Boozy Caramel French Toast Casserole
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This boozy French toast casserole with a caramel bottom makes the perfect company-for-brunch dish.
Part booze, part French toast, part bread pudding — how could you go wrong? In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if you already had the recipe because such things (i.e., amazingly good, crowd pleasing, make-ahead, easy recipes) tend to get around. I got it from my friend Gayle, who got it from her friend Karen, who got it from…you get the idea.
This French toast casserole makes a perfect company-for-brunch dish because you can assemble it the night before, let it sit in the fridge overnight, and then just pop it in the oven in the morning when you’re ready to eat. Don’t worry if you forget to plan ahead; it can be baked soon after assembling if need be.
Ingredients For Boozy Caramel French Toast Casserole
I use broiche bread to make my French toast casserole. Brioche is a lightly sweetened yeast bread enriched with lots of butter and eggs. You can find it in the bakery of most large supermarkets; if for some reason you can’t find it, challah makes an excellent substitute.
Grand Marnier is an orange-flavored liqueur. It adds depth of flavor and subtle orange flavor that pairs nicely with the orange zest and caramel. If you’d like to omit the booze, go ahead and replace it with more half and half.
How To Make Boozy Caramel French Toast Casserole
Begin with the caramel. In a small saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and one tablespoon of water.
Melt over medium heat, stirring until smooth.
Pour the caramel into a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.
Remove the crust on the brioche and into 1½-in slices. Arrange the bread on top of caramel, making sure entire base is well covered.
In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, half-and-half, vanilla, Grand Marnier, orange zest and salt until well combined.
Pour evenly over bread. Let sit for at least 15 minutes or cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator overnight.
When you’re ready to eat, bake the French toast casserole, uncovered, until puffed and golden, 40-50 minutes.
Let cool a few minutes (it will deflate) and then serve immediately. The caramel will harden up as it cools, so it’s important to serve this dish hot.
More French Toast Recipes
Boozy Caramel French Toast Casserole
This boozy French toast casserole with a caramel bottom makes the perfect company-for-brunch dish.
Ingredients
- 1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan
- ¾ cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
- 1⅓ lbs brioche (you'll likely need two loaves but you won't use it all)
- 5 large eggs
- 1½ cups half-and-half
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons Grand Marnier
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with butter.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter with the brown sugar, corn syrup, and one tablespoon of water, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Pour into the prepared pan.
- Slice off the crusts from the brioche (it doesn't need to be perfect). Cut the bread into 1½-in thick slices. Arrange the bread slices on top of caramel, making sure the entire base of the pan is covered.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, half-and-half, vanilla, Grand Marnier, orange zest and salt until well combined. Pour evenly over bread. Cover with plastic wrap and chill at least 20 minutes or overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and set an oven rack in the middle position.
- Bake, uncovered, in the middle of the oven until puffed and golden, 40-50 minutes. Let cool a few minutes (it will deflate), then serve immediately. The caramel base hardens up as it cools, so it's important to serve hot.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (6 servings)
- Calories: 705
- Fat: 32 g
- Saturated fat: 17 g
- Carbohydrates: 84 g
- Sugar: 37 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 17 g
- Sodium: 578 mg
- Cholesterol: 269 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Hi Jen, I’m hesitant to say because I’ve never tried it and all eggnogs are different. You might just use it instead of the cream, and reduce the eggs in the recipe by one or two depending on how “eggy” the eggnog is. Also, if it’s spiked, you may want to omit the Grand Marnier. Hope that helps!
I’ve made this before and it’s delicious! I’m planning on making it again for Christmas morning. Could I use eggnog in place of the eggs and custard?
Sometimes I buy the tiny bottles that they have on airplanes or in hotel mini bars. If you can’t find Grand Marnier, you could also use Triple Sec or Cointreau. You could also just leave it out but then you’d miss out on the boozy orange flavor. Hope that helps!
This recipe looks amazing, I’m so excited to try it. Is there a substitute for the grand marnier that I could use? I wouldn’t want to buy it just for 3 tablespoons and then have the rest go to waste. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi there!
Grand Marnier would actually keep pretty much forever, but you couls also go buy a little tiny bottl (think airplane size bottle) from the liquor store for between $3-$5. 🙂
Oh..my..gosh!! I made this for Mother’s Day morning & it was excellent! I personally am not a huge fan of french toast (guess I have never had any that’s been really good until now)but this was awesome! We even had a little left over & it was fantastic a couple of days later. I will make this for guests for sure & for us frequently! Thank you for yet another outstanding recipe!
This unfortunately did not come out for Easter breakfast. The caramel tasted great when I cooked it the night before but in the dish it never hardened and mixed with the egg mixture. It also never puffed up. We ended up tossing the food. I’ve made many things from here and the cookbook and this is the first fail.
A wonderfully easy & decadently delicious recipe. Huge hit at a recent brunch I hosted. You are a culinary genius!!!
YUM!!! Best french toast casserole I’ve tasted. Made it for company and everyone was asking me for the recipe…always a good sign!! I used raisin challah which was a nice twist….it was even good reheated in the microwave the next day.
This recipe is amazing. We literally scraped the pan clean. I thought the hint of orange was just perfect. This will definitely be an entertaining stand-by for me.
Seriously, brilliant. Excuse me while I bookmark this!
This was a big hit with my husband and brother-in-law yesterday. They ate so much of it, they had to take naps soon after 🙂
I had forgotten to stop at the market for the Challah, so I used plain wheat sandwich bread – worked just fine. I also didn’t have a chance to make it the night before, and again, didn’t seem to affect the taste.
One thing I added before serving: A few maple glazed pecans from your salad recipe.