Overnight French Toast

By Samantha Seneviratne

Updated Feb. 3, 2025

Overnight French Toast
Craig Lee for The New York Times
Total Time
1 hour, plus chilling
Rating
4(6,647)
Comments
Read comments

If you have a crowd for breakfast, overnight French toast is a winning idea. Instead of standing over the stove, cooking slice after slice, it bakes in the oven and emerges puffed and golden and ready for a big glug of maple syrup. Try making it with a stale loaf that you forgot to eat amid all the other holiday goodies. A fat brioche, fruit-filled panettone or a braided challah all work well. Stay away from croissants, though: Their chewy interiors are best enjoyed fresh.

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Ingredients

Yield:6 to 8 servings
  • 2tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus more for baking dish
  • 1pound enriched bread, such as brioche, challah or panettone sliced ¾-inch thick
  • ¼cup golden raisins (optional)
  • 6large eggs
  • 2½cups whole milk
  • ½cup heavy cream
  • ⅓cup light brown sugar
  • ½teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • Pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
  • ½teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ¼teaspoon kosher salt
  • ⅓cup pecans, chopped (optional)
  • Confectioners’ sugar for dusting (optional)
  • Maple syrup, for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

445 calories; 21 grams fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 51 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 23 grams sugars; 14 grams protein; 369 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Butter a 2-quart baking dish. Butter the front sides of the slices of bread and shingle the slices upright in the dish, overlapping as necessary. Nestle the raisins, if using, evenly between the slices of bread but not on top.

  2. Step 2

    In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, cream, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and salt until well combined. Pour the milk mixture over the bread and press the bread gently to absorb. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

  3. Step 3

    Heat oven to 350 degrees. Remove the plastic wrap. Sprinkle the pecans evenly over the top. Bake until puffed, golden and set in the center, 50 to 60 minutes. While baking, if the top begins to get too dark, tent with foil. Let stand 10 minutes. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve with maple syrup.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
6,647 user ratings
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Comments

jessica

I’ve made this and many similar recipes. At this point, i just throw it together at, using what I have. My top tips, which are necessities to me, are: 1. Use day old bread OR slice&toast 10 mins @275. Fresh bread won’t absorb like stale can. 2. LET IT SOAK OVERNIGHT! Remove from fridge 30-60 mins before baking. 3. DO NOT just pour on top! *Dip each slice into liquid mixture 5ish seconds each side, saturate it*, as you would regular French toast. Assemble into dish & pour remaining mixture over.

Gail

Based on other comments, I cut the liquid in the recipe down to 2 cups, split 50/50 between heavy cream and fat-free milk. I used a 13x9" pan. My bread was challah. Baked for 60 minutes -- it came out perfectly delicious, and my guests were thrilled. I did not have to turn the slices to get good results. I did tent the top with foil after about 45 min -- the tops of the slices got a nice slightly crispy brown by then. I will definitely make this again.

Hannah211

If the heavy cream and whole milk both do you wrong like they do me, subbing for the same amount coconut milk will still produce an excellent result. I used Native Forest.

Serenity Now

I meant to make this during the Christmas season and just got to it this morning. Happy New Year! I used the NYT Beta adjusted recipe feature and scaled it down to 50%. I had a frozen baguette that I thawed (usually keep on hand for croutons or whatever) and a fresh Italian small loaf for the first trial. Probably not an ideal choice of bread - added 10 more minutes to the bake time and foil tented it 12 minutes before it was removed. I also added a 1/3 more nutmeg and cinnamon as the recipe seemed light on these spices. Overall, it’s a winner and I’ll make it again for a larger group with the suggested bread instead of what I had on hand. I may add some flavorful fresh apples. Give it a whirl.

Marian

Made this for my son’s sleepover- four 13 year-old boys. It was a hit. I didn’t plan ahead, so I only soaked it for 20 minutes and skipped the raisins and nuts. Didn’t have cream so I used eggnog. Instead of buttering the bread, I brushed on 2x as much melted butter and made sure to dip the bread in the egg before I layered it so that everything was nice and covered. It seemed soggy enough and came out fine. If you’re short on time and don’t have all the ingredients just go for it. This recipe served four growing boys and 1/2 of a mom.

Laurie Michelson

This has become my NYD tradition staple. I try to do a bit different each year. This year I used chocolate chip brioche bread slices. They were perfectly thick. I do the pour over seems to work fine for me especially if you are letting it sit for a night which I usually do bit today it was only a few hours. I make this one and the spinach leek Gruyère breakfast casserole

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