Best Recipe for Banana Foster French Toast

Banana Foster French Toast casserole is an indulgent breakfast or brunch make ahead dish. It tastes as beautiful as it looks, so if you’re having company, this is sure to impress. This recipe is prepped the night before and refrigerated overnight. Before serving, just pop it in the oven, and you’re ready to eat in no time!

You’ll go bananas for this Banana Foster French Toast Recipe 

Bananas foster is a classic dessert of caramelized bananas. This recipe serves up yummy bananas foster, without the rum, in French toast form. The result is a perfectly sweet (but not too sweet) breakfast treat that will have you going back for seconds.

The smell of bananas foster and fresh French toast is enough to make your family come wandering into the kitchen to see what’s cooking. This is easier to make than creme brulee French toast because you do all the work the night before. If you want a French toast recipe that is more kid friendly, try some crunchy French toast sticks.

This recipe is wonderful for a weekend brunch or a holiday breakfast. It’s also a decadent treat for breakfast-in-bed on Mother’s Day or a special birthday. Serve this French toast recipe alongside other breakfast favorites, with a drizzle of caramel, a dusting of powdered sugar, or a dollop of whipped cream and some fresh berries.

While the taste is similar to bananas foster, it’s not nearly as sweet, so you can add some toppings or eat it as is. If you prefer savory, try a cheesy sausage and grits casserole.

What is bananas foster french toast?

Bananas foster is a quintessential southern dessert that originated in the 1950s in New Orleans. It’s traditionally made by caramelizing sliced bananas in brown sugar, butter, and rum, then flambeeing it by setting it on fire for a few seconds. Then, it’s served over vanilla ice cream. 

This bananas foster French toast recipe is made a bit differently but still manages to create similar flavors.

How do you make bananas foster baked French toast?

This is a casserole that’s baked in the oven. Melted butter, sliced bananas, and spices are spread into a casserole dish and topped with milk and egg-soaked challah bread. The casserole is refrigerated overnight, then it’s simply baked before serving.

Because you do all the prep the night before, this recipe is excellent for busy family mornings or holidays when you want to serve a beautiful breakfast but don’t want all the cleanup.

Why You’ll Love Banana French Toast

• It’s a bit fancy! This recipe is easy to make but looks impressive!
• It is prepped the night before.  You do the bulk of the work ahead of time, so baking and serving this recipe is a breeze.
• It’s sweet, but not too sweet! While bananas foster is a dessert recipe, this is a sweet breakfast dish.
• You can use up your leftovers. This is a great way to use up leftover bread and bananas that are beginning to over-ripen.

Banana Foster French Toast Casserole ingredients

• Challah Bread – Challah is a heavy, yellow-toned bread. You can find Challah in most bakeries and grocery stores. If you can’t find Challah, you can substitute with brioche, sourdough, or even dense white bread, but the texture and flavor will vary.
  
• Bananas – Buy 3 large bananas a few days before you want to make this recipe. When the bananas are fully yellow with just a few brown spots, they’re perfect. Over ripe bananas will turn mushy when cooked, so use ripe but not over ripe bananas.
  
• Cream – Heavy cream will make the creamiest, custardy French toast casserole. Half and half will also work in a pinch.
  
• Brown Sugar – You can use light brown sugar or dark brown sugar for this recipe, dark brown sugar will give it more of a molasses flavor.
  
• Pecans – You don’t have to include pecans, but they provide a nice crunch and texture.
  
• Pantry Staples – butter, cinnamon, allspice, milk, eggs, vanilla

What kind of bread is best for French toast?

Challah bread is my favorite to use for this recipe. It’s a traditional Jewish bread that’s commonly eaten on Jewish holidays. However, you can get Challah at almost any grocery store or bakery.

What makes Challah a great choice for this recipe is that it’s a dense, rich, eggy bread that soaks up the egg and milk mixture very well.  Challah is also a bit sweet, so the flavor is lovely for a sweet breakfast recipe like this one.

How to make Bananas Foster French Toast Bake

Step 1: Prepare your bananas.

Mix together melted butter with brown sugar, cream, spices, and pecans. Then, fold the sliced bananas into the mixture.

Add the banana mixture to the bottom of a baking dish.

Step 2: Prepare your bread.

Spread your cut bread over the top of the bananas. Then, pour a mixture of milk, eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla over the top.

Step 3: Refrigerate.

Place the casserole in the fridge overnight.

Step 4: Bake.

Bake the French toast until it’s cooked through. To finish the dish, you can turn the finished French toast out onto a rimmed baking pan and place it under your oven broiler to caramelize the top.

Serve and enjoy!

Pro tip: If you’re baking sheets are looking a little grimy, check out my kitchen hack for how to clean baking sheets without scrubbing.

Banana Foster French Toast Recipe tips

• If you’re using a glass baking dish, let it sit on the counter to come to room temperature before placing it in the oven, or the dish could crack.
• When broiling your casserole, watch it very carefully. The sugars in the dish can burn fast, so when you see the top browning and the bananas starting to bubble, remove it. Be careful! It will be very hot.
• Fresh Challah will work, but stale bread will work even better! If your bread is a day or two old, it will soak up the egg mixture better.
• You don’t have to invert the casserole and broil it. Instead, you can serve it in spoonfuls directly from the pan.

What is the trick to not soggy French toast?

If you’re sure you measured everything properly, the most likely reason your casserole is soggy is that it wasn’t cooked long enough. Make sure you test it with a toothpick before you pull it out of the oven. If the toothpick doesn’t come out clean, put it back in the oven for another 5 minutes and check again. If the top is getting too brown, lay a piece of foil loosely over the top while it finishes baking.

How to serve this recipe for Banana Foster French Toast

Since banana French toast is on the sweeter side, some breakfast sausage or bacon is the perfect side, there’s nothing like salty and sweet. You can cook the bacon in the oven without a mess using this cook kitchen hack for making crispy bacon.

Easy Bananas Foster French Toast Recipe storage

This type of French toast is best eaten the same day. However, you can place leftovers in a container with a tight-fitting lid and store them in the fridge for up to 2 days. After that, the bananas will get mushy.

To reheat, place your leftovers in the oven and bake at 350°F for 5 to 10 minutes or until hot.

Can you make this recipe for Bananas Foster French Toast ahead of time?

It’s best to leave this overnight in the fridge for the flavors to meld together and for the bread to soak up the custard. However, if you don’t have that much time, try to leave it for at least 3-4 hours.

Bananas Foster French Toast FAQs

Why is banana foster called banana foster?

Bananas Foster was developed at Brennan’s Restaurant in New Orleans and was named after Richard Foster a local civic leader.

What does Bananas Foster taste like?

Bananas Foster tastes like caramelized bananas with a hint of rum mixed in. The French toast version tastes like caramelized bananas, but is not as sweet as the dessert.

Is Bananas Foster a southern thing?

Bananas Foster originated in New Orleans and is very prevalent in the South.

Can I use a substitute for brown sugar?

You can substitute white sugar for the brown sugar. Other sugar substitutes will not create the caramel like topping.

What can I use instead of allspice?

Allspice is a spice that some people don’t care for, so you can easily leave it out. Try nutmeg instead.

More Breakfast Casseroles to Love

If you loved this recipe, give it a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating! Also, snap a picture of your finished dish and share it with me on Instagram using the hashtag #butterandbaggage and tagging me @butterandbaggage.