Apple Pie French Toast Bake
Apple pie and French toast are both classic comfort foods, and combining them just makes sense. This Apple Pie French Toast Bake is cozy, apple-forward, and perfect for slower fall weekend mornings.
This bake takes thick slices of challah bread and turns them into a soft, custardy breakfast layered with cinnamon-spiced apples and topped with a buttery graham cracker crumble and pecans. The custard comes together with melted vanilla ice cream instead of the usual mix of eggs, milk, and sugar, which sounds like an indulgence but is really a shortcut: the ice cream already has the eggs, dairy, sugar, and vanilla built in, so you skip several steps and still get a rich, custardy soak. The apples get the same treatment. Canned apple pie filling stands in for cooking down fresh apples with cinnamon and sugar, so all that cozy apple pie flavor is there without the extra pot on the stove.
It has much of the flavor of apple pie in a breakfast bake that's much easier to pull together, and you can decide how you want the texture to turn out. If you love a really soft, custardy French toast, let the bread soak thoroughly before baking so it has plenty of time to absorb the custard. If you prefer more texture, bake it a little longer so the top becomes golden and crisp while the center stays soft.
The graham cracker crumble adds another layer of texture, giving the top a buttery, cinnamon-sweet crunch without requiring a traditional streusel from scratch. Pecans add even more crunch and a nutty flavor that works especially well with the apples and cinnamon.
You don't need to be an experienced baker to make this, and that's part of the appeal. There's no complicated dough, no individual French toast slices to stand over at the stove, and no need to make a separate apple pie. Everything comes together in one baking dish, and you can even assemble the whole thing the night before and let it sit in the fridge, then bake it fresh in the morning. It's the kind of breakfast that feels a little special without asking for your whole morning. Serve it warm on its own, or add a small scoop of vanilla ice cream for an especially indulgent finish.
Apple Pie French Toast Bake
A cozy brunch dish made with challah, apple pie filling, and a graham cracker pecan crumble, topped with pecans. The custard comes together with melted vanilla ice cream, a shortcut that makes this indulgent bake surprisingly easy, and you can even assemble it the night before.
Ingredients
- 6-8 thick slices challah bread
- 1½ cups vanilla ice cream, melted
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon tea masala spice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- ½ (21-oz) can apple pie filling (about 10.5 oz)
- 3 graham crackers
- 1½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
- 1½ tablespoons cold unsalted butter
- ¼ cup chopped pecans, lightly toasted
- Vanilla ice cream, optional
- Honey, optional
Instructions
- Melt the vanilla ice cream until completely liquid but not hot (use the defrost setting of you microwave for a few seconds). Whisk together the melted ice cream, egg, egg yolk, tea masala spice and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Arrange the bread slices snugly in your baking dish, overlapping slightly if needed.
- Pour the custard evenly over the bread, making sure each piece gets coated. Let the bread soak for 15–20 minutes, spooning any custard from the bottom of the dish back over any dry areas during the soaking time.
- The bread should look saturated, but you should not have a large pool of unused custard sitting around it.
- Arrange the apples over and between the slices of soaked bread.
- Add the graham crackers, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt to a food processor. Pulse until the crackers are broken down into coarse crumbs, not a completely fine powder.
- Add the cold butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse, crumbly streusel with some larger pieces remaining.
- Sprinkle the graham cracker crumble evenly over the apples and bread.
- Bake at 350°F for 35–40 minutes, until the top is golden brown and crisp and the center is set but still soft and custardy. If you want a softer, more custardy bake, pull it toward the lower end of the baking time. For a firmer bake with more texture on top, let it go a little longer.
- Let the bake rest for about 5 minutes.
- Top with lightly toasted pecans. Serve warm, either on its own or with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream, any left over crumble, and a drizzle of honey.
Notes
- Use thick-cut challah, brioche, or another soft but sturdy bread. Very thin sandwich bread will become too soft and fall apart.
- Make sure the custard reaches all of the bread before baking. It should look absorbed, not pooled, once the soak is done. For a crispier top, bake toward the longer end of the recommended time.
- The graham cracker crumble should be coarse and uneven rather than pulverized into fine sand. Those little buttery pieces are what give the topping its texture.
- Light brown sugar works best here because it adds sweetness and caramel flavor without overpowering the apples and cinnamon.
- Toast the pecans briefly before serving for the best flavor and crunch.
- A little vanilla ice cream on top turns this into a very indulgent brunch or dessert-style breakfast.
Nutrition Facts
Calories
600Fat (grams)
29 gSat. Fat (grams)
13 gCarbs (grams)
75 gFiber (grams)
5 gSugar (grams)
35 gProtein (grams)
14 gSodium (milligrams)
500 mgI am not a certified nutritionist and any nutritional information on dontmissmyplate.com should only be used as a general guideline.