Overnight Baked French Toast Casserole a Christmas Tradition
For many years on Christmas morning or a special occasion morning, we would have a scrumptious French toast casserole that I would only have to pop in the oven the morning of the occasion and call it breakfast. It was always so satisfying but I would often crash after eating some. Since eliminating grains, dairy, nuts, refined sugars, bad fats and all processed foods out of my life french toast is not something I have had. It sounded so good, so I decided to recreate a much healthier version that won’t cause that dreaded insulin crash.
When I made this for my family, it was such a hit! The four of us scarfed almost the whole thing in one sitting. I don’t recommend that but hey, it’s only once or twice a year.
One of the Best Things About This Casserole
One of the things I love about this casserole is that it is lower on the glycemic index than what I used to make. Since this dish has no refined sugars in it and uses primarily coconut sugar and coconut nectar along with a little maple syrup as well as coconut flour, you can be sure you won’t get a blood sugar spike (especially if you eat a normal portion unlike me.)
Also, the protein and fat from the coconut milk, coconut flour, ghee and eggs will help your body to metabolize the sugars that you do need to process. I did not feel a crash at all after eating my two portions of it and I am very sensitive to sugar – even unrefined.
Overnight Baked French Toast Casserole Ingredients and a Great Tip
A fun little tip to make this even more simple to make is to make the bread a day or two in advance. Then on the night before all you have to do is the egg batter to let the bread soak up overnight.
For the bread recipe, I used our favorite Nut-Free Blender Bread. I make it often and knew the texture of the bread would work well in this casserole. You can use your favorite bread recipe or try this one.
I use this coconut milk in all recipes that call for coconut milk It is the least expensive place I can find it!
I use this coconut nectar in this recipe.
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Overnight Baked French Toast Casserole {Grain, Nut, Dairy & Refined Sugar-Free} Recipe
- A batch of your favorite Paleo bread. I like the my Nut Free Blender Bread. (It is linked in this post above). You want the amount of bread to fill an 8x8 pyrex dish and come up at least ⅔rds on the sides.
- 6 pastured eggs
- ½ c. coconut milk, BPA, gum and filler free
- ¼ c. coconut sugar
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp. ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp. organic vanilla extract
- 2 Tlbs. coconut nectar
- ¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp. ground nutmeg
- 2 tsp. organic, cultured ghee or you can use butter if you tolerate dairy, melted
- 1 Tlbs. organic (Grade B if possible) maple syrup
- With coconut oil or ghee grease an 8 x 12 baking dish. Do not use a bigger or smaller pan or the bread will not soak up the batter correctly.
- Cut your bread into 1" - 2" cubes and place them in the greased pan.
- Make the batter by whisking all of the ingredients together until fully combined.
- After the batter is all mixed pour it evenly over the bread in the baking dish. * Be sure to get batter on every bread cube. You may even press down gently to be sure that each side of the cubes has egg batter on it.
- Place the batter covered bread in the refrigerator over night to soak up more of the batter at the bottom of the pan.
- The morning you are going to serve the French Toast Casserole preheat your oven to 350 degrees and take the soaked casserole out of the fridge.
- Whisk the topping ingredients together and drizzle over the top of the casserole trying to get some on all pieces of the bread.
- Bake the casserole uncovered for 30-45 minutes until the bread is golden brown with a crunchiness on some parts and springs back when touched.
- Serve with maple syrup and ghee alongside some breakfast meat for a well rounded meal.
Next Time You Have Company Over
Make this Overnight Baked French Toast Casserole for them. I guarantee they will love it and they might even be licking their dishes when they’re done!
Thank you so much for this recipe. I’m making it tonight and so excited because I used to make a French Toast Casserole before in my pre-paleo days. On a whim I googled Paleo French Toast Casserole and this recipe came up. I just made two batches of the nut-free paleo bread referenced above (which turned out nicely in muffin cups). Now I’m going to finish this recipe. Thanks so much for posting. What a nice surprise : )
Hi Lori,
You are very welcome! Thank you for taking the time to comment and be grateful. Isn’t it fun to find a yummy recipe that’s healthier and can satisfy that craving? Enjoy! Blessings, Jennifer
Hi again, Was another paleo bread recipe referenced in the recipe? I don’t remember using the nut-free recipe that was linked to the recipe as I’ve never used tiger nut flour. I thought there was a recipe that had cashews in it. Thanks!!
Hi Lori, originally there was another recipe linked but since I have created an even better bread recipe to use that I have linked. The original recipe did not have cashews in it because I don’t use nuts in any of my recipes. Tigernut is not a nut – it’s a tuber. I hope you enjoy the recipe!