French toast casserole is my happy place. It is eggs and bread baked together and that is basically all I want in my comfort food. In this recipe, we are adding apple pie filling to make a delicious fall spin on my classic french toast casserole recipe. It is the perfect recipe to serve guests at brunch around the holidays.
Storing Leftovers
This casserole is delicious served right out of the oven. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days. Reheat leftovers by putting in the oven until heated through. Always use your best discretion with leftovers.
Make the egg mixture. Whisk together the eggs, heavy cream, milk, vanilla and cinnamon.Combine the bread, apple pie filling, and egg mixture. Mix well so that all the bread is coated in the egg mixture. Pour into the prepared baking dish.Make the streusel topping. Combine the brown sugar, butter, and quick-cooking oats using a pastry cutter or two forks. Pour it over the egg mixture.Bake. Bake for 50 minutes or until the casserole starts to pull away from the edges of the dish. Allow to cool before serving.
While you can use store-bought cans of apple pie filling, making your own is easy and comes together in 30 minutes. This apple pie baked french toast recipe calls for two cups of Homemade Pie Filling or a 20-ounce can of store-bought apple pie filling. You can dry out the bread by cutting it up into cubes and leaving it out overnight. To dry it out quicker, pop it in the oven at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 to 45 minutes. If you put it in the oven, make sure to flip it once during baking so that it is dried out all around. Here are a few tips and tricks:
Make sure the butter is cold. This can make it harder to combine, but it will help it hold up while baking.Cutting the butter into the sugar is key for the streusel. If you don’t have a pastry cutter, you can use two forks. (See my recommendation below.)If you would prefer flour over oats, you can replace the 1/2 cup oats with 2/3 cup all-purpose flour.If you only have rolled oats, you can give them a quick chop in your blender to get the consistency of instant oats.
SaveSave I recommend using an aluminum or disposable baking dish if you want to freeze it. Glass or ceramic baking dishes can shatter in the oven if they go straight from a freezer to a hot oven. Uncover before baking.
