CrockPot French Toast Bake Recipe


Day 216.

French toast! In the crockpot! While you sleep!

Life has just gotten even better.

Heather emailed me a french toast recipe that she has made a few times in the crockpot successfully. She points out that since she lives in Las Vegas, turning on the oven in 100-degree-weather is just not going to happen.

The Ingredients.

--1 whole loaf of bread (I made a gluten-free raisin bread)
--1 dozen eggs
--2 t vanilla
--4 cups of milk (1 used 3 cups of soy, and 1 cup of heavy cream)
--1/4 t salt
--2 t cinnamon
--1/4 cup brown sugar
--1/4 cup walnuts, or other desired nuts (optional. I did not use nuts this time.)

The Directions.

I used a 6 qt Smart-Pot Crock-Pot for this. I'd recommend a 5 or 6qt for this dish. If you have a smaller crockpot, scale back a bit. Maybe only use 1/2 a loaf of bread.

Grease the inside of your crockpot very well with butter, shortening, or cooking spray. Slice your bread into large slices (if it's already sliced, just dump it in) and place the bread into the crockpot.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla together. Pour on top of the bread.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. This is done when the bread has soaked up all of the liquid and the egg has cooked (you can tell because you'll see bits of cooked egg stuck to the bread). The bread will expand---it's like one of those spongy foam things that come in the capsules and turn into a dinosaur. Very cool.

After 8 hours, I had a bit of liquid left in the crockpot, but the bread on top was browned nicely and the egg was done. I took the lid off and went hunting for the camera, and then checked email, and then watered the garden. 30 minutes had passed before I remembered that I had left the lid off of the crockpot, and that it was still plugged in. BUT! all the moisture was gone and the french toast was perfect.

so there you go. I'd give that a try.

The Verdict.

Very good! We ate this for dinner, but I will most definitely make it again for a nice family breakfast or brunch.

Thanks so much, Heather!!

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Posted by: Stephanie O'Dea | A Year of Slow Cooking at August 03, 2008

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What they say about this article

  1. oh yum!! this is so going to be next saturday's breakfast! thanks for your fantastic blog! i am addicted to it -- i read it every day to get dinner ideas!

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  3. Oh wow Stephanie this looks good. We love breakfast for dinner. I love simple meals you put together the night before. This sounds like the perfect breakfast when we have family in town. Keep up the good work. I am loving your blog.

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  4. Oh YUM! Your pasta sauce recipe (with soy meat since I don't do red meat) is simmering away in the crockpot as I type.

    Any advice on choosing a crockpot size? I've borrowed a neighbors so many times I want to get my own, but I only have space for 1. I'm single, so I'm just cooking for myself, but I do freeze quite a bit. What's a good size to get?

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  5. Anonymous8/03/2008

    How many people should this recipe serve? Also, would it be feasible to cut back on the quantity of eggs?

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  6. Anonymous8/03/2008

    This looks great, the raisin loaf even better(do you use a mix or scratch), the bread I make sucks.

    barbara
    dcmeow47@yahoo.com

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  7. This looks delicious! Our only problem with cooking overnight is the food smells so good we end up awake at 3am thinking about breakfast. Great blog, thanks so much.

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  8. Looks good.Crockpot french toast is such a fun thing to do.

    Here's my fave crockpot french toast recipe (only needs 3 hours so it's perfect for brunch):
    http://amyartisan.com/blog/2008/02/21/weekend-brunch/

    Looking forward to trying out some of your recipes in the near future!

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  9. Oh my! Easy breakfasts for my big family!! How cool is that!
    This is one I'm really going to try soon!
    Thanks so much!

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  10. Hi Kia- I just got a new crock-pot
    I've been wanting for awhile. It is
    a Hamilton Beach and has a 2 qt.-
    4 qt.- and 6 qt.-so you can use any
    size you need. And stores stacked
    inside one another-so doesn't need
    alot of space. I love it. I made the
    "Blueberry Buckle" last night and the small 2 qt. one was just perfect. Hope this was helpful.Eileen

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  11. My husband hardly ever gets hot breakfast...has to leave the house by 5 a.m. for work and weekends he's off and gone for various things. This is the perfect solution for the weekends. He will totally love this. Thanks!

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  12. Hi! Could you share your gluten free raisin bread recipe?? :-) Thanks!

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  13. This sounds so good and would make a very nice "first day of school" breakfast. Sigh. First day of school. Man I have the blues.

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  14. We do something similar to this for Christmas breakfast, but it's a do-it-the-night-before thing and try to remember to toss it in the oven before the kids get up. I am going to try this one, putting it together after Santa's done his thing and then I won't have to race to do this before the kids get up at 0-dark-thirty.

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  15. Looks great, but I have a problem - we're trying to kill our yard by not watering it. What to do?!

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  16. Eileen - Thanks for the suggestion! I'm getting one of those right now!!!!

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  17. Anonymous8/03/2008

    What kind of bread? Do you use just regular sliced bread from the store?

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  18. Anonymous8/03/2008

    I just discovered your blog a few days ago and I'm completely hooked! I've lost sleep reading every post since January. I made the rice and beans the other day. It was wonderful. (Still eating leftovers) Question: you often mention using the Smart Pot. Unfortunately mine is more like a Not-so-smart high heat roaster. I returned the first one thinking it was bad. Same problem with this one. What about yours?

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  19. This blog is wonderful. I have it on my yahoo page, so I can see what the new thing of the day is. I have a folder already started of my favorites. You are doing a wonderful job and I can't wait to make some of this French Toast!

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  20. Anonymous8/03/2008

    Please share your raisin bread recipe, it looks incredible. Thank you

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  21. Hi guys, my cinnamon raisin bread is as easy as it comes---I got a package of GF white sandwich bread mix (gluten free pantry) and made it by adding a teaspoon of vanilla, a teaspoon of cinnamon, and 2 cups of raisins. then I mixed 2 T of butter with 2 T of brown sugar and drizzled it over the top before baking.
    so-not-fancy, yet oh-so-good.

    xox
    steph

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  22. Looks kind of like a bread pudding with sliced bread instead of cubed. Yummy! I want to give it a try, but I guess that means I need to get on the ball and make some bread. :-)

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  23. OH MY GOSH!!! I have to try this out and see if my picky crew will eat it. They all like french toast so I'm hoping they will like this. It would certainly help out with morning breakfast when school starts in a couple of weeks. I don't buy cereal and having 3 leaving at different times this would be perfect! Thanks for all the wonderful recipes. :)

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  24. Way too cool! I can't wait to try this. Really can't wait.

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  25. yumm!

    your photos have looked really fantastic the last few days.

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  26. So I just put the ingredients into the Crock Pot--it's 11 a.m. Eastern--with hopes of serving dinner by 5:00. Will 6 hours be enough? Or could I maybe turn the heat up to high and cook for only 4 hours? Have you tried fudging with the times? Thanks. Can't wait to try this yumminess.

    Also, I mentioned this recipe in today's blog posting, which you can read here:

    http://suddenlyfrugal.blogspot.com/2008/08/is-price-right-take-two.html

    Leah

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  27. what a great idea for christmas morning!! or dinner for breakfast! and they kids can make it. love you!

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  28. Anonymous8/05/2008

    Could you actually use a bag that goes in the crockpot instead of buttering it up? or should I just butter it up? thank you

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  29. Hi J,

    do you mean a crockpot liner? Yes. that would work just fine!

    xox
    steph

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  30. OMG, i LOVE french toast and i can't wait to try this!!!

    i am featuring this post on my blog
    http://theneuroticmom.blogspot.com

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  31. I made this today and it didn't work. I think it's because I decided to half all of the ingredients for a half loaf of bread. It wasn't enough "juice." I should have just used the whole thing with the half loaf.

    Love your blog!

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  32. Well, I tried making this and it came out more like untastely bread pudding then a French Toast Bake. I'm not sure what I did wrong. I think I was supposed to put the loaf in straight standing up, instead of pieces all laid down. Anyway, if I try it again I think I'd do it with the cinnamon raisin bread to up the sweetness.

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  33. Anonymous8/20/2008

    A colleague of mine puts the crockpot on her balcony (lives in an apartment) so that the smell stays outdoors instead of indoors. It works for her all year long.

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  34. Anonymous8/22/2008

    I made this again, and layered a diced country apple topping in between all the bread. Hot dang...thank you so much for putting this one up!

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  35. This didn't really work for me... it turned out good, but it was more like bread pudding than french toast. I tried taking the cover off for the last 30 minutes and that didn't seem to work, either.

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  36. Can't wait to use this for our Girl Scout Troops breakfast on their first camping overnight!

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  37. Anonymous11/09/2008

    Hi, I absolutely LOVE your blog. We had this and the pumpkin latte this morning. The latte was great. The french toast not so much. I was debating too about whether to stand the bread up like a loaf or to lay it flat. I layed it flat and the middle didnt get done when the outside edges were burnt. It tasted all right but only the top piece of bread wasnt mushy or burnt.

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  38. Anonymous12/26/2008

    This did not turn out well at all. I put it in the crock pot on Christmas Eve and the kids ended up eating cold cereal on Christmas morning :( there was extra liquid in the bottom of the pot and the bread was hard around the edges and soggy in the middle...

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  39. I tried this, and it came out terrible. It burned to the bottom, and was bland and mushy. Perhaps I should have used raisin bread instead of white bread? Do I need to stand the bread up? I dont know what went wrong... but we had to throw it out!

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  40. Anonymous1/20/2009

    i made this last night. very easy. the 6-yr old grandson helped. started it at 9 pm on low.

    i was up at 3 and noticed the sides were very brown, but the middle was jiggly. i turned it down to stay warm. in the morning, it had shrunk back to half the size.

    2 things that may have made it go wrong. my crockpot may not be a very good one. the other is that i should have left it alone.

    will prolly not fix this again. too many ingrediants to waste.
    wont stop me from trying other stuff.
    thanks anyway

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  41. We tried this for dinner and put it in around 10:30AM. Cooked on low for 8 hours and used a honey wheat store bought sliced bread. Smelled great...but was bread soup in the center. I think for lighter breads that aren't as dense, less liquid is needed. So maybe 3 cups of milk? 2 1/2? I'll have to try this again with less liquid. We have a 5 qt crock pot.

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  42. Thank you for this one. I put this with my "twist" and all gluten and dairy free on my blog today. I hope that is okay. I credited you with the recipe and linked on back to you...

    My post: http://angelaskitchen.wordpress.com/2009/03/12/slow-cooking-thursday-french-toast-casserole/

    So far, with only an hour left to bake, it is looking good! Thanks!

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  43. Anonymous4/21/2009

    Is it possible to substitute Egg Beaters for eggs since we're watching our cholesterol?

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  44. Hi anon, I'm sure it would work just fine, but I wouldn't use the whole equivalent of 12 eggs.

    I haven't had the opportunity to redo this recipe, but it's not the best as is. I used a loaf of gluten free bread, and it worked ok, but most of the commenters had icky results.

    xoxo
    steph

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  45. Anonymous7/24/2009

    I add layers of fruit;blueberries, strawberries or bananas work well. Add pecans or walnuts. Yum!!

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  46. I am silent follower of your blog and all your amazing recipes for the past 6 months - I love it!! I've never had a problem with any of your recipes until I tried this. Definitely came out as "French Mush" when we used a generic raisin bread. The top was great looking, and my whole house smells delightful - but it turned into an eggy-mushy disaster that we had to completely scrap. My husband and I were crushed, but not so crushed that we won't be trying another recipe tomorrow night!

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  47. Well, I absolutely love your blog!
    But, unfortunately, this recipe was a complete disaster.
    The bread was more mushy than I would have liked, and I sort of have a thing about textures. I had to scrap the whole thing.
    I suppose the fact that it made my whole house smell yummy all night long was a plus... :-)

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  48. Anonymous3/12/2010

    Should have read the comments first!! I made this twice because I figured I screwed it up the first time but it was a total nasty mess both times. Real soggy and gross in the middle, burned on the edges and not edible.

    Must be only good if using raisin GF bread? That's the only thing I can come up with :)

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  49. Anonymous3/21/2010

    Haven't tried it yet, but after reading the comments and having some experience in making both GF breads and breads made with all-purpose flour, I have a guess. When I have made GF breads, they have a more dense texture than a normal white bread or even a store bought wheat bread. I think that would account for the "mush" if store bought was used. This recipe might work well with a harder bread like sourdough or french baguette. Just an idea.

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  50. Anonymous9/10/2010

    Dry out the bread and make sure its thick Slices trust me you'll thank me later

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  51. Mom of 4 boys10/11/2010

    I'm so happy I "accidentally" came upon your site. I'm a busy mom to 4 boys and they're ALWAYS hungry. I'm looking for more hot breakfast ideas and looks like I found a lot to test on the boys. I know they'll love them!.

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  52. Anonymous11/13/2010

    Do you have a variation of this using Egg Nog to flavor it for the holidays? Would it be better to use a harder more firm French bread on the first try? I really do not have any room for errors since I want to make this for my MOMS group holiday luncheon this month....Please let me know...Thanks!!

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  53. I read the reviews and I was a bit nervous... But I made it last night and brought it to work this morning for my week of bringing breakfast for my pod of coworkers. I used a loaf of french bread from the grocery store that I cut up into cubes, and followed the recipe closely. I turned the crockpot on HIGH for half an hour in the morning with the lid off, yet it was still a bit smushy. The taste is great - I just think that the recipe needs to be tweaked slightly for less dense breads. I think next time I will try 9 eggs and 3 cups milk, and see if it turns out a bit less smushy at the bottom. My theory is that most of the liquid should soak into the bread within the first half hour or maybe hour. I will let you know if I try it again! (By the way - my coworkers seem to be able to ignore the fact that its a bit smushy, and they have all eaten it so far... so it must be pretty good!)

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  54. Anonymous5/27/2012

    This is Mushy and Tasteless! I too should have read ALL the reviews before I wasted a dozen eggs!!! Stay away from this one :(

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  55. CajunMommy:)8/23/2012

    I tried making this.... It came out like scrambled eggs with sugar and cinnamon. Was not good at all. It has to be something I did wrong after all the rave reviews it's getting. I will try this again...I hope
    It works!!

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  56. Just made this today. A friend has recommended making french toast in the crock pot so I googled it. I chose this recipe because it was lowest in sugar. Glad I did. Everyone thought it was just right, no butter or syrup added. I Used Villagio Italian bread broken into large pieces and added 1/3 cup raisins instead of the walnuts. Served it with a spoon like a souffle. It was very moist, which I expected, but I didn't find it unpleasantly mushy. If anyone did find it tasteless I would think a little butter and/or syrup would do the trick.

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  57. Had to get creative bc we're low on funds and hubby had the carseats today. I ended up using 8 hamburger buns in my 3 QT crock pot and all of the egg mixture. Cooked on high 4 hours then removed the lid for 30 minutes while still on high. Overall, it turned out pretty good. I also layered in some raisins for extra sweetness.

    Can't wait to try more of your recipes! Baked potato soup is next!

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  58. Made this last night, for breakfast today. Made raisin bread from scratch, a recipe off allrecipes. It may have been the original texture of the bread, but it did not turn out deliciously. I figured it would be a bit like bread pudding, whix is fine, we love bread pudding. But it is mushy and odd. We will still eat it, as we cannot afford to lose ingredients, but I am going to try baking it to see if that alleviates the texture problem.
    Sadly, will not make it again.

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  59. Anonymous6/29/2017

    I love your recipes - HOWEVER, you don't have a print button and they are difficult to print without all the junk too. Could you fix that on your page like others have??? I would appreciate it.

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  60. Hi anon, sure thing! at the top and bottom of each recipe post there is a green PRINT button with a printer icon. Click on that (works better on computer than phone) and you can print exactly what you'd like -- no extrataneous texts or photos.

    I hope this helps a bit! steph

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