Baked Apple French Toast
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A lovely mash-up of French toast and apple pie, this prep-ahead baked apple French toast has all the makings of a special holiday brunch dish.
A lovely mash-up of French toast and apple pie, this prep-ahead baked apple french toast has all the makings of a special holiday brunch dish – the kind that becomes a much-loved family tradition. You can assemble and bake it straight away or prepare it the evening before, let it sit in the fridge overnight, and then pop it in the oven in the morning when you’re ready to eat.
I like to add a little bourbon to the custard mixture for depth of flavor but it’s fine to substitute apple cider or more half & half, if you prefer. Serve the baked apple French toast with a sprinkling of confectioners’ sugar, a drizzle of maple syrup, and bacon on the side.
What you’ll need for Baked Apple French Toast
how to make Baked Apple French Toast
Begin with the custard: in a large bowl, combine the eggs, half & half, maple syrup, bourbon, vanilla, and salt.
Whisk to combine.
Dip each slice of challah into the custard mixture for about 5 seconds, then arrange in an overlapping pattern in the prepared baking dish.
Be sure the entire bottom of the dish is covered with the bread. Pour any remaining custard over the bread. Set aside.
In a large sauté pan, melt the butter over medium-high heat.
Add the apples, brown sugar, maple syrup, and cinnamon.
Bring to a gentle boil.
Cook, stirring frequently, until the apples are softened and the sugar-syrup is thickened, about 8 minutes.
Spoon the apples and sugar-syrup evenly over the bread, making sure not to leave any of the syrup behind. If not baking immediately, cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Otherwise, proceed with the recipe.
When you’re getting ready to eat, cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until puffed and golden, about 20 minutes more.
Remove from the oven and, using a fine sieve, dust with the confectioners’ sugar. Serve with maple syrup.
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Baked Apple French Toast
A lovely mash-up of French toast and apple pie, this prep-ahead baked apple French toast has all the makings of a special holiday brunch dish.
Ingredients
For the French Toast
- One 1-lb challah or raisin challah
- 5 large eggs
- 1½ cups half & half
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons bourbon (optional; replace with apple cider or half-&-half if desired)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Heaping ¼ teaspoon salt
For the Apple Topping
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and thinly sliced
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
- 6 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
For Serving
- Confectioners' sugar and/or maple syrup
Instructions
For the French Toast
- Butter a 9 x 13-inch or 3-QT baking dish. Slice the bread into ¾-inch-thick slices.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, half & half, maple syrup, bourbon, vanilla, and salt.
- Dip each slice of challah into the custard mixture for about 5 seconds, then arrange in an overlapping pattern in the prepared baking dish. Be sure the entire bottom of the dish is covered with the bread. Pour any remaining custard over the bread. Set aside.
For the Apple Topping
- In a large sauté pan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the apples, brown sugar, maple syrup, and cinnamon. Cook, stirring frequently, until the apples are softened and the sugar-syrup is thickened, about 8 minutes. Spoon the apples and sugar-syrup evenly over the bread, making sure not to leave any of the syrup behind. If not baking immediately, cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Otherwise, proceed with the recipe.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and set an oven rack in the middle position.
- Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until puffed and golden, about 20 minutes more. Remove from the oven and, using a fine sieve, dust with the confectioners' sugar. Serve with maple syrup.
Nutrition Information
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- Calories: 473
- Fat: 18 g
- Saturated fat: 9 g
- Carbohydrates: 65 g
- Sugar: 33 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 11 g
- Sodium: 358 mg
- Cholesterol: 177 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I made this for Easter brunch (and several times since). It is nearly impossible to find Challah where I live without driving an hour into Pittsburgh so I substituted brioche and it has worked wonderfully. I will try Jenn’s Challah recipe sometime and make this for my family, but I haven’t gotten around to that yet. Just a really yummy breakfast/brunch dish that is a hit with kids and adults! My 2 year old nephew and my grandfather were really not interested in sharing this french toast with anyone else.
Is there a replacement for half and half?
Hi Jess, you can use whole milk instead. Hope you enjoy!
Hi Jenn,
What is the best way to reheat the leftovers? Thank you for this delicious recipe! Jan
Hi Jan, Glad you liked it! If they’re individual portions, I’d probably reheat them in the microwave. If it’s a large portion in the baking dish, I’d cover it with foil and heat it in a 350-degree oven until heated through.
As most have said, Jenn’s recipes are pretty much always amazing and this one is no exception. Prepped this last night for an easy brunch this morning and it was a total hit. Getting challah last minute is pretty tough where I am, so I took a chance with a 12-pack of pandesal (Filipino sweet buns very similar to brioche) at the local grocery store. Sliced in half and arranged, they had the side benefit of being super easy for people to portion themselves with two bun halves each (before getting seconds, of course).
Thanks for another favourite recipe, Jenn – it was perfect!
Served the Apple French Toast today at a birthday brunch. Everyone LOVED it (including me). Jenn, I never have to trial run your recipes before serving to a group as they are always wonderful. As an aside, bought the spiral bound version of your Weeknight / Weekend cookbook. So nice to have it lay flat on the counter while using. Thank you for being such a great resource.
I could not find challah bread at the market, but I found brioche bread. Do you think that would work for this recipe?
Yep, definitely 🙂
Loved this — just the right amount of sweetness, plus easy to prep the night before.
Do you think this could be made with almond milk instead of the half and half?
Hi Rakhi, I think this would work with almond milk. Just in case you want to consider it, some readers have commented they’ve used Rich’s non-dairy coffee creamer (frozen) (Please keep in mind that I haven’t tried it with this.) Please LMK how it turns out!
This dish turned out fabulous. I used a dairy free oat based creamer as suggested. Will definitely be making this again. Thank you for another amazing recipe.
I didn’t have any bourbon, but I did have Fireball cinnamon whiskey, so I added that. The end result was delicious!
Jenn,
I have a strawberry huller that does a brilliant job with coring pears and apples, and the top in the middle bit that we don’t want on a tomato. I love it as it leaves such a neat and perfect hole. Very useful gadget.
I haven’t tried these apples yet, but since everything else of yours (masses of stuff) that I’ve made is 5 star worthy, that’s what they get!
Hi Jenn i was wondering could i make this up tonight but not bake until friday morning
Thank you so much
I think it should be fine, Melissa — enjoy!
The recipe is great but I have just one simple comment. If you prepare it the night before and put it in the fridge for baking the next morning either let it come back up to room temperature before putting it in the oven or let it stay in the oven for ten minutes longer otherwise the batter will not be fully cooked.
Traditions! For close to 40 years, my family gets together at my house with the family next door after Christmas Eve service to have pizza and enjoy each other’s company. Then on Christmas morning, we meet at their house for Christmas breakfast.
This year, I brought the hit of the breakfast – Jenn’s Baked Apple French Toast. Multiple times from the same person, I heard “Bob, this is SO good”. I also heard “This tastes like it came from a kitchen serving a professional Brunch”. Anytime, I need a pat on my back, I can rely on Jenn’s recipes. (Note – After I get my praise, I always steer the conversation to the actual source – “Once Upon A Chef” and Jenn.
What a wonderful tradition, Bob. Thank you for sharing, and so glad the french toast was a hit. Happy holidays to you and yours. ❤️
I made this and it was delicious. Family loved it!