Easy Coconut French Toast Casserole

This super easy and delicious Coconut French Toast Casserole brings a tropical twist to a classic and favorite breakfast dish. This casserole can be made the day of or prepared ahead overnight to be baked in the morning, which will make your life a whole lot easier during a busy week.

This coconut milk French toast bake is so so easy to make! I made mine with leftover challah bread soaked in a custard consisted of creamy coconut milk and lots of eggs, then simply bake and serve it in the same dish. If you need to serve a bigger crowd, just double the recipe and bake it in a 9″x13″ baking pan instead of a square baking pan like mine.

French Toast casserole is essentially a bread pudding. You can pretty much make it with any leftover bread you have on hand. But day old dry bread is preferred as it can soak up all the custard to give that creamy interior texture when cooked. You can even use day old Costco croissants like I did in this almond croissant French toast casserole!

Ingredients and substitutions

As always, you’ll find the complete list of ingredients and quantities in the recipe card at the end of this post. Below are some notes and substitution tips:

1. Bread – use day old bread, any will work but I like enriched bread like challah, brioche, milk bread. I would avoid rustic bread with thicker harder crust like country-style bread. I found that they don’t absorb the custard as well when they are really dry and hard.
2. Coconut milk or cream – use canned coconut milk instead of the one from the carton for the higher fat content, which will give you richer and creamy French toast.
3. Eggs – you’ll use lots of eggs here, 5 whole large eggs to make the custard mixture.
4. Sugar – granulated sugar will work just fine. You can also use brown sugar. Maple syrup and honey should also work though I haven’t tried liquid sweetener with this recipe so I don’t know for sure if it will thin out the custard too much.
5. Vanilla – just a splash of pure vanilla extract is added for extra flavor. A reader commented that she added both vanilla and cinnamon for flavoring and the casserole was a hit.
6. Salt – is added to enhanced the overall flavor and complexity.
7. Coconut flakes – I sprinkle coconut flakes on top the French toast before baking for more coconut flavor.

How to make coconut French toast casserole

The following instructions, step-by-step photos, and tips are here to help you visualize how to make the recipe. You can always skip straight to the printable recipe card at the end of this post.

Prepare the bread

Day-old or stale bread is best for French Toast because you want the bread to be dry. Dryer bread will soak up the custard better and won’t fall apart during the cooking process. You can prepare the bread the night before by cutting it up into cubes and place the cubes on a baking tray on the counter overnight. If you only have fresh bread, you can dry it out in the oven at 300°F right before making your French toast.

Prepare the custard

Prepare the custard by whisking together coconut milk, eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla extract until smooth in a large mixing bowl.

Add the bread cubes to the custard mixture and allow them to soak up the custard. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight if making overnight French toast casserole.

Note: Alternatively, you could add the bread cubes and custard directly into the baking pan but I like using a large mixing bowl so I could turn the bread to ensure all the bread is evenly soaked.

Assemble and bake

When you’re ready to bake, add the mixture of bread and custard to a square baking dish, sprinkle coconut flakes generously over the top. Bake your coconut French toast casserole for 45 minutes until the custard sets.

French toast toppings

Dress up you French toast with coconut milk however you like, but here are some delicious suggestions:

• If you like to keep it simple and classic, serve it up with maple syrup and fresh berries.
• If you want to keep the tropical vibe going, try it with a coconut sauce – the same sauce I used in this macadamia coconut rolls recipe.
• If you like it fruity, serve it with simple fruit compotes, I recommend this easy blueberry compote, or this 10-minute strawberry compote, and this all season frozen mixed berry compote.

Storage

French toast casserole is so easy to store. You can store it in the same baking dish that you bake it in if it has a lid, or even if you don’t have a lid, just cover it in plastic. Keep it refrigerated for up to 5 days.

The ease of this recipe makes entertaining a breeze. If you make the casserole ahead of time, you can reheat it in the oven until warm through before serving. Or prepare the casserole and refrigerate it overnight, then bake it in the morning before your brunch party – this is my preferred option for making ahead.

5 from 2 votes

Coconut French Toast Casserole

By Trang

This super easy Coconut French Toast Casserole brings a bit of tropical flavor to a classic and favorite breakfast dish. This casserole can be made the day of or prepared ahead overnight to be baked in the morning.

Servings: 6 people

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 45 minutes mins

Total Time: 55 minutes mins

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Equipment

• Square Baking Pan 8" or 9"

Ingredients 

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• ▢ 12 oz day old or stale challah bread, 340 g, cubed
• ▢ 1 can coconut milk, 13.5 oz, 383 g
• ▢ 5 large eggs
• ▢ ¼ cup granulated sugar, 45 g
• ▢ ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ ¼ rounded teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ ¼ cup coconut flake

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Instructions 

• To make stale bread cubes, cut bread into 1” cubes, spread on a baking sheet and leave out on the counter uncovered overnight.
• Add sugar, coconut milk, eggs, salt, vanilla extract to a large bowl and whisk together until smooth.
• Add bread cubes to the custard mixture and allow to soak for at least 2 hours or overnight, turning to coat evenly at least once. Alternately, add bread cubes to an 8”x8” or 9”x9” baking dish. Pour the custard mixture all over the bread, cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Sprinkle coconut flakes over the top of the casserole and bake for 45 minutes.

Notes

• You can use any leftover bread, preferably challah, brioche, milk bread, or anything with dense crumb.
• If you don’t have coconut milk, use cream or half and half.

Nutrition

Serving: 179g, Calories: 415kcal

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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