Easy Baked French Toast

By The New York Times

Updated Oct. 11, 2023

Easy Baked French Toast
Nico Schinco for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.
Total Time
40 minutes
Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
35 minutes
Rating
4(155)
Notes
Read community notes

Perfect for an impromptu breakfast or brunch, this baked French toast requires barely any prep and delivers results that are so rich and custardy that the dish veers into bread pudding territory. Though many baked French toast recipes require stale bread — or bread that has been soaked or toasted — this one requires no extended soaking and involves a relatively short bake time. It can easily accommodate whatever type of bread you have: Rustic bread will retain more texture, but standard fluffy sandwich bread works as well, with even less resistance. This recipe allows you to customize its sweetness levels as desired, with cinnamon sugar and maple syrup passed tableside to ensure it tastes just right to you and any guests.

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Ingredients

Yield:2 to 4 servings
  • Unsalted butter, for greasing and serving
  • 1¼cups whole milk
  • 2large eggs
  • ¼cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • Salt
  • 4slices sandwich bread (preferably about ¾-inch thick, but ½-inch-thick standard sandwich bread works, too)
  • ½teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • Maple syrup, for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

307 calories; 8 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 51 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 37 grams sugars; 9 grams protein; 401 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

    Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Generously grease the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with butter.

  2. Step 2

    In a wide, shallow bowl or dish, whisk together the milk, eggs, ¼ cup sugar and a pinch of salt until the sugar is dissolved. Immerse a piece of bread in the mixture, pushing it down until liquid pools on top and pausing to make sure the bread is well saturated. Transfer the slice into the baking pan, then repeat with the remaining slices. Spoon the remaining liquid over the top of the slices, stopping when the bread no longer immediately absorbs it. (Thinner pieces of smaller sandwich bread can hold less liquid than thicker pieces of wider rustic bread.)

  3. Step 3

    Combine the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle about half of the cinnamon sugar over the bread.

  4. Step 4

    Bake until the custard is almost set and the edges of the bread are lightly golden and crispy, about 20 minutes. If desired, broil until even more golden on top, 1 to 2 minutes.

  5. Step 5

    Remove from the oven and divide among plates, using a knife to slice apart the pieces if they’ve slightly fused together. Top each with a slice of butter, if desired, and serve with maple syrup, for drizzling, and the remaining cinnamon sugar to sprinkle on top.

Ratings

4 out of 5
155 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

Patti

Vanilla in the custard mixture would make this so much tastier.

Ann

If you're only making four slices, why heat the oven and bake for 20 minutes? Why not just make, well, ordinary French toast? Two slices at a time in a large saute pan or all four at once on a griddle... Baked French toast makes sense if you're serving a crowd, but for two to four people, I'm not sure I see the advantage.

Name Angie

Instead of cinnamon I add 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg to the egg mixture to sharpen the flavor.

nancy s

Made today, used a 9x13 pan. Will use sheet pan next time. After 20 minutes was done and lovely on top but the bottom did not brown and was mushy. Flipped pieces over and broiled for a couple of minutes. Very tasty. Cooking in the oven gave me 20 minutes to do other things beside sweat in the kitchen!

GNH in Bend

TV show America’s Test Kitchen season 20 episode 16 has a great demonstration of this recipe. (You can find this on streaming services.) I love it because as the cook l get to eat my serving at the same time as everyone else.

Heather

made with split Costco cinnamon rolls, very good served with seasonal local strawberries! But should try with less milk. Maybe much less milk.

A note on mixing in the vanilla

I mixed vanilla essence into the milk and panicked because it turned the liquid brown but it made no difference. Fantastic recipe and so easy to make without smoking out the kitchen!! 5 star.

mefswfla

Doesn’t need the sugar, too sweet for our tastes. Agree with person that said for 4 pieces just make it in a pan or on a griddle.

Guy

This recipe makes little sense to me. Next time I’ll cook on a griddle

KatherineH

Made this as “breakfast for dinner” and it was delicious. I added 1/2 tsp vanilla, turned slices over at 10 minutes, the cinnamon side up to serve. It is so easy and so good!

Karen

So little work for a huge reward. This was quite an easy recipe and it was nice to have brunch without madly moving through the kitchen trying to get everything cooked all at once. The french toast was excellent. I used an italian loaf that I lightly toasted. While it baked I was able to whip up some sweetened ricotta. 10 out of 10

Mary

Made with 6 pieces of thick sliced challah, milk and eggs as instructed. Added a touch of nutmeg. Didn’t do the cinnamon sugar on top but I could see how it would be good. Broiled it at the end for a couple of minutes.

Michele

This recipe is spectacular. I am trying to figure out how it only has a 4 star rating. Family loved it. I changed the recipe slightly by adding vanilla and cutting back on the milk. I also doubled the recipe and am glad I did because people were fighting over the last slices. 375 for 20 mins was perfect and then I set it on low broil for 2 mins. Don’t skip buttering the baking sheet - it creates beautiful caramelization. Next time I may flip the slices midway baking to experiment with it.

Sandy Gruhle

Add vanilla to the liquid mixture for more flavor.

Valerie

Can you prep/make this the night before?

freja

Doubled the recipe. I used less milk per egg ratio (2 cups), turned up oven to 400, baked for 15 minutes. Added 2 tbsp of vanilla powder to the mix. No sogginess, slightly crisp edges

sum

I use cinnamon and nutmeg without the sugar

DDYoga

We made with Haitaian bread (soft white bread, thicker than 1 inch) so we made in 8 x 8 pan. SO GOOD! Best French toast ever- love our small Ninja countertop oven, too. No guilt for turning on the big oven!

Pat T

I always use a higher egg to milk ratio, much better.

Meyer

Agree with Ann. Much faster on the stove - even if you allow for five minutes soaking,

SusanW

I am in agreement with a couple of earlier commenters. If you are planning to make only a small number of slices, then it may be easier and quicker to use the stove. But for a larger number of slices, the oven might be more efficient--and allow the cook to eat with everyone else.

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