French Toast Casserole Recipe
- This Crock Pot French toast casserole is so so full of flavor with a perfectly set interior. The cinnamon brown sugar topping gives it a nice crunch and just the right amount of sweetness.
- It’s so easy to make, whether you’re prepping ahead or making it same-day. The cook time only takes a couple of hours, so you can still make it in time for brunch even if you forgot to make it the night before.
- Through a little trial and error, I’ve figured out how to make a set-it-and-forget-it slow cooker French toast casserole that’s never soggy, and I’ll show you how.
- This recipe reduces food waste by using up old, stale bread that you’d otherwise throw out. In fact, using dried out, stale bread is the best way to prevent sogginess.
Ingredients & Substitutions Notes
- Sandwich Bread – You can make this slow cooker French toast bake with Texas toast, brioche bread, sourdough, challah bread, crusty French bread, or really any other type of bread. Because it’s what I have on hand, I always just make mine with plain sandwich bread.
- Chopped Pecans – If you don’t like chopped pecans, you can use chopped walnuts instead. Or you can omit the nuts altogether.
- Large Eggs – The eggs in this recipe are a key component to the rich, custard-like interior. It also adds a little extra protein for the most important meal of the day.
- Whole Milk – You’ll also need whole milk for the egg custard mixture. You can also use 2% milk or even skim milk if that’s what you prefer.
- Real Maple Syrup – Don’t be tempted to use table syrup, but use real maple syrup instead if you can help it. Table syrup has a much more overpowering sugary sweetness, and because it’s comprised of mostly corn syrup, it also has a thinner consistency. In other words, table syrup will lead to soggy French toast casserole that just doesn’t taste very good.
- Vanilla Extract – You can use any pure vanilla extract for this recipe, but my favorite is this Mexican vanilla that my dad always used to get when he was out on the truck.
- Spices – You’ll need both cinnamon and nutmeg for this recipe.
How to Make Crockpot French Toast Casserole
Before getting started, grease a 6 to 7-quart slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Now, the key to making a Crockpot French toast casserole that’s never soggy, is to use stale bread. If you don’t have any stale bread, just leave a loaf out in the open overnight so that it can dry out a little bit, before making this recipe.
How to Make Slow Cooker French Toast Casserole
Keep in mind that you can follow steps #1-5, mixing everything up the night before in your slow cooker, then cover it with plastic wrap, and store it in the fridge until you’re ready to get the cooking process started in step #6 the next morning.
- Start by blending the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon together in a small bowl with a pastry blender or a fork, and set aside. This will be your cinnamon brown sugar topping.
- Next, use a knife to cube the bread into small 1-inch cubes, and layer it with the pecans in your slow cooker.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, maple syrup, vanilla extract, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- Pour the egg mixture over the bread and pecans in the Crock Pot, and give it all a gentle toss. Make sure all the bread is well-soaked.
- Finally, crumble the cinnamon brown sugar topping over the entire casserole. It’s a really moist mixture, so it’ll probably resemble clumps rather than crumbles.
- Place the lid on your slow cooker, and cook on high for 2 to 2 1/2 hours….Or you can cook it on low for 3 to 4 hours for even better flavor. That’s it!
To make sure it’s done, I use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature and make sure it’s up to the proper temp for eggs. This article from the FDA states that “Casseroles and other dishes containing eggs should be cooked to 160ºF.”
Serving Crock Pot French Toast Casserole
You can slice it and serve it with powdered sugar and/or more maple syrup. Keep the rest of your casserole warm, using the “Keep Warm” setting on your slow cooker, if applicable.
Expert Tips and Recipe FAQ’s
Yes. In fact, it’s actually best to use stale bread because it does a better job at soaking up the egg mixture; fresh baked bread can actually make really soggy French toast casserole. If you don’t have any stale bread, the best solution is to let it sit out for at least a couple hours and preferably overnight, before making this casserole. If it’s the morning of and you need it dried quickly, one trick is it to put it in a 350ºF oven for about 20 minutes, or ’til dry to the touch.
Yes, you can make gluten-free Crockpot French toast casserole simply by using gluten-free bread. Depending on the bread you use, it may be a bit more crumbly, but it’ll taste just as delicious.
Yes, you can make a dairy-free Crockpot French toast casserole! Swap out the milk for a dairy-free alternative, like oat milk or almond milk. For the cinnamon sugar topping, use these dairy-free butter sticks instead of real butter. It’ll taste just the same.
Store your leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
You can freeze leftover French toast casserole. I recommend freezing it after it’s already been cooked, because it’ll keep longer in the freezer. Just wait to add the topping until after it’s thawed out from the freezer, right before you reheat it in the oven. Stored in an airtight container, it should last up to 3 months in the deep freeze.
First, I recommend letting it thaw out from frozen in the refrigerator overnight. Then cover with aluminum foil, and re-heat in a 350°F oven for 30 minutes, or ’til warmed through. If you’re reheating it from the refrigerator, you can re-heat it in the microwave, pulsing it at 30-second intervals until heated through.
Optional Add-Ins & Recipe Variations
- Add some fruit! Blueberries, raspberries and sliced strawberries pair perfectly with this easy breakfast casserole. Add a little cream on top or a maple syrup drizzle for extra flavor. Yum!
- Like I said in the ingredients notes above, you can swap out the chopped pecans for chopped walnuts instead. Alternatively, you might even add slivered almonds, which pair so well with a powdered sugar dusting.
- Calling all chocolate lovers, add a handful of chocolate chips to the cubed bread right before turning on the slow cooker.
- You can also beat a block of softened cream cheese into the egg custard mixture, if you’re shooting for more of a creamier, cheesecake custard-like texture.
More Breakfast Casserole Recipes
- Apple Cinnamon French Toast Casserole
- Brioche French Toast Casserole
- Blueberry French Toast Casserole
- Texas Toast Breakfast Casserole
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Crockpot French Toast Casserole
Equipment
- Meat Themometer optional
Ingredients
Casserole:
- 24 ounces sandwich bread*
- 1 cup pecans chopped
- 8 large eggs
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Topping:
- 4 tablespoons salted butter sliced
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Grease a 6 to 7-quart slow cooker with cooking spray.
- Cube the bread into small 1-inch cubes, and layer it with the pecans in the slow cooker.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, real maple syrup, vanilla extract, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- Pour the egg mixture over the bread and pecans in the CrockPot, and give it all a gentle toss. Make sure all the bread is good and soaked.
- In a separate small mixing bowl, mix together the sliced butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
- Crumble the cinnamon brown sugar topping over the entire casserole; it’s a really moist mixture.
- Place the lid on the slow cooker, and cook on high for 2 to 2 1/2 hours; or cook on low for 3 to 4 hours.
- To make sure it's done, you can check the internal temperature with a meat thermometer to make sure it's up to the proper temp for eggs.
- Slice it and serve it with powdered sugar and/or maple syrup. Keep the rest of the casserole warm, using the “Keep Warm” setting on the slow cooker, if applicable.
Best special breakfast for family and friends!
I have been making this for a while, both for family and work events. It has been an absolute hit!! This week alone, I have made it twice. Since not everyone loves pecan, more often I add some lemon zest and fresh lemon juice to the egg mixture and I mix blueberries into the bread mixture! Don’t hesitate, you be happy you made it!!
So just made this and I was so excited to try it but it was soooo gooey that it was like a eating a sponge?! What did I do wrong? I used GF bread that was actually
Very fresh. I toasted it before putting in crockpot. After reading I guess I should have just sat it out?
Elizabeth, it is possible that the fresh bread is your problem. I often find that letting it stale before using results in a better French toast casserole. The same is true with regular French toast….I also find that gluten-free bread is worse about it than regular. I would definitely recommend trying stale bread next time!
Can I prepare all of the ingredients and put in the crockpot the night before and then cook in the morning?
Kristen, I would recommend that you store the inner Crockpot bowl with all of the ingredients inside of the refrigerator until you are ready to cook. Otherwise, this will work fine. You may wish to pull it out in the morning and let everything come up to room temp before cooking, as going straight from the fridge to the slow cooker can sometimes cause the dish or even the glazing to crack. I hope this helps!
Will I ruin the recipe if I use 2%. Milk instead of whole?
Not one bit!
Can this be doubled?
Yes, you can double this recipe. Just double all of the ingredients and follow the directions the same as before.
My new way to make holiday French toast casserole. Third time this morning for Thanksgiving. Everyone loves it-even me a previous non-French toast lover! Great way to use older bread/buns.
It’s actually a great way to turn stale bread into a delicious treat.
This is an excellent dish to make to use up LEFTOVER BUNS after a party or camping! I ALWAYS buy too many buns! 😎
Oh what a great idea, Kim! Thank you!