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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How long before the caramel hardens? If it was made, say an hour or so before being eaten, would it still be warm? Can it be reheated? Sounds good but I’d like to make it for a women’s group and it wouldn’t be eaten until an hour after being taken from the oven.
Thank you!
Hi Josephine, This dish really needs to be served straight out of the oven. The baked French toast from my cookbook would be a better option. Email me if you don’t have the book; I’m happy to send the recipe to you.
Hi Jenn
What a coincidence , my daughter;s birthday is coming up and she has asked for a Caramel French Toast . Can I leave out 3 tablespoons Grand Marnier or substitute with something else. ?
Thanks
Madhuri.
Sure, Madhuri — you can just use more half and half. Happy birthday to your daughter! 🙂
Thanks Jenn. Can it be reheated if there are leftovers.
Yes, but the caramel bottom does get a bit sticky so I would loosen the pieces from the pan before refrigerating leftovers.
Quick question…would you still serve butter and maple syrup with this dish?
Hi Andrea, No it’s really not necessary. 🙂
I made this recipe for the first time this morning and my entire family LOVED it! All of them said it was a definite keeper. Preparing the dish the night before made getting breakfast on the table fast and easy. Thank you Jenn for helping make our Saturday morning pure bliss!
OMG! The best breakfast item ever! Been making it for a couple of years now. My kids and grandchildren love, love, love it.
This is the first one of your recipes that did not work for me unfortunately. While the toast did puff up, when we cut into it there were scrambled eggs mixed into the toast. It didn’t look appetizing. It looked like the bread did not absorb the liquid.
Hi Mareesa, Sorry you had trouble with this! Did you let it chill for at least 6 hours before baking?
Hi Jen, I’m making this for Christmas morning but I have to bake it at my house and bring it to my brother’s house. How do you suggest I go about this? I’m concerned that the Carmel will harden and I cannot bake it in her oven because her ovens are broke😞.
Hi Vicky, Unfortunately, I think you’re right about the caramel. Do you have my cookbook? There’s a baked French toast in it that I think would work better – if you don’t have it, email me at jennifer@onceuponachef.com and I’ll happily email it to you. 🙂
Hi Jenn! This is ridiculously delicious!!! I have shared this recipe many times!!! :o))
Question – Do you think two of these can be cooked at the same time stacked in the oven? If so, what adjustments would be needed?
Thank you for this wonderful website!!
XOXO
Hi Kim, So glad you like this! I do think they can bake at the same time, but they will take longer. Hard to say how much longer, so just pay close attention to they look – you’ll want to remove them when they’re puffed up and golden.
Thank you Jenn!!! Do you think they’d need to be rotated half way through? Or just leave them alone??
Thanks again!!
XOXO
I think it couldn’t hurt – if you’re in the kitchen – I think that would be great. Please let me know how they turn out!
I will! And thank you for these prompt responses Jenn!!
I made this recipe for a family breakfast. Not only was it delicious, we were all able to sit down and enjoy breakfast together. I will make this again and again!
Always a hit!! I’m a nurse and whenever we throw baby, wedding, showers at work, the staff always depends on my drunken caramel French toast. I make it in a Pyrex and just warm it up. I do put less orange zest than Jenn’s recipe. That was based on my family’s request way back when I started making it, so I stuck with using less, it was too powerful of a taste with Jenn’s amt.