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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I’ve made a very similar recipe with the same boozy sauce on top of the bread each Christmas, and noticed the bread would deflate out of the oven, so I’m glad you mentioned this aspect of baking french toast vs griddling. I have used orange juice and whipping cream (liquid) in place of the half-n-half as well which helps firm up the toast. I’m just scratching my head wondering how you Jennifer Segal, found this recipe in Gourmet magazine and live on the east coast while I received my recipe with the caramel on top from a coworker years ago on the west coast!! That goes to show everybody should try this baked french toast, it is so easy to make it the night before to save time too, making the caramel sauce while baking.
This is my new favorite breakfast for guests and Christmas morning, because you can make it ahead and it’s always delicious. It’s subtly flavored and one of those recipes that you have taste memories of. I used store bought pre sliced brioche so it wasn’t 1.5 inches thick but I just overlapped etc to fit the bread in. It’s also pretty tasty as a leftover, although more custardy and not puffy anymore.
Hi Jen, Is this the same recipe as your “Drunkin Sailor” French Toast?? I don’t remember the bread slices being flat in the casserole dish.
I was just looking for it for our Christmas Brunch. My family loves it as well as all of your recipes. I’m not a great cook, but you have turned me into one Thank you.
Hi Susan, I’ve never heard of drunken sailor french toast so I can’t compare the two – sorry! Hope you enjoy if you try this though. 🙂
Jenn, I love this recipe! Can you tell me what size dish I would use for 1/2 the recipe and the bake time?
Hi Erin, I’d use an 8 x 8-inch pan. Bake time may be the slightest bit different so keep a close eye on it. Enjoy!
Wow! I made this for a friend’s birthday brunch and it was a huge hit! We have a restaurant in La Jolla, CA that serves a similar dish called Coast Toast and I cannot believe that I have found a recipe that basically has the same flavors. I only made two small changes to the recipe based on other reviews – 1. I added a tablespoon of regular pancake syrup to the caramel sauce to prevent it from hardening. I did not notice that it has hardened over time so I think it worked! 2. I did a little less than a teaspoon of orange zest which still gave it a ton of orange flavor. Thank you Jenn!
I also forgot to mention that Trader Joe’s has sliced brioche bread which was a breeze to use!
Jenn-My family absolutely loves this fantastic recipe. I might be mistaken, but I think I used to make this with challah bread. However, brioche sounds like a good alternative, which I use when making ordinary French toast. Trader Joe’s sells a good quality, pre-sliced brioche, but the slices are only 3/4 inches thick. Would it be okay to double them up and stack them to make the layer in the pan 1.5″ thick or will that cause the finished product to fall apart when I serve it? Or… I could go back to using the challah bread that I can slice 1.5″ thick.
Hi Marna, I don’t remember changing the type of bread used in this recipe, but it’s certainly a possibility! It’s perfectly fine for you to double up on the Trader Joe’s bread. The egg mixture will help to bind everything together. Enjoy!
Hi Jenn: For Christmas 2019 I made your Boozy Caramel French Toast Casserole, and although I couldn’t find Brioche nor Challah, I did find English Muffin bread, and I used it. I was afraid that the English Muffin Bread wouldn’t work, but oh my goodness it worked.
This Boozy Caramel French Toast Casserole is out of this world Good.
Oh, my gosh!!!!! First of all, my grocery store did not have Brioche, nor did it have Challah bread, however, it did have English Muffin Bread. So, since I love English muffins, I thought, “why not?” So, this Christmas morning 2019 we had your recipe “Boozy Caramel French Toast Casserole, using English Muffin bread.”
You simply can’t go wrong. You can’t find the stated bread, no problem? I just picked a bread, and I saw English Muffin Bread., I bought it, used it, and it’s excellent.
We are having it for dessert with vanilla bean ice cream, and a twirl of chocolate syrup.
Hi Jen,
How will this caramel sauce work with the cheesecake bars? Or do you think I should stick with the berry sauce?
Hi Tonya, I’d recommend using the caramel sauce from my pumpkin cheesecake.
You are truly gifted! Made this recipe for the first time and it was phenomenal! My only change per a previous reviewer was adding a bit of syrup to keep the Carmel from hardening and instead baked and drizzled over the top. It received rave reviews and will be my go to from
now on. Thank you so much for sharing your brilliance, and gift!
😊
Are there any substitutions for the Grand Marnier?
Hi Amy, Bourbon would be delicious.
Excellent, delicious, recipe, decadent flavor. Has to be prepared ahead, so perfect for guests. Can be easily adapted to countries outside North America, in place of half and half, just mix whipping cream and milk. Be very careful though if you use the metric measurements! One and a half cups of half and half is way more than the 120 ml provided in the metric. If you only use this amount, the dish will be too dry.
Thank you so much for catching that error, E – the metric measurement has been corrected.