Brown Sugar Banana French Toast Casserole

December 3, 2023

With Christmas quickly approaching, I figured now would be the time to share a fabulous make-ahead breakfast. Today, I’m bringing you this Brown Sugar Banana French Toast Casserole. Sounds heavenly, right? It most definitely is. It’s a big dish of carby, sweet, caramely & goodness. Comfort food to the max! This Brown Sugar Banana French Toast Casserole is a make ahead & bake French toast casserole filled with brown sugar caramel sauce, sliced bananas, and a brown sugar crumble topping. Assemble this French toast the night before and bake it in the morning.

This recipe is written by Allison at celebratingsweets.com

Course: Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 35minutes minutes

Cook Time: 50minutes minutes

Total Time: 1hour hour 25minutes minutes

Servings: 6 -10

Calories: 337kcal

Author: Allison at Celebrating Sweets, celebratingsweets.com

About Allison

Welcome to Celebrating Sweets, I am Allison. If there’s one thing you should know about me it is this: I absolutely lovefood. If you love to eat you have come to the right place. I am on a mission to make our lives delicious. Come join me! My website is filled with original recipes that I created to show you that cooking and baking from scratch can be easy and approachable. If I can do it, you can do it! 

I was born and raised in Southern California and I currently live in sunny Arizona with my husband and two children. In addition to cooking, some of my favorite things are: traveling, warm weather, wine country, salted butter, and cheese.

Brown Sugar Banana French Toast Casserole

INGREDIENTS:

Brown sugar banana filling:

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter

• ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed

• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

• pinch salt

• 3 ripe-firm bananas, peeled and sliced

French toast:

• 8 large eggs

• 1 cup milk, preferably whole or 2%

• 1 cup half and half

• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

• One 15 oz loaf French bread, cut into large cubes (preferably a day or two old)

Topping:

• ⅓ cup light brown sugar, packed

• ⅓ cup all purpose flour

• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

• pinch salt

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

• To serve: maple syrup, caramel sauce, sliced bananas, chopped nuts, and/or whipped cream

DIRECTIONS:

.Brown sugar banana filling:

• In a skillet set over medium heat, melt 6 tablespoons butter. Add brown sugar, maple syrup, and salt. Cook, stirring constantly for a few minutes until the mixture is smooth. If there are lumps in your sugar you might need to use a whisk. Once the mixture is smooth, remove from the heat and carefully stir in the bananas. Set aside and cool to room temperature while you prepare the French toast.

French toast preparation (allow time to soak overnight):

• In a large bowl, whisk eggs, milk, half and half, brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla.

• Grease a 2 ½ or 3 quart casserole dish and place half the bread cubes in the bottom. Spoon half of the banana-brown sugar mixture over the bread. Top with the remaining bread cubes.

• Pour the custard (egg mixture) evenly over the bread cubes. Lightly press down on the top of the bread to allow the top layer of bread to absorb some of the custard mixture. Spoon the remaining banana-brown sugar mixture over the top of the French toast. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Prepare the topping.

Topping:

• Combine brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Add butter, and using a spoon, work the butter into the dry ingredients until the butter is evenly distributed and the mixture resembles wet, clumpy sand. Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to bake the French toast.

Baking:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Remove the French toast from the refrigerator (the bread will have absorbed most of the custard). Crumble the topping over the top of the French toast. Bake uncovered for 40-55 minutes, until puffed, golden brown, and set (check that the center is not too wet). Baking time will depend on how deep your casserole dish is and whether you prefer your French toast more well done. Serve immediately with syrup, caramel sauce, whipped cream and/or chopped nuts. Leftovers can be refrigerated.

NUTRITION:

Calories: 337kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 166mg | Sodium: 102mg | Potassium: 251mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 32g | Vitamin A: 615IU | Vitamin C: 3.3mg | Calcium: 108mg | Iron: 1.1mg

Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.

How did you modify this recipe? Please share in the comments. Thank you for sharing!