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Well, now I’ve gone and done it: I’ve taken brunch up about a million notches. Tres Leches French Toast Casserole should be the ONLY french toast you ever eat again!

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Tres Leches French Toast Casserole - this easy breakfast or brunch recipe coats Challah bread with a tres leeches mixture before and after baking!


Easy French Toast Casserole

Can you believe that, until about six months ago, I’d never had tres leches cake? I know, right? A dessert blogger never having eaten this classic cake? It was unbelievable. If I’m being 100% honest, before I tasted it I didn’t even know what the “three milks” were that made up the cake (tres leches translates to 3 milks) and I’d never even had the urge to try it, let alone make it.

Again, I hang my head in dessert blogger shame. Will you forgive me?

So anyway, last April I went with a few fellow food blogger BFFs (Averie and Holly) to Santa Monica. We ate at a trendy Mexican restaurant the first night and ordered tres leches for dessert. I liked the cake, but we all agreed that there was not even close to enough sauce on top. I loved the flavors however and added the cake to my mental list of things to make in the future.

But, you know me. I can never just make tres leches cake. I had to turn it into something even better: breakfast. Instead of cake, I made tres leches FRENCH TOAST CASSEROLE.

Oh, yes I did.

Tres Leches French Toast Casserole Recipe

Ingredients in Tres Leches Casserole

Now, tres leches is traditionally made of sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream. I decided to change it up a little and use sweetened condensed milk, regular milk, and International Delight French Vanilla Coffee Creamer. Why? Because I could, obviously, and because I could live on coffee creamer. It’s already in my fridge, so why not??

…THEN I added vanilla bean paste to the mix…and it made the sweetest most vanilla elixir of the tres leches gods you’ll ever taste.

I went with making a french toast casserole because I like baking it better than I like frying it. It’s easier and takes less active time. I mixed up the milks and then divided the mixture so I could use some to soak the bread in and some to pour over the top of the casserole after baking, like you do with a traditional tres leches cake.

While we’re at it, let’s talk about bread. I used challah bread because it’s oh-so-good. You can use any bread you like, but just make sure it’s a little stale. Using freshly baked bread will make this soggy.

French toast in a white pan

How to make Tres Leches French Toast

You dip the bread slices and then bake the casserole…and then you drench it in more tres leches sauce.

In other words, you create heaven.

You don’t need syrup for this french toast…just add a little whipped cream and some fresh berries. We actually ate this for dessert because it was so rich and heavenly, but I won’t judge you if you eat it for brunch!

Piece of tres leches french toast casserole on white plate with fork

Tres Leches French Toast Casserole Recipe

5 from 15 votes
Tres Leches French Toast Casserole – an easy breakfast or brunch recipe dripping with tres leches sauce and challah bread.
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Yield 12 servings
Serving Size 1 serving

Ingredients
 

  • 1 loaf Challah Bread or other similar loaf, about 18 ounces
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • ½ cup International Delight French Vanilla Creamer or any flavor
  • 1 can 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or extract
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Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Slice bread into 1” thick slices. You can leave them long or cut them in half, whichever you prefer. Spray a 2 Qt baking dish or a 9×13” pan with nonstick cooking spray.
  • Whisk milk, creamer, sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla in a large measuring cup or bowl. The mixture will make about 4 cups. Reserve 1 3/4 cups of the milk mixture. Pour the rest into a bowl and add the eggs. Whisk until the eggs are combined into the milk.
  • Dip each slice of bread in the egg mixture and place in pan. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the mixture is hot and the bread is slightly more golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes.
  • Heat remaining milk mixture for about 30 seconds in the microwave, just until it’s warm (you don’t want to add the cold milk to the french toast or it’ll cool it off). Pour the warmed milk mixture evenly over the top of the french toast. Serve warm, with whipped cream and fresh berries. It’s also good room temperature or cold, straight from the fridge. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Recipe Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 50kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.004g | Cholesterol: 46mg | Sodium: 32mg | Potassium: 78mg | Fiber: 0.002g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 126IU | Vitamin C: 0.003mg | Calcium: 57mg | Iron: 0.2mg
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American

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This was a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of International Delight in 2016. The opinions and text are all mine.

Last Updated on February 2, 2023



Dorothy Kern

Welcome to Crazy for Crust, where I share recipes that are sometimes crazy, often with a crust, and always served with a slice of life.

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31 Comments

  1. Hi! Making for Father’s Day, can’t wait! Question- do you lay the bread slices in a single layer? Or just stack everything?

  2. Our traditional Christmas breakfast is Cinnamon Rolls. Well . . . last year I added your casserole. It was a HIT!!! My family was upset that I didn’t make a bigger pan of the recipe!?!?! (Actually, I was even upset with myself!). This year, a BIG pan will be used. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe with us. This will be our new traditional breakfast from now on.

  3. Made this today! Turned out excellent! I was not able to find the challah bread on short notice so I substituted with a hawaiin king roll. It was 16oz so I didn’t end up using all of the milk mixture at the end. And I did dry the bread overnight before I read the instructions. Still came out great! Thanks for the recipe! Will make again!

    1. So glad you enjoyed it! Hawaiian bread is a great sub – I think I’m going to make another version with that!

  4. We have a Puerto Rican friend whose mom had just left and he posted a pic of his favorite ‘mom food’, the tres leche cake.  Living in a rural area our grocery stores don’t carry it, but I ran into a Kroger ~three hours away from home~ and grabbed a can.  OMG, I ate the WHOLE CAN by myself!!!    It wasn’t as sweet as I thought it would be but it was heaven on a spoon!!!    I’ll use some for the French toast cuz it looks divine!!  Thanks