Love French toast but don’t have the time to make it in the mornings? Then try this overnight French toast recipe – complete with fresh apples and raisins. This casserole is sweet enough that it doesn’t need any maple syrup!
When I visited New York City in August for a friend’s surprise birthday party, my friend’s husband prepared brunch for us the next day. He served us quite the feast – bacon, fresh fruit and a version of this apple raisin cinnamon French toast casserole.
We appreciated the kind gesture, as everything gave us enough energy to venture into Manhattan and spend a few hours there before the festivities started. I was impressed that my friend’s husband was able to make this casserole with two young kids. The trick was that he made it overnight and simply popped it in the oven the next morning.
I decided to recreate a version of this when I returned. My husband usually isn’t a fan of French toast because he thinks it’s too soggy, but he really enjoyed this version. The recipe below uses a traditional French baguette, and the overnight soak softens the bread just enough so it’s soft enough but not mushy.
I really enjoyed this French toast and appreciated that it didn’t need any maple syrup. The brown sugar cinnamon soak sweetened the dish enough that no additional syrup was needed. This is a fantastic dish to make for any overnight guests. All you need to do is bake it in the oven the next morning and you’re set.
Apple raisin cinnamon French toast casserole
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3 apples cored, peeled, and sliced
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1 loaf French baguette cut into 1" slices
- 6 eggs
- 1 and 1/2 cups milk of choice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Generously grease a 13"x9" baking pan and set aside.
- In a large bowl, melt the butter. Add the brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, apples and raisins and toss well, making sure each slice of apple is coated. Transfer this to your prepared pan and spread it out evenly across the bottom of the pan.
- Place the bread in a single layer on top of the apple mixture.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon together. Pour this over the bread, making sure that every single part of each baguette is soaked.
- Cover with aluminum foil and chill overnight in the refrigerator.
- The next day, remove the pan from the refrigerator. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
- Bake, covered, for about 40 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 5 minutes or until the top starts to turn golden brown.
- Allow the casserole to stand for another 5-10 minutes before serving.