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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Family loved it. It was very easy to make and it turned out lovely. No need for syrup though we did add a little whipped cream when serving.
Made this for my brother’s brunch and it was a hit! Added nutmeg and cinammon to my egg base and left out the alcohol and it was delish! The only problem with this dish is how quickly the caramel hardens….seconds were caramel-less which was a shame. Otherwise tasty and great as a make-ahead dish.
So this has become my go-to breakfast recipe when company is here for the last 2 years now! I’ve made it with and without the alcohol, kids love it. The only thing that I would say is wrong is that mine never seems to puff, but it always looks and tastes great!
My family adores this recipe! From the smallest to the largest member. This recipe is the epitome of decadent. It’s also a great reason to visit Great Harvest Bread Co., for their challah and other yummy treat samples. I like to substitute the zest from Cutie tangerines for traditional orange. It really amps up the flavor profile! Love your recipes!
Hi Jenn, I scaled this recipe to 1/2 and followed the instructions, but it didn’t turn out as expected. The toast didn’t puff at all after 50 min of baking, and cooked in what seemed like a butter bath. Once cool, the caramel never hardened but stayed soft like toffee and got mostly absorbed by the toast. It was also quite heavy. Any idea what went wrong? Should I have waited for the sugar to melt into a complete clear caramel? Mine stayed smooth but opaque like toffee. The liquid came up to 2/3 of the bread slices; should it have covered all the way to the top? I also think I might have turned the Convection bake on. Could that have something to do with it? I’ve tried quite a few of your recipes and all were a success, so I’m thinking I did something wrong here.
Hi Tina, that’s a real headscratcher; I’m not certain what may have gone wrong here. Any chance you used margarine instead of butter?
This french toast is decadent and delicious. It’s my daughter’s absolute favorite. On special occasions, we make this and chilaquiles to balance the sweetness of this dish. I do not like orange flavors so I substitute Bailey’s for the Grand Marnier and leave out the zest. I have yet to meet someone who does not LOVE this french toast. And it’s not difficult to make either (but totally looks it!).
I’m excited to make this for Easter brunch tomorrow. I could not find challah bread. Could I use ciabatta as a substitute?
Hi Crystal, I may be getting back to you too late, but I would recommend either brioche or a Hawaiian loaf instead.
I have leftover pannetone from Christmas in my freezer. Would that work as a substitute for the challah?
Hi Mary, I’ve never had pannetone, so I can’t say for sure. I googled it, though, and there are a lot of pannetone French toast recipes, so it may be worth a try (but do it at your own risk :)!
Amazing!!! Great way to impress your family or guests.
I did add 2 tbsp. maple syrup to bottom mixture to keep the mixture soft as I had a straggler coming to brunch – this worked great.
Due to poor planning, I used really fresh french bread with crusts and only had time for 2 hour soak before cooking. Which did work for me. Next time, I will soak it over night and compare the results.
Served with breakfast sausages and it disappeared very quickly when served to four adults.
I made this for Breakfast as we had about 6 people here to help put up my new green house, The directions said your caramel sauce would harden so I substituted Dulce De Leche I had made from boiling cans of sweetened condensed milk (In the closed cans) Since people were not all arriving together, I set out some candied pecans and some candied Bacon so guest could sprinkle it over theirs to add a little texture it was a huge hit!!