BEST French Toast Casserole (overnight) - The Recipe Rebel (2024)

FAQs

Should I leave bread out overnight for French toast? ›

Ideally, the bread should be slightly stale. A drier bread will soak up all the custard. Bread can be left out with the wrapper open the day before cooking. If you find yourself in a pinch, dry your bread slices in a 275°F oven for 10 minutes before soaking them in the custard.

Oven-drying of cut slices — super-lightly toasting it — works best of all, but in a pinch, you could also cut the bread the night before and let it sit on a cooling rack until morning, or simply lightly toast in the toaster. The key is to dry the outside while leaving the inside moist.

Look for bread that is labeled “hearty,” “thick-cut,” or “Texas toast.” Thin slices are more likely to collapse when soaked. You can also opt for a pullman loaf and slice the bread yourself to your desired thickness. Sliced wheat bread also makes good French toast, but might require a little extra soaking time.

The secret ingredient in this fluffy French toast recipe: all-purpose flour! Flour binds the liquids together, which creates a more traditional “batter” and helps prevent soggy results. This extra ingredient ensures the French toast is crispy on the outside, but soft and fluffy on the inside.

A basic rule of thumb is about 1/4 cup of milk and one egg per two-slice serving—and if you want to avoid that "scrambled" taste, use only the yolks of some or all of the eggs. (Sulfur compounds in the whites are what give eggs their unique "egg" taste.)

This is one of the secrets to frying French toast that is ultra flavorful, but doesn't burn on the edges. Oil has a higher smoke point than butter. If you use all butter, it will have great flavor but you risk burning your toast. If you use only oil, it will crisp up beautifully but won't taste as great.

If you need to keep the French Toast warm until you've cooked enough to feed everyone, preheat your oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Cover a baking sheet (preferably rimmed) with parchment paper.

I lined my baking sheet with a Silpatmat. You could also grease the baking sheet with a little oil or butter. Don't use parchment paper, because we will be putting these under the broiler. Now, sprinkle a little cinnamon sugar over each stick.

Can you leave French toast out overnight? French toast should always be kept refrigerated because of the custard batter it's dipped in. When you're ready to reheat it, you can pop it back into the oven at 350°F and warm for 15 to 20 minutes.

Use reusable wrap like Bee's Wrap

This is one of my favorite ways to wrap up longer loaves (like demi-baguettes), and the wrap works extremely well at keeping loaves soft but not too soft. Simply place your bread in the wrap and cover it tightly.

How do you keep toast crispy overnight? ›

Rather than leave the slices flat on a countertop or work space, though, consider propping the slices up at an angle to prevent the steam from softening your freshly toasted bread. Proper air circulation around the bread will allow it to stay crisp and dry.

The first is using fresh bread, which soaks up too much of the egg mixture and doesn't cook through, remaining eggy and soggy in the middle. Leaving the bread in the egg mixture for too long is another route to soggy French toast.

There are a couple of common mistakes that can really mess up your french toast. You don't want to turn your griddle heat up too high- the outsides will burn and the inside will be soggy. You don't want to use too much milk.