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This Overnight Baked Banana French Toast Casserole is a great breakfast for preparing ahead and it’s FULL of banana flavor! It was huge hit for all the banana lovers in our family!
Looking for more overnight breakfast casserole recipes? Try this delicious Overnight Cinnamon Apple Baked French Toast Casserole.
So this Banana French Toast Casserole was actually made for the first time when we had the twins’ first birthday party last month. It was a “Monkeys and Bananas” themed party because the boys’ first stuffed animals they loved were little monkeys and one of the first foods they loved were bananas. A perfect match!
So when it came time to plan food for the party (which was sort of a brunch), an overnight casserole was a must. And of course it had to have banana. With the party happening early in the day, I needed to be able to have as much food prepped the night before as possible. This Overnight Baked Banana French Toast Casserole was perfect. I handed my mom the recipe to use (based on my Overnight Cinnamon Apple French Toast Casserole) and she put it all together while I finished up the cakes and such and we popped it in the fridge.
It baked up perfectly the next morning and was seriously a HUGE hit! Not only is our family full of banana lovers, but so are our friends. I was definitely asked for the recipe, so I’m finally sharing it!
HOW TO MAKE OVERNIGHT BAKED BANANA FRENCH TOAST CASSEROLE
To get started making this casserole, you want to cut up your loaf of bread. I LOVE sourdough bread, so that’s what I used. I get a nice, fresh loaf from the bakery at our grocery store and chop it up. Put that into a rather large bowl and set it aside.
In another large bowl, combine the eggs, milk, heavy whipping cream, sugars, vanilla and cinnamon. So many delicious things! Whisk it all together and pour it over the bread. Add the chopped bananas and gently stir everything together, then pour it into a casserole dish.
Now normally with overnight casseroles, I’ll just pour the egg mixture over the top of the bread right within the casserole dish. I liked the idea of stirring this all together first to make sure that the banana got mixed throughout the bread, rather than just sitting on top. It was just right!
The casserole should sit in the fridge overnight and then go into the oven when you’re ready and bake for about 35-40 minutes. You can adjust that a bit, as needed, depending on if you like things a little more or less soft.
When the casserole looks to be about done, the final step is to add the streusel on top and let it cook for about another 5 minutes. I also added a few slices of banana on top to give it a banana-y look, but that’s clearly an optional thing. I often combine the streusel ingredients and toss them in a little baggie in the fridge overnight too. Then everything is literally prepped and ready to go. YES!
If you’re a banana fan, you really should give this Overnight Baked Banana French Toast Casserole a try. It’s so delicious and so easy to put together. It’s perfect to make on a weekend, a holiday or even at the beginning of the week to feast off of throughout the week. However you choose to enjoy it, I hope you love it!
You might also enjoy these breakfast casserole recipes:
Overnight Sausage and Egg Breakfast Casserole
Overnight Cinnamon Apple Baked French Toast Casserole
Berry French Toast Casserole
Overnight Baked Banana French Toast Casserole
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: about 12 servings
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
Overnight Baked Banana French Toast Casserole is an easy make ahead breakfast & is FULL of banana flavor! It was huge hit in our family!
Ingredients
CASSEROLE
1 lb loaf Sourdough Or French Bread, cut into chunks
8 large eggs
2 cups (480ml) milk (whole or 2%)
1/2 cup (120ml) heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup (104g) sugar
1/4 cup (36g) light brown sugar, unpacked
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
6–7 medium sized bananas, chopped*
STREUSEL TOPPING
3/4 cup (98g) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (169g) firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup (112g) salted butter, cut into pieces
Instructions
1. Grease a 9×13 inch casserole dish.
2. Add the bread chunks to a large bowl and set aside.
3. In another large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, sugars, vanilla extract and cinnamon.
4. Pour the egg mixture over the bread chunks and add the chopped banana, then gently stir to combine everything.
5. Pour the bread mixture into the prepared casserole dish and spread evenly in the pan. Cover the casserole and store in the fridge overnight.
6. When ready to bake the casserole, preheat the oven to 350°F (176°C).
7. Bake the casserole for about 35-40 minutes, or until it’s at your desired level of doneness.
8. While the casserole bakes, combine the dry ingredients for the streusel, except for the butter.
9. Add the butter and mash into the dry mixture until it forms a crumbly mixture.
10. When the casserole looks about done, remove the casserole from the oven and crumble the streusel over the top of the casserole.
11. Continue baking the casserole for about 5 minutes, or until the streusel is melted over the top.
12. Serve the casserole warm with syrup.
Notes
* I sliced the bananas and cut each slice into quarters.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Slice
- Calories: 489
- Sugar: 32 g
- Sodium: 404.7 mg
- Fat: 18 g
- Carbohydrates: 68.7 g
- Protein: 15.4 g
- Cholesterol: 161.7 mg
Do you bake it straight from the fridge or let it warm up a bit first
I bake it straight from the fridge.
So excited to try this! One question- how should the butter be for the streusel? Do I melt it, let it soften, or just cut into pieces right out of the fridge? Sorry I’m not great in the kitchen
Cut it into pieces when it’s cold out of the fridge. Then cut/mash it into the dry ingredients.
I have made this recip 4 times. The only thing I have added is strawberries. I make a strawberry sauce instead of using surup. My new favorite.
Glad you enjoy it! The strawberry sauce sounds delicious!
I’ve got this in the fridge to bake for Christmas breakfast in the morning! Instead of sour dough I used the Pepperidge farm cinnamon swirl bread! And just left out the extra cinnamon. I’ll still put the cinnamon in the topping though! I’m nervous but hoping it turns out ok!
This looks sooo good! Do you think I could use frozen bananas? Thaw them then cut them and mix them in?
I guess it depends on what you want the texture of the bananas to be like. Thawed bananas might be a little more mushy.
Have you ever tried this recipe with canned fruit?
Just made this for my grandbabies on Saturday…it was AMAZING!!! No syrup needed!
So glad to hear that!
How ripe of bananas should be used? Made your pumpkin version before and it was amazing!
Recipe sounds yummy and haven’t made yet but will soon. I’m just wondering if I didn’t use sourdough bread would croissants be alright as a substitute? Thanks for sharing your recipes and I’ll get back to you as soon as I make and try it.
I’ve never tried croissants before, but because they are much softer you may need to reduce some of the milk.
Thank you for getting back to me and I’ll make it with the sourdough.
Can this recipe be made ahead and frozen before baking?
I haven’t ever tried freezing it ahead of baking. I’d think the bread would get soggy. I’d suggest making it the night before.
If I prep this tonight (Thursday) will it be ok to bake Saturday morning?
I haven’t tried leaving it that long. The bread may break down. I’m not sure.
I am using chocolate chip challah nd will let you know. I’m so excited to taste it for Mother’s Day
I hope you enjoy!
Hi Lindsay,
I was searching for a banana breakfast casserole and your recipe is definitely a winner. What do you think about using a mix of banana bread and sourdough bread? I’m wondering if the banana bread will be too dense compared to the sourdough…would love to hear your thoughts. I’m having a girls weekend and I want this to be a hit. Thank You!
P.S. I’m a twin! Lol identical…
Hmm, I’ve never even thought about using banana bread. Sounds tasty, but you’re right – it might be a little heavy. Hard to know for sure without trying it.
Oh fun! 🙂
How can I get the recipes to your amazing looking items
I’m so sorry for the trouble! There was an issue today that affected thousands of sites – mine included. It looks like it’s been resolved, so you should be able to access it here now. Sorry about that!
Looks great, thank you!
This sounds so good! I love dishes that can be prepared in advance. Thanks for sharing!