Ree Drummond’s top rated French toast recipe is a make-ahead, feeds-a-crowd brunch dream that yields fluffy, golden French toast with an irresistible streusel topping.
Article by Layla Khoury-Hanold
Ree Drummond’s baked French toast casserole is a make-ahead, feeds-a-crowd brunch dream that’ll never have you feeling like a short order cook. It’s topped with cinnamon-brown sugar streusel and served with syrup and blueberries. With Ree’s simple baked French toast recipe, you’ll learn what kind of bread to use, the secret to an extra rich egg custard mixture, how to create an aromatic topping and how long to bake French toast according to your preferred texture.
Reach for crusty bread. Use a crusty loaf of sourdough or French bread, preferably a day old, so that it soaks up the egg mixture and the casserole’s center bakes up soft and custardy.
Make a rich and flavorful egg custard. Ree whisks eggs with both whole milk and heavy cream for richness, vanilla for extra flavor and both white and brown sugar for nuanced sweetness and to promote caramelization.
Let the casserole sit overnight in the fridge. After you’ve poured the egg custard mixture over the bread cubes, tightly cover and refrigerate until ready to bake, ideally overnight, so that the bread soaks up as much of the egg custard as possible to avoid soggy French toast.
Make a flavorful, aromatic streusel topping. Ree blends together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg, salt and cold butter until the mixture resembles pebbles.
Bake the French toast uncovered. Bake the French toast casserole uncovered so that the topping gets crunchy and caramelized.
Choose a cook time to match your texture preference. Bake the French toast casserole at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes for a softer texture, or 1 hour for a firmer texture.
Yes, baked French toast is an ideal make-ahead brunch dish as it benefits from resting overnight in the refrigerator so the bread cubes can soak up the flavorful egg custard mixture. This will ensure that the center will bake up soft and custardy.
Cook French toast for 45 minutes to 1 hour in a 350 degree F oven. Baking the French toast for 45 minutes will yield a softer, bread-pudding like texture, while baking it for 1 hour gives it a crisper, firmer texture.
French toast toppings include fresh fruit, maple syrup, honey, powdered sugar, whipped cream, butter and jam.
Serve baked French toast with classic breakfast sides such as fruit salad, eggs, bacon and hashbrowns. For a complete brunch spread, try making Maple Pepper Bacon, Ree’s Breakfast Hash, her fan-favorite Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole and her vibrant Fruit Salad with Orange-Vanilla Syrup.