Gingerbread French Toast Casserole

This easy Gingerbread French Toast Casserole is golden on the outside, luxurious on the inside, and filled with cozy gingerbread spice flavor. Great for a lazy festive breakfast or a weekday morning the whole family will love.

This Gingerbread French Toast Casserole is a family Christmas breakfast and brunch tradition. It takes everything we love about gingerbread, aka spiced, sweet and fragrant, and pairs it with the comfort of a classic French toast. And like this Ninja Creami Gingerbread Ice Cream, it is so simple, that anyone can make it.

Why You’ll Love This Gingerbread French Toast Casserole

It’s simple, cozy, and absolutely foolproof. Here’s why it’s a keeper:

• Festive fun: Just think warm, cozy spices, rich and creamy bread, aka gingerbread cookie in breakfast form.
• Ridiculously simple: You only need a few budget friendly ingredients and an oven. Basically you can just cut, whisk, pour, soak, and bake.
• Make ahead: I make this ahead, refrigerate, warm it up and serve as needed.
• It is versatile: I can change up the bread based on what I have and the spices based on the season.

Ingredient Notes & Easy Variations

Here’s what usually goes into this, plus a few ideas of how I like to change it depending on what’s in the store cupboard.

• Bread: Brioche and challah are my 2 favorite options, but a sturdy French loaf, Sourdough, thick texas toast, budget sandwich bread and leftover dinner rolls all work. The bread needs to be slightly stale for best texture. If you want to make it gluten free then use your favorite gluten free bread.
• Custard ingredients: I use a combination of eggs, whole milk and heavy cream to make the rich, creamy custard. To make it diary free you can use plant based milk like almond, coconut, or oat milk and plant based cream.
• Molasses: I suggest using unsulfured molasses for the classic gingerbread flavor. I used Target’s Good & Gather brand molasses. Grandma’s is another good brand. Use only unsulfured molasses, not blackstrap molasses! Blackstrap molasses will leave you with a bitter, unpleasant taste in your casserole. If you don’t have any, then use a mix of brown sugar and maple syrup. Feel free to reduce the amount if you want this less sweet.
• Spices: I love a combination of ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves, ground nutmeg and ground allspice. Add more or less of each to your taste. You can also use a store-bought gingerbread spice blend. If you like, you can replace the individual spices with 2-2½ teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice. Orange zest works well here.
• Vanilla: Use the best vanilla extract you have.

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How To Make It

So, let’s put this recipe together easily. Get the full ingredients list and instructions from the recipe card below.

• Grease or spray a 9×13 baking dish.
• Slice your bread diagonally in half. Arrange the pieces so they overlap and cut-side-down in your baking dish.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, molasses, brown sugar, vanilla, and spices.
• Pour the mixture evenly over the bread slices.
• Cover and place the casserole into the refrigerator for 30 minutes, or overnight.
• Bake at 375 F / 180C for 45-50 minutes, or until the top of the casserole is lightly golden brown and the casserole is set in the middle.
• Dust with powdered sugar. Cut into 8 equal pieces and serve warm with butter, maple syrup, and whipped cream if desired

Bintu’s Notes and Storage

• If you prefer, you can cube your bread. About 12 cups of bread cubes is ideal for this casserole.
• Make sure to bake this uncovered if you want a golden, slightly crisp top.
• You can make this ahead of time, just under bake it by about 8-10 minutes. When needed, reheat in an oven for about 10-15 minutes at 350F / 180C.
• For an easier life, prep all ingredients ahead of time, assembled in the baking dish, cover and refrigerate overnight, then bake the casserole the next day.
• Allow the casserole rest after baking. This lets it set, making it so much easier to serve.
• Store. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat individual portions in the microwave.
• Freeze . You can prep this dish and then freeze it uncooked for up to 2 months. Cooled leftovers can be cut into individual portions. Wrap each serving in plastic wrap or foil and place them in a freezer-safe bag or container. Freeze for up to 2 months.

Serving Ideas

There are so many ways to serve this. You can start with powdered sugar for dusting, butter, maple syrup, and whipped cream, chopped pecans walnuts, almonds and a fruit salad. I also love adding on some chocolate chips and sweetened dried cranberries.

More Recipes Like This

Love festive treats? Then check out these other recipes too.

• Christmas Tree Meringues.
• Snowman Cheesy Pull Apart Bread.
• Reindeer Pretzels.
• Grinch Dip.
• Christmas Appetizers.
• Easy Christmas Cookies.
• Ninja Creami Gingerbread Ice Cream.
• Gingerbread Martini.
• Easy Brie Appetizers.

FAQs

How to Dry Out Your Bread

You need to make sure that you start with dry or slightly stale bread for the best french toast casserole. This is what helps the eggy custard to be absorbed without the bread going soggy. To dry out the bread, just lay slices flat out on a cookie sheet overnight or bake them on low for about 10 minutes.

Did you make this recipe? Then I would love to hear how it turned out. Please leave a comment and star rating below. And I really appreciate you sharing this recipe with your family and friends. Enjoy every mouthful 😊🍲 – Bintu

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