Crème Brûlée French Toast Casserole is an easy make-ahead breakfast or brunch entrée that emulates the flavor and texture of decadent crème brûlée! This fresh twist on French Toast is made with your favorite bread, a few staple ingredients in less than 10 minutes!
Save time and effort with this delightfully sweet Crème Brûlée French Toast recipe! Rich, creamy custard soaks into thick slices of bread overnight, absorbing amazing flavor and creating luxurious texture. It’s toasted to perfection in the oven, resulting in a crunchy brûlée layer.
It’s simple to make and serve! Skip the butter and syrup, this delicious dish doesn’t need it!
This delicious dish is easy enough for every day, yet elegant for entertaining and all of your favorite holidays – Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day and more!
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Shopping List
- Salted Butter
- Light Brown Sugar
- Corn Syrup
- Bread (Challah, French or Brioche)
- Eggs
- Heavy Whipping Cream
- Vanilla Extract
- Grand Marnier
Variations and Substitutions
- Butter – Salted or unsalted butter, your preference. Salted butter helps balance the sweet flavor.
- Brown Sugar – Light brown sugar for classic flavor or substitute dark brown sugar to add richer flavor.
- Corn Syrup – Substitute with maple syrup, cane syrup or agave.
- Bread – Strong heavy bread soaks up the custard while still holding shape. Challah, French or Brioche bread are all great choices. Stale bread is preferred because it holds up well. If you do not have stale bread, remove from packaging and expose to air the day of or dry bread slices on a cookie sheet in oven preheated to 300°F 5-7 minutes.
- Eggs – Size large eggs.
- Heavy Cream – Heavy cream gives this recipe the creamiest texture and rich flavor. However, you can substitute with the heaviest milk you have or half and half.
- Vanilla Extract – Add a hint of flavor with your favorite extract; vanilla, almond extract, orange extract, bourbon, brandy, rum or additional Grand Marnier.
- Grand Marnier – This liqueur adds bright orange flavor. Alternatively, substitute with orange flavored liqueur, 1 teaspoon orange extract or omit.
Tip
Use a broil safe dish or transfer to a baking sheet to broil.
Serving Suggestions
Serve crème brûlée French toast casserole with your favorite sweet butter, fruit toppings, syrups, and whipped cream recipes. Or keep it simple with a dusting of powdered sugar!
Crème Brûlée French Toast
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter one stick
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- 2 tablespoons corn syrup
- 1 loaf stale bread sliced 1½" thick
- 5 large eggs
- 1½ cups heavy whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon Grand Marnier
Instructions
- Prepare 9×13″ baking dish.
- In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add brown sugar and corn syrup, whisking until smooth. Pour mixture into baking dish.½ cup butter, 1 cup light brown sugar, 2 tablespoons corn syrup
- Place bread slices tightly in baking dish.1 loaf stale bread
- In a medium mixing bowl or stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine eggs, heavy cream, vanilla extract and Grand Marnier. Whisk together until smooth, approximately 2-3 minutes.5 large eggs, 1½ cups heavy whipping cream, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract, 1 tablespoon Grand Marnier
- Pour mixture evenly over bread. Cover and refrigerate 6+ hours or overnight.
Bake
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Bring baking dish to room temperature to avoid cracking.
- Bake uncovered in the center of pre-heated oven 35 minutes. Flip to serve or continue for crunchier crust.
Broil (for crispy Crème Brûlée crust)
- In a broil safe dish (or transfer to a cookie sheet), watching carefully, broil 1 – 1½ minutes until slightly bubbly and golden brown.
Julie’s Tips
Stale Bread
The day of, remove bread from packaging, slice and expose to air until ready to prepare. Or, pre-heat oven to 300°F and bake on a cookie sheet 5-7 minutes to dry bread.Substitutions and Variations
Butter – Salted or unsalted. Brown Sugar – Light or Dark. Bread – Challah, French or Brioche are great choices, but any bread will work! Heavy Cream – Or the heaviest milk you have. Vanilla Extract – Substitute with almond extract, orange extract, lemon extract, bourbon, brandy, rum or additional Grand Marnier. Grand Marnier – Alternatively, substitute with any orange flavored liqueur or omit.How to Store
At Room Temperature – Serve at room temperature up to two hours. Refrigerate – Store in an airtight container and refrigerate up to 3 days. Freeze – Cover in plastic wrap and store in an airtight container or freezer bag up to 3 months.Reheat
Place in a microwave safe dish and warm in microwave in 30 second increments. For best results, preheat oven to 350° F. Place covered casserole dish in the center of oven and bake 10-15 minutes until completely warm.Video
Estimated nutrition information is provided as a courtesy and is not guaranteed.
Hi
Why does the video show the bread baking in a deep dish and at the end in a sheet pan?
Hi Carla!
As noted in the recipe card, you can broil this casserole at the last step, which requires a pan that can handle higher heat. I hope that helps!
Julie
Corn syrup? Is this necessary? Is there a substitute we can use? After all the unhealthy warnings we know about corn syrup ~ this is an ingredient that’s called for? Otherwise ~ this recipe sounds delicious .. 🫤
Hi Priscilla! A small amount is used to sweeten, but dissolve to maintain the creamy texture. You can substitute with maple syrup, cane syrup or agave, but it will alter the texture and flavor. Enjoy!
This looks delicious! Does it actually have the crunchy top on it that creme brulee is known for? Could I possibly skip the broil and use my kitchen torch instead? Thanks!
Yes, you can do either. Enjoy!
I just made these and they are in the oven. I can’t wait to taste it! I was wondering if you were the actual creator of this recipe or did you modified with Grand Marnier and incorporated the broiling method because I did find this exact same recipe on several other sites mentioning another creator? When people use other people’s recipe they mention it on their page which I think it’s only fair to the creator. Or maybe she is the one that modified your version of it?
Hi Chantal! As a former caterer, I have been developing recipes for years. This recipe is one I originally made in my early years of catering and published to my site March 1, 2013. The snapshot of my site is not pretty, I wish I could respond to you with it. I’ve grown a lot as a developer, recipe writer, stylist and photographer through the years and continuously work to update to make my recipes and site easy to navigate and foolproof. If you’re referring to one on All Recipes that is referred to on the first post that shows in Google search, it appears that was originally published September 4, 2015.
I cannot wait to hear what you think!