French Toast Bake

How to Make French Toast Bake

Take a peek at just how easy it is to make this cinnamon French toast bake–and check out the complete recipe below. This amazing, sweet breakfast or brunch dish will be one you’ll be proud to serve.

1. Prep the Cinnamon Rolls

Pour melted butter in the bottom of your casserole baking dish. Separate and cut up the rolls from both cans, cutting each roll into 8 pieces (that’s 128 total pieces). You can do this quickly and easily using kitchen shears. Don’t have a kitchen shears? A sharp knife works just as well! It’s just important for the pieces to be small enough so the egg mixture can get in and around them and bake completely through. Place the cut pieces over the butter in the dish.

2. Whip Up the Filling Ingredients

Beat the eggs in a bowl, using a whisk to make quick work of it. Then, still using the whisk, beat in the cream, cinnamon, and vanilla. The whisk allows everything to blend quickly and easily. Pour the mixture evenly over the roll pieces in the dish, then top the whole thing with a sprinkle of pecans and a drizzle of maple syrup. Can you taste the decadence already?

3. Bake and Cool

Bake until the top is golden brown, then cool the dish on a cooling rack. The rest time is important: it allows the center to continue to bake for a few more minutes.

4. Drizzle and Dust

Drizzle the icing from the cinnamon roll package over the top of the casserole and dust it with powdered sugar. Using a small, fine-mesh strainer will help you sprinkle the sugar evenly!

5. Cut and Serve

Cut the French toast bake into 4 rows by 3 rows and use a cookie spatula to remove the pieces to serving plates. Spoon any remaining syrup from the bottom of the dish over the pieces and, if you like, drizzle each serving with an additional 2 teaspoons of maple syrup.

How to Store French Toast Bake

Depending on how much of this breakfast dish you have remaining, there are a couple of simple ways to store it:

Room Temp

If you have just a little left, you can keep it overnight in the baking dish at room temperature, covered with plastic wrap. Just a word to the wise: the longer you keep it out, the more it will dry out.

Refrigerator

To keep your French toast bake fresher longer, we recommend storing it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days—but not the freezer. We found that frozen French toast bake becomes too dry when thawed and reheated.

Before putting your leftovers in the fridge, spoon any remaining syrup from the bottom of the dish around the bottoms of the pieces to soak in and keep its yummy flavor.

How to Reheat

You can bring back fresh-baked vibes by reheating individual servings of the French toast bake in an air fryer or a 325°F convection oven for about 5 minutes, until it’s warmed through. (If you have a non-convection oven, just raise the temp to 350°F.)

Need those leftovers sooner? Here’s a faster option: move a serving onto a microwavable plate, cover, and microwave on low (30%) about 1 minute or just until warmed.

Variations and Serving Suggestions

This French toast bake is endlessly adaptable. Swap in chopped walnuts or almonds for a different crunch, and play with the spices—pumpkin spice or apple pie spice work great for the fall and winter months. (Pillsbury user @Cmr26 even added a whole can of pumpkin to the recipe!) Or, you could add a pinch of nutmeg or cardamom for a little bit of a Scandinavian-inspired twist.

Stick with vanilla extract (almond extract can overpower), but feel free to add more if you enjoy that flavor—Pillsbury user @MarieJ0320 doubled both the cinnamon and vanilla in her bake. You can also finish your French toast bake with a drizzle of melted chocolate or caramel—or even a sprinkle of flaky salt to balance the sweetness.

This dish is a showstopper on its own, but also pairs beautifully with savory sides like eggs or bacon. Pillsbury user @Yummypresent added pieces of cream cheese and maple breakfast sausage right into the casserole! And of course, you can’t go wrong serving this breakfast bake with fresh fruit and a hot cup of coffee.

Big breakfast fan? Browse through more of our awesome breakfast casserole recipes that feature more French toast ideas and beyond.