French Toast Casserole For Two

Overnight French Toast Casserole For Two with blueberries and strawberries is a cozy brunch recipe that’s a twist on the classic French toast. Prep it the night before then enjoy a lazy weekend breakfast for two.

With warmer weather on the way, it’s time to start thinking about spring.

Between Easter and Mother’s Day coming up, spring is almost synonymous with brunch.

Brunch is one of the best meals of the day because it merges together breakfast and lunch without boundaries. Plus you don’t have to be awake early to enjoy it.

You can go sweet with pancakes for two, puff pastry cinnamon rolls, and small batch banana muffins, or you can go savory with Quiche Florentine, hash brown bowls, and baked eggs with ham and cheese.

I’m not a morning person, so preparing for brunch can be a chore when you’re still half asleep. Sometimes I even feel like I need coffee to make coffee.

That’s why I love this French Toast Casserole For Two made with bread cubes soaked in a sweet maple egg custard, topped with a brown sugar cinnamon streusel, then baked to golden perfection.

It’s an overnight French toast casserole, which means you prep everything the night before then transfer it to the oven in the morning.

No extra morning work on your part plus no dishes aside from serving. Win win.

Baking your French toast casserole for two in a cast iron skillet amps up the presentation. You can choose one 8-inch skillet then share or two 6.5-inch skillets for individual French toast casserole.

In addition to cubed French bread, maple syrup, and a buttery cinnamon streusel, I added strawberries and blueberries to make a berry French toast casserole.

You can easily substitute other fruit, such as raspberries, and blackberries or use bananas like I did with my Strawberry Banana French Toast overnight bake.

Once baked, dust your small French toast casserole with powdered sugar then drizzle with maple syrup.

Ingredients For French Toast Casserole

To make your baked French toast for two, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• French bread: The more stale, the better (although it’s certainly not a requirement). You can also use challah or brioche.
• Strawberries and blueberries: Adds a bit of freshness
• Eggs: Needed to make the custard that holds everything together
• Milk: Use whole milk as the fat adds a little more richness than skim milk
• Maple syrup: Use real maple syrup and not artificially flavored pancake syrup
• Vanilla: Adds more flavor to your casserole
• Flour: Helps bind the streusel
• Brown sugar: Brings more flavor than granulated sugar
• Cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt: Spices up the streusel
• Butter: Brings together your streusel

Equipment Needed For French Toast Casserole

I originally developed this recipe for a client in a 12-inch cast iron skillet, which is why some of the photos may look a little big.

Since then, I scaled down this small French toast casserole to be baked in one 8-inch or two 6.5-inch cast iron skillets.

Don’t have either? Use a small casserole dish or 8×8 square pan.

How To Make French Toast Casserole

To make your mini French toast casserole, you divide the work over two days:

1. Mix together the bread cubes, strawberries, and blueberries.
2. Whisk together the eggs, milk, maple syrup, and vanilla.
3. Pour egg mixture over the bread cubes, gently mixing to ensure everything is moistened. Cover then refrigerate overnight.
4. Make the streusel by mixing together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt then cutting in the butter. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
5. Bake at 350F for 50-60 minutes or until golden brown, puffed, and bubbly. Cool 15 minutes then dust with powdered sugar and drizzle with maple syrup.

If you really want to go all out for breakfast, serve your blueberry French toast casserole with small batch whipped cream.

Why is my French toast casserole soggy?

Chances are if your French toast casserole for two is soggy when you cut and serve, you didn’t bake it long enough for the egg to set.

If that happens, you can pop it back into the oven for another 5-10 minutes or eat it like a bread pudding.

Does French toast casserole have to sit overnight?

Although overnight French toast casserole is designed to save on morning prep, you certainly don’t have to wait 24 hours!

You do need to wait at least 1 hour to allow the bread to soak up the egg mixture. The longer it sits, the fluffier the bread will get from absorbing the custard.