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Brunching today with this Baked Cinnamon Crème Brûlée French Toast with Raspberry Preserves.
If there was ever a decadent french toast, this has got to be it. It’s pretty much one of the best holiday breakfast/brunch recipes you can find, and it’s delicious.
My current state of mind, cooking wise, is prep all things ahead and bake later. This year I’ve made it a goal of mine to be more organized come Christmas Eve (I think I say this every single year though). Therefore, I’m on the hunt for recipes that can be prepared in advance. It seems every Christmas I’m frantically running around cooking, mixing up cocktails, and wrapping gifts. It’s basically full on chaos. I don’t hate it one bit, but there’s definitely room for some organization and make ahead recipes.
Anyone else with me?
K, cool. Let me tell you about this french toast.
Here’s the quick story. Both my mom and oldest brother, Creighton love french toast. Every single Christmas Creighton will walk himself down to my house and request his annual French Toast breakfast, complete with bacon and a giant glass of milk (because apparently he’s still twelve years old). This breakfast doesn’t happen on Christmas morning since we always, always have Mom’s Monkey Bread, but more often it happens on Christmas Eve morning.
To me, Christmas Eve is my favorite day and actually trumps Christmas Day. I love the excitement in the air, it’s the best. Because Christmas Eve is so special to me, I always cave in and make the boys whatever they request. It’s my sisterly duty, plus I’m just a sucker. Whenever anyone asks me to make something, 99% of the time I’ll do it…yep, people pleaser right here.
Anyway, the point is, I’ve realized french toast on Christmas Eve seems to have become tradition. This year I’m being extra smart and prepping this french toast bake the day before, thus leaving me free to do things like wrap gifts, cook Christmas Eve dinner, and maybe even chill for a second? Maybe…
Since it’s Christmas, you know I had to come up with a rather decadent French Toast.
Enter this Baked Cinnamon Crème Brûlée French Toast. Oh my gosh, it’s heaven. No joke, it’s pretty much like eating dessert for breakfast, but hey, it’s the holidays, where anything goes so it’s cool.
So what is Crème Brûlée French Toast? It’s toast that’s eggy, custard infused…with plenty of cinnamon and orange liquor, has a crunchy sugar bottom, and is topped with whipped cream and raspberry preserves. Pretty sure it just doesn’t get better than this.
I served this up for Asher and I during our “Christmas Day” this past Sunday and the girl went crazy for it. Of course she doubled up on the whipped cream and skipped out on the raspberry preserves, but the little girl loved this baked French Toast and said that the just so slightly crunchy bottom was the very best part.
I agreed.
The recipe is pretty simple. It’s a mix of maple, brown sugar, and butter, spread evenly in the bottom of a baking dish. This is the “Crème Brûlée” part of the recipe. The sugars then caramelize as the french toast bakes up in the oven and create a slightly crunchy crust over the bottom of the french toast. It’s literally just incredible, think Crème Brûlée topping on eggy french toast. SO GOOD.
The custard is a simple mix of eggs, milk, cinnamon, orange liquor, and vanilla. I highly recommend using the orange liquor as it adds that touch of special holiday flavor. And truthfully, you really should have a bottle of orange liquor on hand at all times, especially during the holidays…so you can make these Cranberry Orange Margaritas.
Once the french toast has been assembled, simply place it in the fridge for up to overnight. This is the perfect breakfast for early mornings when you don’t have time to cook. Simply remove from the fridge and bake.
Done.
To add a pop of festive color, I like to serve this with some raspberries preserves, but, going to be honest here, it’s pretty delicious just straight out of the oven with zero toppings. Maple and powdered sugar are really not even needed here, as the french toast is pretty sweet on its own, but of course do as you please and top as desired.
The more the merrier, right?
Yup, going with that!
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
The perfect plate of french toast.
Hi. I was wondering if it would be too soggy if I make it at night and bake in the morning for brunch? Looking forward to trying this recipe!!
Thanks!
Hey Ilayda,
Totally fine to keep this in the fridge overnight. I hope you enjoy the recipe. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
We loved this french toast casserole, so much so that my husband requested it to become our new Christmas morning breakfast tradition! I ended up using orange zest and orange juice in lieu of the Grand Mariner since I’m currently breastfeeding.
Hey Cherry,
Thank you so much for making the recipe. I am thrilled that it was enjoyed! xTieghan
Sadly, this did not work out for me. The flavours were great. However, there was far too much liquid so my bread did not crisp up apart from the crusts. I used Brioche and had about half the slices pictured, so I halved the recipe. I ended up throwing most of it away, a disappointing waste of ingredients.
Hey Carissa,
So sorry you did not enjoy the recipe, please let me know if I can help in anyway. Happy New Year! xTieghan
OH MY GOSH!! There is not one recipe of yours that I’ve made which isn’t good. This French bread one is absolutely delicious!!!! Great rave reviews from my family. THANK YOU for all you do! ?
Hey Li,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am thrilled it was a hit! Happy New Year! xTieghan
Amazing! I made this for my family for Christmas and it was such a big hit! I loved being able to prep it the night before and just pop it in the oven in the morning. I used fresh raspberry preserves from the summer. A perfect topping to the creme brûlée French toast. This one is going down in the books.
Hey Kim,
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe, thanks so much for giving it a try! Happy New Year! xTieghan
This french toast was fantastic! It’s not too sweet and smells amazing. My mother-in-law already asked when I will make it again so I know it’s a winner.
Hey Nat,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am thrilled that it worked out for you! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
If I’m making half the recipe, how long should I bake it for?
Hey Tamar,
I would follow the baking instructions as is. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
Hi! Thanks for sharing this recipe! I followed it exactly but the bottom didn’t come out crispy and the extra egg mixture that I poured over the bread just turned into baked egg in the oven. There wasn’t that much mixture left over so I’m not sure why. Any suggestions? Also, do you adjust your recipes at all for altitude differences? I’ve baked a couple of your recipes at my home in Denver and they came out perfectly. But then back home at sea level, things seem to bake differently.
Hey Sam,
I am so sorry you had issues with the recipe, was there anything you may have adjusted? No need to adjust anything for altitude you can follow my recipes as is! Please let me know how I can help. Happy Holidays! xTieghan
Same thing happened to me! So sad as I was really looking forward to the crispy bottom, but mine was just mushy bread. I may try not using more than a few spoonfuls of the extra egg mixture next time!
The simplest and most delicious French toast that I have ever made. The entire family loved it!
Hey Jodi,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am so glad you enjoyed! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
This was delicious! We made this Christmas morning and it turned out beautifully. Another great recipe to add to the collection.
Hey Melissa,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am thrilled that it worked out for you. Happy Holidays! xTieghan
A perfect Christmas morning breakfast- yum!
Hey Katie,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am thrilled that it worked out for you. Happy Holidays! xTieghan
This was so FANTASTIC!!! Best recipe I have made in a long time!
Hey Kim,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am thrilled that it worked out for you. Happy Holidays! xTieghan
Loved this. Although I couldn’t find Challah bread in my local store, french bread worked great. Pretty easy recipe, don’t skip the Grande Marnier. Made it the night before for an easy Christmas morning breakfast. I baked covered with foil for the fist 30 minutes so as not to have the top overly cooked. Made with strawberry sauce and fresh whipped cream.
Hey Kathy,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am thrilled that it worked out for you. Happy Holidays! xTieghan
This was so easy! I even substituted the challah for chocolate chip Panettone for extra holiday flare and it was amazing!!!! Paired it with HBH coconut hot chocolate complete with marshmallow snowmen. It was all a big hit with all my kids. Thanks for your amazing recipes Tieghan. I have never tried a recipe of yours I didn’t like. Even bought your book as a result. Great work!
Hey Maria,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am thrilled that it worked out for you. Happy Holidays! xTieghan
Could I use brioche bread for this recipe instead of challah??
Hey Danni,
Yes, brioche would work well here. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! Happy Holidays! xTieghan