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This is the easiest baked skillet French toast you will ever bake/make. No overnight waiting (unless you want to), no fuss, and perfect for a brunch crowd. How is my French toast different than the rest? Let’s call it fancy French bread toast. I use a sliced baguette of French bread to give the dish a little more elegance. It only takes 10 minutes of active working time.
French bread has a nice dense and soft inside with a slightly firmer outside that lends a beautiful texture to the entire dish. Sprinkled with brown sugar and dusted with powdered sugar, it literally tastes like fried dough topped with maple syrup. This has easily become one of our favorite weekend recipes!
If you enjoyed this sweet breakfast recipe, try my skillet almond Dutch baby, skillet Pop Tart, and my easy blueberry cobbler next! Looking for more delicious skillet breakfast/brunch recipes? Try my breakfast skillet with eggs, tater tot breakfast casserole, or my sweet potato breakfast hash and eggs.
I like to serve my French toast with powdered sugar, blueberries, and of course real maple syrup. Mimosas, bloody marys, and baked bacon are required.
Table of Contents
Overnight French Toast or Instant
This recipe can be made ‘overnight’ or baked within 30 minutes of making. I like to leave a little time for the bread to soak up the egg/milk mixture and soften a bit before throwing it in the oven. If you prefer your French toast on the firmer side, I would recommend against soaking overnight. While this recipe yields soft bread, it’s not mushy or soggy.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- French bread baguette: look for a narrow baguette that is about 3 inches in diameter. My favorite style is Parisian bread since it’s denser. Stale bread works well too!
- Milk: you can use any type of milk (even almond milk) however I prefer 2% or whole milk for the best flavor.
- Brown sugar: this is my favorite topping to add just before baking. It adds sweetness and melts into a gooey sweet topping. Use dark or light.
- Grand Marnier: I use Grand Marnier in a simple but optional maple fruit sauce that’s used to drizzle over the final dish. You can also use Cognac or a dry orange liqueur. It’s delicious and flavorful
- Strawberry/rapsberry preserves: use your favorite jam or preserves for the maple fruit sauce. Mixed berry or whatever you have is fine. Just use the smoothest jam you can find.
- Heavy cream: heavy cream is best for making whipped cream as it will render a stiffer whipped cream that better holds its shape. Whipping cream is similar and fine to substitute.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities below.
Expert Tips
- You can prepare this entirely in the skillet, but it’s easiest to mix the bread and egg mixture in a large bowl so the bread can soak everything up. Squish the bread to increase absorption.
- This recipe is ideal for a 12-inch skillet but you can nearly fit in a 10-inch cast iron skillet if you cut slightly thicker pieces (1.5 inches thick). You can also use a Pyrex or baking dish.
- If you let the bread soak overnight, it will be softer and denser. It’s not necessary but it will take on a creamier more custard-like texture. It’s beneficial if you prefer to make head.
- This recipe is perfect for revitalizing some tale or hardening bread. If this is the case, let soak longer or even overnight for best results.
More Brunch Recipes
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Baked French Toast
Ingredients
- 1 pound French bread baguette, my favorite is Parisian bread
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 1 cup milk, whole or 2%
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- splash heavy cream, optional
- 1-2 tablespoons brown sugar, for toppng
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- blueberries/raspberries, for serving
- Maple syrup, for serving
- confectioners sugar, for dusting
Maple fruit sauce
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup strawberry or raspberry jam or preserves
- 1-2 tablespoons Grand Marnier, or orange liqueur
Homemade whipped cream
- 3/4 cup heavy cream, or whipping cream
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon confectioners sugar or sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Slice the bread into 1-1 1/2 inch thick slices.
- Combine whisked egg, milk, optional cream, table sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk to combine. Add bread to the bowl and compress slices to soak up as much of the egg mixture as possible.
- Arrange bread in the skillet, cut side up. Pour extra batter over the whole skillet. It's OK if it pools at the bottom.
- Optionally, cover with foil and let rest in the fridge for 15-30 minutes so the bread can soak everything up. This step is not 100% necessary. It's OK if there is still egg mixture in the bottom of the skillet.
- Top each piece of bread with brown sugar. Bake for 40-45 minutes uncovered. The tops of the bread slices should be just crispy. Top with powdered sugar and serve with blueberries, raspberries, fresh whipped cream, and a drizzle of maple cognac sauce.
For the maple fruit sauce
- Combine maple syrup, preserves, and Grand Marnier in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer, whisking occasionally until slightly thickened (about 5 minutes). Let cool slightly until ready to use.
For the whipped cream
- Combine all whipped cream ingredients. Use a stand mixer, hand mixer, or immersion blender to whip/blend until medium peaks form. Keep in the fridge until ready to serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Delicious 😋
It’s funny how you can cook such a dish for breakfast for many years and don’t know what it is called 🙂 This is my family’s favorite recipe, we like eating these toasts with a cup of fragrant coffee, sometimes we flavor them with jam or any other topping that is in the refrigerator. Yummy!