Creme Brûlée French Toast transforms toasted baguette slices into a decadent over the top breakfast. A gooey brown sugar topping forms as it bakes in the oven. This popular French dessert becomes a delicious breakfast or brunch!
Cripsy Creme Brûlée Meets Breakfast
Gooey on the top, and not soggy. Creme brûlée French toast starts with custard soaked baguettes that are baked in a brown sugar and butter mixture which forms a caramel like coating over each slice.
Traditional French toast is pretty easy to make, you just have to stand over the stove while it cooks and it can be a little soggy. If you have a little time, baking it in the oven over brown sugar and butter creates a crispy French toast with a topping like you would find on creme brûléeI, No blow torch needed.
While I love the convenience of an overnight blueberry French toast, this version takes about 15 minutes to prepare and the oven does all the work. The result is a decadent brown sugar glazed French toast breakfast that doesn’t even need syrup.
Dry baguette slices are first soaked in an egg custard and then placed on a baking sheet of brown sugar and butter. As it’s baking, the brown sugar caramelizes, just like on creme brûlée while the bread slices toast.
When you remove it from the oven you take each slice and turn it upside down so the caramelized side is facing up on the plate. Spoon any extra brown sugar mixture over the toast, you won’t want to waste a drop. It’s obviously sweet from the brown sugar but not overly sweet.
While this version is not one you can just get up and pop in the oven, the prep time is minimal. You will have to allow for 15 minutes for the bread to soak and about 20 minutes for it to bake. I’m always the first one up so that isn’t a problem. I tried this out on some friends who were staying with us one weekend and it was no trouble at all. It baked while everyone enjoyed their morning beverage.
Why you’ll love French Toast baked in the oven
- It reminds me of creme brûlée, a delicious dessert that has caramelized sugar on top, but without needing a torch to achieve the effect.
- This is easy to make and bakes while you enjoy a cup of coffee/tea
- By toasting it in the oven, the bread is not soggy.
- It will impress your friends or family, try it out on Christmas morning.
Everything you’ll need for Oven Baked French Toast
A full list of ingredients can be found below in the Recipe Card.
- Baguette – this is a French bread that you might associate with a sandwich or garlic toast (or Beauty and the Beast – “Marie, the Baguettes”) but it has the perfect texture and size for this recipe. You want to use a day-old loaf so that it will soak up the egg mixture. Brioche bread and challah bread will not work for this recipe.
- Brown sugar and Butter- you’ll need these to form that caramel layer.
- Vanilla – this may be my favorite ingredient next to butter of course.
- Orange Juice – a little citrus added to the egg mixture, brightens this up.
Pro Tip: When making French toast, use day old bread which will soak up the egg and milk mixture. If your bread is soft, place it in the oven for a few minutes to dry it out.
How to make Creme Brûlée French Toast
Step 1: Create a caramel coating
Melt butter and brown sugar together and spread it onto an 11 x 17 inch rimmed baking sheet.
Step 2: Soak the bread
Combine eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon and a splash of orange juice and let the bread soak it up for about 15 minutes.
Step 3: Bake
Place bread slices on the brown sugar/butter mixture on the lined baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes until the tops of the bread slices are golden brown and the sugar is bubbly.
Then you sit down with a cup of tea and read the paper or talk to friends and family while it bakes in the oven.
Step 4
Remove bread slices and serve immediately with the brown sugar side up.
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Creme Brûlée Oven Baked French Toast
Ingredients
- 1 cup Brown sugar
- ½ cup butter melted
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1 ½ cups whole milk
- 3 tablespoons orange juice optional
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 10 ounces baguette sliced 1 inch thick
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375º.
- Mix together brown sugar and melted butter and spread onto an 11 x 17 inch rimmed baking sheet.
- Combine remaining ingredients except for bread and pour into a 9 x 13 pan. Add bread slices to the egg mixture turning after a few minutes to allow the bread to soak up as much of the egg mixture as possible. Let it sit for 15 minutes.
- Place bread slices on the brown sugar/butter mixture on the lined baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes until the tops of the bread slices are golden brown and the sugar is bubbly.
- Remove bread slices and serve with the brown sugar side up.
Barbara’s Tips + Notes
- Make sure the bread is dry, if not, heat it up in the oven to dry it out. This will help the egg mixture soak in.
- Remove the toast from the pan as soon as you take it out of the oven. If the brown sugar hardens, it will be difficult to get it out of the pan.
- Serve right away while it is still warm.
Nutrition
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Sandrine says
This was soooo good!! My kids have no patience waiting in the morning, so I soaked the baguette in the custard mixture the night before, it was still really good. My entire family gave it 2 thumbs up. My 8yr old daughter wants it everyday 🙂
Thank you for this decadent recipe!
Barbara Curry says
Wow, that’s wonderful.