As most of the U.S. has been dealing with seriously cold weather and snow, I thought it was time to share another French Toast recipe. Without fail, people always go out before a storm and stock up on bread, milk, and eggs so French Toast is the perfect meal on a snow day. This recipe for Slow Cooker Nutella French Toast Casserole with Caramelized Bananas is sure to become a favorite snow day meal for you!
This recipe is based off my Slow Cooker Apple French Toast Casserole, but incorporates Nutella and tops it off with caramelized bananas for good measure. I love using my slow cooker for French Toast because it makes a bunch of servings to either share with a group or pack up and enjoy all week!
Ingredients (get all ingredients here):
- 1 loaf challah bread (about 1 pound), cut into cubes
- 6 large eggs
- 2 cups vanilla almond milk (or normal milk)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 heaping tablespoons Nutella, plus more for topping
- Pinch salt
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 4 bananas, sliced
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
Cube your bread and place it in the slow cooker.
Add the eggs, milk, cinnamon, vanilla extract, Nutella, and salt to a bowl and whisk to combine.
It won’t fully combine, and that’s a ok. Just whisk for a minute or two so that the Nutella looks evenly distributed and the eggs are whisked.
Pour over the challah bread in the slow cooker.
Mix so that all of the bread is saturated with the mixture.
Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 hours.
When there are about 15 minutes left on the slow cooker, slice your bananas and add to a bowl.
Add the brown sugar and mix to combine.
Add the butter to a saute pan over medium high heat. Add the banana slices to the pan (you may have to work in batches) and cook for about 2 minutes on each side or until the bananas have browned slightly.
Scoop out the French Toast mixture and top with a scoop of the bananas. Add a dollop of Nutella if desired.
Was there any question that this would be fabulous?? (Sorry about the photo quality. I wanted to eat this STAT and just couldn’t wait. You’ll just have to trust me that it tastes better than my photos look.)
My boyfriend topped his off with some maple syrup but I thought it was good without it. I think the dollup of Nutella helped though 🙂
I love making French Toast this way because it soaks up all of the mixture making for a really flavorful breakfast. Luckily it makes a lot because this recipe is so good you may have a hard time sharing!
Slow Cooker Nutella French Toast Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 loaf challah bread about 1 pound, cut into cubes
- 6 large eggs
- 2 cups vanilla almond milk or normal milk
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 heaping tablespoons Nutella plus more for topping
- Pinch salt
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 4 bananas sliced
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
Instructions
- Cube your bread and place it in the slow cooker.
- Add the eggs, milk, cinnamon, vanilla extract, Nutella, and salt to a bowl and whisk to combine.
- Pour over the challah bread in the slow cooker.
- Mix so that all of the bread is saturated with the mixture.
- Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 hours. (NOTE: depending on the size and heat of your slow cooker, this time may have to be adjusted. Check every hour, mixing for even cooking)
- When there are about 15 minutes left on the slow cooker, slice your bananas and add to a bowl.
- Add the brown sugar and mix to combine.
- Add the butter to a saute pan over medium high heat. Add the banana slices to the pan (you may have to work in batches) and cook for about 2 minutes on each side or until the bananas have browned slightly.
- Scoop out the French Toast mixture and top with a scoop of the bananas. Add a dollop of Nutella if desired.
Notes
this looks like a stunning dessert too. i would love to wake to this for breakfast. snow day fuel indeed.
Emily @ Life on Food recently posted..Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies
I’m not big on bananas, but that even makes me swoon. WANT!
Krissie J @ Philly Nerd Girl recently posted..A New Year
What size crockpot are you using? Sounds wonderful!
Martha,
I have a Ninja Cooking System that is 6 quarts. Please let me know if i can help with anything else!
Kaitlin @ I Can Cook That recently posted..Bourbon Truffles
How do you think this would do prepared the night before?
Sarah,
If you make it the night before, just pack it up and refrigerate. When ready to reheat, add a bit more (1-2 tablespoons a serving) almond milk and heat until warm. I hope this helps!
Heat in the microwave or put it back into the slow cooker? I’m new to using a slow cooker but want to try this out to serve breakfast to my co-workers!
Hi Matt!
You could do either! Slow Cookers cook everything at a lower temperature so it would retain some of the moisture, but it would take longer to heat through. You can also heat it up on the stove in a saute pan if you’d like.
This looks delicious!
Can you cook this on LOW overnight? For 7-8 hours?
Hi Emily,
Usually, for a slow cooker recipe, you can double the time and cook it on low instead of high, which would only give you 4 hours, maximum. More than this and it may dry out too much. You may be able to experiment with the low setting on for 8 hours if you add more liquid (milk/almond milk) to the recipe — maybe using 3-4 cups instead of 2, although I’m not sure if this would end up being too soggy. I hope this helps!
Kaitlin @ I Can Cook That recently posted..Deconstructed Chicken Pot Pie
This was awesome! It took 10 minutes to throw together before church, and it was ready when we got home. I threw in 1/2 cup frozen raspberries and topped with whipped cream. Good stuff!
Meghan,
I’m glad you liked it! LOVE the addition of frozen raspberries and whipped cream!!
What is Challa Bread and where would I find it? I’ve never seen it in any local grocery store here. I’m DYING to try this. I LOVE French toast and the caramelized bananas…omg I can’t wait!
Hi Christina!
Challah bread is a braided bread that is nice and fluffy, which is why I used it in this recipe. I’ve found it in Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods as well as some supermarkets. If you can’t find it, you can substitute brioche, or you can try it with just normal sandwich bread. If using sandwich bread, be sure to cut the pieces larger!
Kaitlin @ I Can Cook That recently posted..Cavatappi Pasta with Salmon and Sauteed Fennel
I tried this this afternoon to experiment prior to making it for a pot luck. I found that the bottom pieces of bread were soggy and the top pieces were dry and plain. The whole thing was rather bland (I just made the french toast without the bananas foster). I can’t imagine getting a really good french toast in the crock pot. The bread just sits in the mixture and the mixture drains to the bottom. I don’t see how to avoid this problem. recommendations?
Hi Kim!
I’d suggest mixing the casserole up a couple of times during the cooking process to make sure it’s evenly cooked and soaks up all the liquid. You can also add some maple syrup to your serving when eating to add more flavor/combat the dryness.
We shared your crockpot nutella french toast casserole in our recipe roundup: 13 Crockpot Breakfasts for Christmas Morning! https://www.theshoppingmama.com/2014/12/13-crock-pot-breakfasts-for-christmas-morning/
Share on social media for even more eyes on this recipe! Thanks for the great idea!
Can I soak the bread overnight and then pop this all in the crockpot in the morning? I made another french toast recipe that said you can soak overnight, and bake for 45 mins the next morning. Thoughts?
Hi Tricia!
I don’t see why not! You may need to add maybe 30 minutes to the cooking time to account for the ingredients being refrigerated overnight although it may not make a difference. Check it at the two hour mark. If it still looks soggy, let cook for another 15-30 minutes.
Kaitlin @ I Can Cook That recently posted..Charred Lemon Chicken Piccata
I have never seen anything look as good as that does! Sunday breakfast for my wife and I!
How many does that recipe serve?
Hi Allie, it makes 8 servings.
Can this recipe be doubled? I have a large 6 qt crock pot and need to bring a dish for an office potluck to serve 15 people.
Hi Lou! The slow cooker I used for this recipe is also 6 quarts. I don’t think it would cook properly if the recipe was doubled, but you can easily make a batch ahead of time and reheat it (I ate this recipe for days the last time I made it!) I hope this helps!
Kaitlin @ I Can Cook That recently posted..Thai Basil Chicken Stir-Fry
Is this a US thing, that bread pudding is called French toast? To me this is exactly how you cook bread pudding and nothing like French toast which needs to be fried/grilled.
Hi Alex! Bread pudding and French Toast casseroles are essentially the same thing; the only difference is when you eat them (bread pudding = dessert, French toast casserole = breakfast). I hope this helps!
Kaitlin @ I Can Cook That recently posted..Seven Layer Dip Nachos #JustAddRotel
Wow these sound absolutely delicious. Thanks for sharing this recipe…
Simon
Made this for Christmas brunch today. I substituted Silk unsweetened Cashew milk for the vanilla almond milk and added 1/4 cup of sugar to the egg/milk mixture. I omitted the Nutella as my daughter is allergic to all milk products.
It turned out great! Nothing but raves from everyone!
Thank you for a great brunch recipe. 🙂
So glad you enjoyed it Rebecca!
I have a slow cooker with a timer and after the timer is over it automatically goes to “Warm”. If I do this overnight on low for 4 hrs and let it sit on “Warm” for about another 4 hrs will this ruin it?
Hi Brad,
I haven’t tried this recipe overnight so I’m not sure what keeping it on warm will do for that period of time. I’d suggest adding a bit more milk/almond milk to keep it from drying out. I hope this helps!
– Kaitlin
Has anyone tried this overnight?? Setting timer for 2 hours, using extra liquid and letting sit on warm the rest of night?
This was yummy! The end result was a tad dry, spooning extra Nutella definitely helped, my eggs were a bit small as they are farm fresh, I probably could have thrown in an extra. My bananas turned out pretty mushy, I don’t think I had put the heat up enough initially. I’m glad I tried it and have already heated some back up again. Used nutmeg as well as cinnamon. Very good recipe, thank you!
This looks divine. What would be the cooking time and temperature if I were to make this in the oven since I do not have a slow-cooker. Would I have to modify my ingredients?
Hi Steph,
I haven’t made this in the oven, so I’m not sure if it would work, or what changes would need to be made.
Unfortunately, converting a slow cooker recipe into an oven recipe would take some trial and error, as slow cooker times are based on how long it takes to bring the contents of the slow cooker to just below boiling point (209 degrees), not just a constant temperature like an oven.
Sorry I couldn’t be more help.
Kaitlin @ I Can Cook That recently posted..Cowboy Caviar
I make this in the oven all the time. 350 for an hour. 🙂
Made this for family brunch — it was AMAZiNG! So easy and quick, and easy clean-up, too.
The night before, I mixed the eggs/Nutella/seasonings in a large plastic pitcher and cubed the Cholla bread (which I got from a local bread bakery).
I sprayed the crock pot with cooking spray for easy clean-up.
It cooked for exactly two hours and was perfect. The amount of Nutella gave nice richness without it being too sweet. Next time, I’ll watch the carmelized bananas so I don’t overcook them (they got a bit soggy).
Served with heated syrup, sausage and scrambled eggs.
The flavors were outstanding! Thanks so much for this new family favorite!
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