How to Make (Gluten Free) Slow Cooker French Toast Overnight in the Crockpot

French toast is such a fun breakfast treat. But it can be a lot of work to stand there over the stove, soaking and flipping the bread. But this slow cooker french toast is so much easier! It’s the perfect easy breakfast recipe for a slow weekend morning or a holiday. Or you could make it ahead and reheat for busy weekday mornings!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• This slow cooker french toast is moist and full of yummy cinnamon flavor. 
• The slow cooker does all the work once you plop the ingredients in.
• You can make it gluten and dairy-free if desired. 

Slow Cooker French Toast Ingredients

To make french toast in your Crockpot you’ll need: 

• Bread – Of course, bread is the basis of French toast. Stale bread works best for this recipe. 
• Brown sugar – Either light or dark brown sugar will work for French toast in the Crockpot. 
• Butter – If you’re making this dairy-free (eggs are not dairy!), you can choose a butter substitute. 
• Cinnamon – No French toast would be complete without a good amount of cinnamon!
• Eggs – Aside from the bread, eggs are the next most important ingredient in French toast. If you’re making this for your dairy-free friends or family, no worries, eggs are not dairy!
• Milk – Milk helps to moisten the bread for this recipe. You can use any milk you like: cow’s, almond, oat, soy, or coconut. 
• White sugar – A small amount of white sugar gets mixed with the milk to pour over the French toast. 

How Do I Quickly Dry Bread For French Toast?

If you don’t have any stale bread you can dry it out quickly by spreading it on baking sheets and baking it at 350 degrees F in the oven for about 15-30 minutes. 

If you are making a smaller batch than this recipe calls for, you could also toast the bread sliced in the toaster before adding it to the slow cooker. 

Variations

• Add vanilla extract or nutmeg to your recipe if desired.  
• Cut the bread into cubes and make French toast casserole instead. This is helpful if you have any issues getting your bread cooked well all the way through or if it comes out soggy. 
• Toss the bread cubes with walnuts or pecans before soaking in the egg mixture. 
• Use gluten-free bread for gluten-free French toast. 
• Or try dairy-free milk and butter to make the recipe dairy-free. 

How to Make Slow Cooker French Toast

Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full printable recipe. 

1. Prepare the slow cooker – Spray slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Make the sugar mixture – Mix brown sugar, butter, and 2 tsp cinnamon together.
3. Mix the custard – In another bowl mix eggs, milk, sugar, and the remaining 1 tsp of cinnamon together.
4. Begin to create the layers – Place half of the bread in a layer in the slow cooker.
5. Layer some more – Pour half of the sugar mixture over top.
6. Repeat – Repeat steps 4 & 5.
7. Add the custard – Then pour egg mixture over everything.
8. Cook – Turn the slow cooker on for 4 hours on LOW.

How To Make Overnight French Toast

You could try cooking the French toast for 8 hours overnight on warm if your slow cooker has that option. But be careful with this, it’s easy to burn it this way! (Ask me how I know that!)

Test carefully with your slow cooker to see if it works.

Serving Suggestions

• Top your slow cooker French toast with maple syrup, fresh fruit (like bananas, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, or apples), jam, fruit compote, raisins, whipped cream, icing sugar, or even pancake syrup when serving. 
• Serve with a side of bacon, or sausages.

Recipe Tips

• Use a 6-quart slow cooker for this recipe.
• Be sure to fully grease the slow cooker before adding your ingredients, to prevent sticking. 

Recipe FAQ’s

How do you keep French toast from getting soggy?

The trick to keeping French toast from being soggy is the bread to egg/liquid ratio. You want to have enough liquid to keep the bread moist, but not too much so that it becomes soggy. 

You also want to make sure you use day-old, stale or dried bread. 

Can French toast be eaten the next day?

Yup, just follow the storing and reheating instructions below. 

How to Store & Reheat Crock Pot French Toast

Leftovers can be stored in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. To reheat, simply microwave or warm covered in the oven at 350 degrees F for 10-15 minutes until hot. 

To freeze, arrange single-portion sizes on a baking sheet and freeze. When frozen, transfer to freezer containers or Ziplocs. To reheat from frozen, place portions on a baking sheet covered in foil or in a casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 10 minutes or until heated through. 

Nutritional / Dietary Considerations

• Dairy-free – You could make this slow cooker French toast recipe dairy-free by using a non-dairy butter substitute as well as non-dairy or plant-based milk. 
• Gluten-free – And you could also use gluten-free bread of your choice to make the French toast gluten-free. 
• Egg-free – Although I’ve not tried it, you could use an egg substitute like JUST Egg to make this recipe egg-free/vegan. 

Need A New Crock-Pot?

If you’re in need of a new slow cooker, I’ve rounded up 18 of the best slow cookers of the year in this post. 

More Breakfast Ideas

• Chocolate Protein Pancakes
• Gluten-Free Vegan Pancake Recipe
• Air Fryer Hard Boiled Eggs
• Blueberry Granola Overnight Oatmeal
• Grain-Free English Muffin Breakfast Sandwiches