Topped with strawberries, rhubarb, and a sweet streusel, this overnight French toast casserole is sure to be a family favorite. It’s the perfect use for any too-sour or dense sourdough bread loaves. Prepared the night before and baked in the morning, it’s an easy, delicious make-ahead breakfast!
Is there hope for my sour, dense sourdough bread loaf? Is there hope for that loaf of stale bread I forgot about in the back of the fridge?
Yes! There is hope!
Three Aprils ago, my family embarked on the journey of sourdough.
When I first started to bake sourdough bread, I was so excited to be baking bread from scratch. It was fulfilling and I knew it was the best choice nutritionally for my growing boys.
However, some of my first loaves turned out to be dense and sour! What did I do wrong?
Though my boys eat everything in sight, they hinted at the sourness of the bread and hard texture. Turns out sourdough making is a long haul adventure and I had some learning to do!
Three years later, I’m no sourdough perfectionist, and am prone to occasionally making a dense loaf due to my impatient nature. (Who knew bread making could teach patience?)
In my early days of bread making, I quickly discovered I could use my dense sourdough loaves for a sweet breakfast: French toast casserole!
It was the perfect solution. The maple syrup in the egg mixture covered up the sourness!
Now that it’s spring, strawberry and rhubarb are the perfect combinations for a delicious treat. As a mom to four hungry boys, I am always looking for recipes that feed a crowd, and that are easy to prepare the night before and pop in the oven the next morning.
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as our family does!
Ingredient Substitutions For French Toast Casserole
Although this recipe uses sourdough bread, a variety of bread options can be used.
French bread and day-old expired (stale) bread are excellent options that will create a crusty, delectable texture.
If you happen to make a less-than-stellar loaf of sourdough bread that is dense and sour, French toast casserole will cover all your mistakes with its delicious flavors.
Here are our favorite sourdough bread recipes! Any will work.
- No Knead Artisan Einkorn Sourdough Bread
- Not-So-Dense (Or Sour) Sourdough Bread
- How To Make Sourdough Bread (Spelt Or Whole Wheat!)
- Sourdough Sandwich Bread {made with einkorn, spelt, & oat}
Maple syrup and coconut sugar were used in this recipe, but sweetener substitutions can be made easily. Organic cane sugar, evaporated cane juice, or date sugar are excellent substitutions for both the egg mixture and the streusel.
If you do choose to substitute the maple syrup in the egg mixture for a dry sugar, the baking time may decrease as you are decreasing the liquid.
However, I highly recommend maple syrup for the egg mixture base as the taste is incomparable and out of this world. Maple syrup can also be drizzled over the casserole as eaten if you desire a sweeter breakfast.
Make-Ahead Instructions
Make the majority of this recipe ahead of time for an easy breakfast.
The night before, combine the egg and milk mixture with vanilla extract, maple syrup and other ingredients in a large bowl. Then mix with bread, and fruit and layer into a baking dish. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
The next morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees, add the streusel topping and bake!
How To Make French Toast Casserole
1. Cube bread (cut or tear) and throw into buttered glass dish.
2. Mix up egg mixture and pour on top of bread.
3. Cut up add-ins (fruit).
4. Prepare streusel topping and set aside.
5. Refrigerate overnight, covered.
6. In the morning, add streusel, and bake. Simple and delicious!
How To Store Breakfast Casserole Leftovers
If there are any leftovers, which I highly doubt, they can be stored in the fridge and reheated in the oven (covered). It is best fresh, though! My family loves drizzling some maple syrup over a reheated french toast bake to bring back a little moisture that may have been lost during the second heating.
Topping this recipe with a dollop of homemade whipped cream, a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar, brown sugar, or even homemade powdered sugar can make this baked French toast recipe even better!
Strawberry Rhubarb French Toast Casserole
Use up your too-sour or dense sourdough loaves in this overnight French toast casserole, topped with strawberries, rhubarb, and a sweet streusel! A delicious make-ahead breakfast!
Ingredients
For the egg mixture:
- 6 cups sourdough bread cubed
- 1/2 cup raw and/or whole milk
- 10 organic or pastured eggs
- 3/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups organic strawberries cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1/2 cup rhubarb cut into 1/2-inch pieces
For the rhubarb topping:
- 1/2 cup einkorn flour or flour of choice: white, whole wheat, spelt
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup grass-fed butter 1 stick
Instructions
The night before:
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Grease the bottom of a 9x13-inch glass pan with butter or cooking oil.
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Spread cubed bread in an even layer on the bottom of the pan.
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In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 10 eggs.
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Add milk, maple syrup, and cinnamon to the eggs and mix well.
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Pour egg mixture slowly and evenly over the cubed bread layer.
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Sprinkle strawberries and rhubarb evenly over bread/egg mixture.
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Cover the pan with plastic wrap or a lid and refrigerate overnight.
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In a small mixing bowl, combine einkorn, cinnamon, and coconut sugar. Mix well.
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Cut butter into 8 to 10 slices.
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Set aside streusel and butter in the fridge.
In the morning:
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Sprinkle streusel topping evenly over egg/bread layer.
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Place butter slices on top of the streusel and distribute evenly.
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Turn on oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. (Do not preheat as the glass pan will be cold.)
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Place casserole in the oven.
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Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until egg mixture is not liquid-like, and the streusel is a golden brown color.
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Drizzle with maple syrup, if desired.
Recipe Notes
If there are any leftovers, which I highly doubt, they can be stored in the fridge and reheated in the oven (covered). It is best fresh, though!
Want to try your hand at making your own sourdough bread for this recipe? Here are our favorite recipes!
More Breakfast Recipes
- 15 Sweet & Savory Breakfast Casserole Recipes (Paleo, Low Carb, Whole30)
- Overnight Chocolate Baked Oatmeal (easy back-to-school breakfast)
- Healthy Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cookies (soaked, gluten-free, prebiotics!)
- Chocolate Paleo Granola (raw with living enzymes!)
- Oh-So-Fluffy Sourdough Pancakes
- Paleo Sweet Potato Toast With Superfoods (4 Ways)
- Traditional Cooking School’s Breakfast archives
Will you try this French toast casserole recipe?
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This was delicious!! Thank you for a wonderful recipe! I used potato starch in the topping to make it gluten-free, and mixed the topping with coconut oil and spread it around instead of dotting it with butter. I also used water in place of the milk. Turned out great!
Really love this idea of using up a more dense bread loaf – I just so happened to have one on hand staring at me! Quick note: I used coconut sugar instead of maple syrup, equal parts since I didn’t see anything about measurement changes when substituting, and the whole thing turned out very egg-y. You said since there would be less liquid, it might take less time to bake. But mine just ended up unbaked egg in the middle. I think more dairy (or liquid of some sort) would be in order to lighten up the whole thing. It was pretty spongy (not in a great way.) If another dense loaf should cross my path, I’ll try this again, with either the maple syrup or increasing the liquid. Thanks for the idea!
Hi Elizabeth! I’m sorry to hear it didn’t turn out the way you hoped. Perhaps try baking it longer. Egg dishes can be hard to decifer when they are actually done in the middle, or at least for me! Please let me know if you try again!!
This was absolutely delicious! I just made the base recipe, without the strawberries, rhubarb or topping, and my family LOVED it. I can’t wait to eat the leftovers. 🙂