Banana Brioche French Toast Bake
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Soft and supple, true brioche bread is a dream come true. This bread is a labor of love, from start to finish, and the final result is something to be proud of. Brioche bread is similar in consistency to a bakery-style pastry like croissants, with heaps of butter and soft, pull-apart layers that will leave the dreamiest flavor in your mouth. This recipe combines the delightful brioche recipe from my cookbook The Cottagecore Baking Book with cinnamon, bananas, and cream cheese to create the perfect breakfast casserole!
about the cottagecore baking book:
This cookbook was an absolute delight to create. This collection of 60 sweet and savory recipes was inspired by the Cottagecore aesthetic, but mostly it was inspired by my love of fantasy, nature, and whimsy. Inside you will find luscious pies that are bursting with fresh, seasonal fruits; delicate teacakes and scones that enchant the eyes and the taste buds; and warm, crusty breads to fill your kitchen with pleasing aromas. Wherever you might be in your cottagecore journey, you’ll soon find yourself embracing the slow-paced rhythms of cottage life as you whip up incredible sweet and savory treats.
ingredients for making banana brioche french toast bake:
To make this delicious overnight breakfast recipe, you will need a few delicious ingredients!
Eggs. This recipe uses quite a few eggs! In total, you will need 8 eggs. The eggs bring a richness of flavor to the dish overall, creating the brioche bread and then the delicious custard for the French toast!
Butter. To make the brioche bread, you will be kneading in a healthy portion of softened butter. This is what makes brioche different from other kinds of bread, how the butter is kneaded into the dough until the dough is strong enough to stretch and create a ‘windowpane.’
Milk. You will need milk to create this recipe. If you like to use dairy free milk alternatives, I would suggest using coconut milk for the best results!
Cream Cheese & Ricotta Cheese. For the delicious sweet creamy filling, you will mix cream cheese and ricotta cheese.
Bananas. I decided to add bananas to this recipe as we are in the middle of winter and fresh berries are not currently available where I live (neither are bananas, on that note!). But if you would like to swap in a different fruit, any type will work for this recipe.
tips for making incredible brioche bread:
To make your own delicious homemade brioche bread, there are a few tips that I can offer!
Knead the dough for 15 minutes before adding the butter. Making brioche bread takes time, and if you are short on time then I would suggest you focus more of it on kneading the bread rather than the bulk fermentation. The longer the brioche kneads, the stronger the gluten strands will be and the softer the final bread will be! Before adding the butter, knead the dough for about 10 to 15 minutes to watch and see where you are at with the amount of flour used.
Knead in the butter for 20 minutes. When it is time to begin incorporating the butter, you will want to add it slowly, about 1 tablespoon (15 g) at a time, waiting until each piece is absorbed into the dough before adding the next. Once all of the butter has been incorporated, then the dough should be kneaded for around 20 minutes. You will notice that at first the dough is slimy and wet looking, but it will soon turn soft and elastic and very smooth.
Use the Windowpane Test. To know if the dough is finished kneading, you can check by gently stretching the dough with your hands. If you can stretch it very thin, enough that you can almost see through it, without the dough breaking then it is ready. This is called the Windowpane Test, as the dough mimics a window!
how to make banana Brioche French Toast Bake:
With these easy steps, I will share with you how to make a delicious Banana Brioche French Toast Bake. This bread is absolutely excellent at soaking up all of the delicious custard, creating a truly dreamy and soft french toast.
Step One: Begin by slicing the brioche bread into 1-inch (2.5-cm) slices and letting them dry out slightly. It’s best to make the french toast about 24 hours after making the bread, if you are making it from scratch. You can also make the french toast soon after the bread is done baking, about 2 hours later, as you want the bread to finish cooling.
Step Two: Mix together the filling of cream cheese, ricotta cheese, and powdered sugar. Once this is smooth, you will gently fold in the slices of banana.
Step Three: In a separate bowl, you will create the custard. You will whisk together eggs, milk, cinnamon, maple syrup, and a little bit of salt.
Step Four: To assemble the french toast bake, you will lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch (23 x 33-cm) baking dish. Then, with the banana cream cheese filling, you will spread it on each slice of bread and begin layering them into the dish. It’s best to try and have them slightly angled, rather than laying all of the pieces flat in the dish. You can then fill in any open gaps with leftover filling. You will then pour the custard over the slices of bread, making sure to evenly coat each piece.
Step Five: The French toast will rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to soak up the custard, or you can keep it in the fridge overnight and bake in the morning! Once you are ready to bake, it takes a short 40 to 45 minutes before it’s ready to eat!
recipe notes:
Prepare Ahead of Time. Many parts of this recipe can be prepared and made ahead of time. The brioche bread itself takes several hours to make, and it’s best to use it for making french toast after it has dried out a bit. I would suggest making the bread the day before you plan to make the french toast, or even two days before! As for the french toast bake, it can be assembled and left in the fridge overnight to be made the next morning.
Try Different Fruits. This is a banana recipe, but any fruit can be substituted in! This french toast bake would taste wonderful with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc.
final thoughts:
This delicious Banana Brioche French Toast bake is bound to become your new favorite breakfast recipe. It’s wonderfully sweet and filling; it’s the perfect recipe to share for a lovely brunch with friends or a special breakfast with family. This make-ahead french toast has become a new favorite recipe for me! The flavors of sweet banana paired with spicy cinnamon and tangy ricotta cheese come together to create a sweet and simple breakfast bake!
xoxo Kayla
Baked Banana Brioche French Toast
Ingredients
- 6 tbsp (90 ml) whole milk
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 3¼ cups (406 g) all-purpose flour, divided
- 2 tsp (8 g) active dry yeast
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- ⅓ cup (77 g) salted butter, softened and sliced into ½-inch (1.3-cm) pieces
- 8 oz (226 g) cream cheese, softened
- 4 oz (113 g) ricotta cheese
- 1 3/4 cups (206 g) powdered sugar, sifted
- 2 large bananas, sliced
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cups (480 ml) milk
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
Instructions
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm the milk and sugar to 110° F (43° C), about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.
- In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together 1 cup (125 g) of the flour and the yeast. Pour the warm milk mixture over the flour and yeast and turn the mixer to low-medium speed. Add in the salt and the eggs, one at a time, making sure each egg is well incorporated before adding in the next, about 5 minutes. Gradually add in the remaining 2¼ cups (281 g) of flour until the dough becomes a bit stiff and no longer clings to the sides of the bowl. Knead the dough like this for 15 to 20 minutes.
- After the dough has been kneaded, begin to add in the butter. Add the pieces individually, waiting for the first piece to be incorporated into the dough before adding the next piece of butter. This should take about 10 minutes. Once all of the butter has been added to the bowl, knead the dough on medium speed for another 20 minutes. The longer the dough is kneaded, the better the structure of the gluten strands will be and the more tender your brioche will be, as well.
- Shape the final dough into a ball and place it into a large, lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise on your countertop for about 1 hour. At this point, you can either shape the brioche and bake it, or you can let the dough develop a stronger flavor by having it go through a chilling period (see Tip). To chill the dough, place the bowl into the refrigerator and leave it for at least 8 to 12 hours or overnight.
- The next morning, bring the dough out onto the counter and let it rest for about 30 minutes. Deflate the dough gently and divide it into three equal-sized pieces. If you did not chill your dough, you will begin your shaping process at this point.
- Beginning with one piece of dough, roll it into a 4 x 10–inch (10 x 25–cm) rectangle. Fold the dough into thirds, like a business letter, overlapping the sides into a 2 x 10–inch (5 x 25–cm)-long rectangle. Starting from the shorter end, roll up the dough like a big cinnamon roll. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.
- Place the rolled dough into a lightly greased 8½ x 4½ x 2¾–inch (22 x 11 x 7–cm) loaf pan, with the rolled sides facing the longest sides of the pan. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and let it rise until doubled or until an indentation made with your finger into the dough does not bounce back, 2½ to 3 hours, if the dough was chilled. If the dough was not chilled, this will take 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375°F (191°C). Once the dough is ready to bake, whisk together the egg and water to make an egg wash. Brush this all over the top of the puffed dough. Bake the loaf for 40 to 50 minutes, covering the dough with foil for the last 20 minutes of baking to prevent over-browning. The bread is finished when it is a deep golden brown and the inner layers are no longer doughy. This can be checked by gently separating the layers with a paring knife.
- Let the bread rest for about 10 minutes before serving it hot! To store the bread, leave it wrapped in foil at room temperature for about 5 days.
- Let the bread sit for about 24 hours before slicing to bake the brioche into French toast. You want the bread to be a bit dried out.
- Divide the three rolls and slice each of them into 1-inch (2.5-cm) thick slices. Set these aside for now.
- Meanwhile, with an electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese, ricotta cheese, and powdered sugar until smooth, about 2 to 4 minutes. Gently fold in the sliced bananas.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, cinnamon, maple syrup, and salt.
- Lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch (23 x 33-cm) baking dish. Begin by spreading the cream cheese mixture onto the slices of brioche and arranging them in the prepared dish so that they overlap and are almost standing up in the dish. If there is any leftover cream cheese spread, simply place it within the gaps of the bread.
- Pour the egg mixture over the slices of brioche evenly. Then, cover the entire dish in plastic wrap and place it into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or overnight, about 8 to 12 hours. Once the bread has soaked up most of the egg mixture, it's ready to bake!
- Preheat the oven to 350° F (177° C). Uncover the baking dish and bake the french toast for about 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown and slightly crispy. Remove the dish from the oven and serve with powdered sugar and maple syrup.
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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