Gingerbread French toast bake is made with soft brioche soaked in vanilla custard and gingerbread spices, topped with pecan streusel and baked until crispy and golden, filling your kitchen with the aroma of warm gingerbread spices.
This baked overnight gingerbread French toast casserole is the perfect way to wake up on cold winter mornings. It is warm and cozy and is the perfect combination of gingerbread flavor in a French toast.
Whether it is just any cold winter morning or Christmas morning, this overnight gingerbread French toast bake is the perfect make ahead holiday breakfast or brunch. Assemble everything in a casserole dish the night before and bake the next morning for a quick, easy and delicious Christmas breakfast or brunch.
This gingerbread French toast bake is like eating bread pudding for breakfast. Who doesn't want to cut up a warm slice of it and add a drizzle of maple syrup over it.
Christmas music playing, the fireplace on, warm gingerbread French toast ready to eat, the family all gathered around, Christmas morning breakfast cannot get any better than this. We all love it so much that I sometimes double the recipe and just leave it out on the kitchen counter. Everyone just helps themselves throughout the day.
You can find a whole bunch of delicious recipes to make for breakfast or brunch on Christmas Day. We love the make ahead breakfast casseroles like Savory Croissant Breakfast Casserole, Cinnamon Apple French Toast Bake, Spiced Maple Cranberry French Toast Bake, and Masala Sausage and Egg Breakfast Casserole
Here is why you will love this gingerbread French toast casserole
- Warm and comforting yet just a little bit spicy
- The perfect Christmas morning breakfast or a Christmas brunch recipe
- A make-ahead recipe, which is extra nice when you have company during the busy holiday season. It is one less thing to worry about on the day of.
- Made a little extra special with the addition of the pecan streusel on top.
Ingredients
- Bread - you can use a crusty bread that is stale bread or a day old bread. Or you can use soft buttery brioche like I did.
- Custard - made with eggs, vanilla and heavy cream or whole milk
- Gingerbread spice - I use a homemade blend of spices using allspice, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground cloves and ground nutmeg.
- Maple syrup and molasses
- Pecan streusel - flour, cold butter, brown sugar, pecans and spices
Method
- Start with the gingerbread custard mixture. In a small bowl, crack open the eggs one by one. In a large mixing bowl, add these eggs, whole milk, molasses, maple syrup, gingerbread spices and pure vanilla extract. Whisk well and keep aside.
- Take a casserole dish and butter the bottom of the baking dish.
- Make rough bread cubes with the brioche. Arrange these bread slices in the pan, packing them as much as you can.
- Pour the creamy custard egg mixture over this, making sure every surface area of the bread slices are covered with the custard.
- Make the pecan streusel by mixing together cubed cold butter, flour, ground cinnamon and nutmeg, brown sugar and pecans to a crumble.
- Add this all over the top of the bread and custard mixture. Cover pan with aluminum foil. Refrigerate overnight or for at least an hour.
- The next morning, bake uncovered in a preheated oven at 350F, for about 20-30 mins.
- Once done and out of the oven, sprinkle a generous dusting of powdered sugar all over it.
Serving Suggestions
Serve warm with a drizzle of maple syrup over it. A glass of nice hot Gingerbread hot chocolate will be a great accompaniment to it.
Recipe tips
- You can use sourdough bread, brioche, challah, croissants or Italian bread to make this recipe.
- If you want to make this a dessert instead, like gingerbread bread pudding, then add some brown sugar (about ¼ cup) to the custard mixture as well and serve it warm with some ice cream or whipped cream
How to make ahead, store and reheat gingerbread French toast casserole
To make ahead - soak the bread pieces in the custard mixture in a casserole dish, cover and refrigerate overnight. Remove the cover, add the streusel and bake in the oven.
To make it right away - follow the same process as for overnight French toast casserole. Instead of refrigerating overnight, refrigerate for about 30 mins to an hour before baking.
To store baked gingerbread French toast - cover or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
To reheat - cover and reheat in the microwave for a minute or so until warm or in a 350F oven for 10 mins. Add some extra maple syrup while serving if the French toast has dried up a little.
📖 Recipe
Overnight Gingerbread French Toast Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 loaf brioche
- 5 large eggs
- ¾ cup whole milk
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- 3 tablespoon molasses
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon butter to grease the casserole dish
Gingerbread Spice
- ½ teaspoon all spice
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Streusel Topping
- ¼ cup brown sugar packed
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 4 tablespoon unsalted butter cold
- ¼ cup pecans
Don't forget to check out Step-by-step instructions with photos in the body of the post above
Instructions
- Start with the gingerbread custard mixture. In a small bowl, crack open the eggs one by one. In a large mixing bowl, add these eggs, whole milk, molasses, maple syrup, gingerbread spices and pure vanilla extract. Whisk well and keep aside.5 large eggs, ¾ cup whole milk, ⅓ cup maple syrup, 3 tablespoon molasses, ½ teaspoon all spice, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Take a casserole dish and butter the bottom of the baking dish.1 tablespoon butter
- Make rough bread cubes with the brioche. Arrange these bread slices in the pan, packing them as much as you can.1 loaf brioche
- Pour the creamy custard egg mixture over this, making sure every surface area of the bread slices are covered with the custard.
- Make the pecan streusel by mixing together cubed cold butter, flour, ground cinnamon and nutmeg, brown sugar and pecans to a crumble.¼ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup all purpose flour, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, 4 tablespoon unsalted butter, ¼ cup pecans
- Add this all over the top of the bread and custard mixture. Cover pan with aluminum foil. Refrigerate overnight or for at least an hour.
- The next morning, bake uncovered in a preheated oven at 350F, for about 20-30 mins.
- Once done and out of the oven, sprinkle a generous dusting of powdered sugar all over it.
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