A cranberry orange french toast recipe that can easily be made ahead and is perfect for the holidays or in my case, all year long.
This french toast is one of my favorite things to make around the holidays, but it’s good comfort food all year long.
What’s great about this version of french toast is that it can easily be made ahead of time – in fact, it should be in order for all the flavors to mix in with the bread. Mix all the ingredients in a casserole pan and place it in the fridge. The next morning, just pour the topping over it and bake for an hour.
You don’t even need maple syrup if you’re making the cranberry sauce (although my husband would say differently). Enjoy!

Baked Cranberry Orange French Toast
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Total Time: 90 minutes
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
Description
Good make-ahead option.
Ingredients
Scale
French Toast
- 1 loaf french bread, a day old
- 8 eggs
- 2 cups 1% milk
- 1/2 cup light cream
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1–1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp . cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp . nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp . salt
- 1–1/2 tsp . grated orange zest
French Toast Topping
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 stick cold butter cut into pieces
- A pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg
- 1–1/2 cups fresh cranberries, ground up or minced and a few halved cranberries to sprinkle on top
Cranberry Sauce (highly recommend but optional)
- 1 cup cranberries
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp orange zest
- 1 pinch of salt
- 3 tbsp butter, cut into pieces
- 1/8 cup cream
Instructions
- Grease a 13×9 baking or casserole pan.
- Tear or cube the bread into one inch chunks and lay out in the baking pan.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix the eggs and the rest of the ingredients under “FRENCH TOAST” into the bowl. Pour mixture evenly over the bread. Cover and store in the refrigeration for at least 2 hours or overnight. Overnight is preferable.
- To make the topping, mix the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a medium mixing bowl. Then add the butter and mix with a fork. It will be course.
- In the morning or when you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Take the casserole out of the fridge and sprinkle the topping and the 1-1/2 cups of cranberries over the top. Bake for 1 hour or longer if you prefer a crispier top. Let it cool 10 minutes before serving.
- Now to make the optional cranberry sauce, mix in all the ingredients in a small sauce pan. Heat over medium low heat until the mixture is bubbling and the cranberries have softened. Use a spoon to mash the cranberries to make a finer sauce. Spoon over the french toast.
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