Baked Vegan French Toast for Christmas
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
This vegan Christmas breakfast is custardy, comforting, and festive. It’s layers of crusty milk-soaked bread dotted with tart cranberries and baked in the oven until golden. Serve it with a drizzle of homemade cranberry syrup for an elegant make-ahead breakfast that’s perfect for special occasions like Christmas morning.
If you’re searching for the perfect vegan breakfast for Christmas morning, this is it, friends. This seasonal spin on French toast casserole is simple, sweet, and full of holiday flavor. It’s easy to assemble the night before so you can sit back with your coffee and enjoy a relaxing Christmas morning while it bakes!
Ingredients needed
This delicious make-ahead vegan breakfast casserole only requires a few ingredients. Here’s everything you need to make it:
- French bread: we use a loaf of French bread that’s crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. Pretty much any bread will work though like sourdough, multigrain, or even gluten-free bread.
- Milk (of choice): you can use any non-dairy milk like almond milk, soy milk, oat milk, or coconut milk.
- Ground flax seeds: ground flax seeds work as a binder to replace the eggs.
- Nutritional yeast: nutritional yeast might seem like a surprising ingredient but it gives this breakfast casserole an egg-y taste that’s hard to replicate. It’s a trick we learned from Love and Lemons and now it’s a staple in any egg-free French toast recipe we make.
- Cinnamon: we add a sprinkle of cinnamon for a touch of warm spice and sweetness.
- Sea salt: sea salt enhances all the wonderful flavors.
- Cranberries: fresh or frozen cranberries both work for this recipe. Just avoid using the canned variety.
Variations to try
Here are a few of our favourite ways to dress up this vegan Christmas breakfast recipe:
- Add a few white chocolate chips for an extra-sweet touch (just make sure they’re vegan).
- Serve it with vegan vanilla coconut yogurt or coconut whip on the side.
- Grate some orange zest and add a few tablespoons of fresh orange juice to the milk mixture because cranberries and orange are delicious together!
- Dust the casserole with some powdered sugar before serving. The kids will think it looks like snow!
What to serve with vegan Christmas breakfast
This vegan breakfast casserole is perfect for people who love a sweet breakfast. If you’re hosting, you can make it a feast with a tofu scramble, vegan scrambled eggs, or vegan sausages.
And don’t forget the brunch drinks! Try this Christmas mimosa for a boozy festive treat. Our dairy-free nutella latte is sure to please. Or turn our Irish cream latte into a vegan treat by using oat milk and Baileys Almande.
Recipe FAQs
Can I make it ahead of time?
Absolutely! This is a great make-ahead breakfast for busy mornings. Make it the night before, cover it, and place it in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
Can I substitute the cranberries for a different fruit?
Yep! This vegan breakfast casserole works well with other berries such as blueberries, strawberries, or blackberries.
How long do leftovers keep in the fridge?
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
What is a breakfast casserole?
This vegan breakfast casserole is a cross between baked French toast and a strata. If you’re familiar with a strata, it’s a lot like that but it’s egg and dairy-free. It’s also a nice alternative to pancakes or waffles for people who like a sweet breakfast.
Vegan French Toast Recipe for Christmas
Ingredients
- 1 loaf French bread (cut into large cubes)
- 2 ½ cups vegan milk of choice (almond milk works great!)
- 3 tablespoons ground flax
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- A pinch of sea salt
- 1 ½ cups fresh or frozen cranberries
Cranberry Maple Syrup
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup fresh or frozen cranberries
Instructions
- Grease a casserole dish with a little coconut oil. Place the bread cubes in a large bowl.1 loaf French bread
- Whisk the milk, ground flax, nutritional yeast, cinnamon, and a pinch of sea salt in a medium-sized bowl. Pour over the bread cubes and toss gently to coat. Transfer the bread cubes to the casserole dish. Scatter the cranberries over top and press the bread down gently. You can either bake the French toast right away or cover it and leave it in your fridge overnight.2 ½ cups vegan milk of choice, 3 tablespoons ground flax, 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 ½ cups fresh or frozen cranberries
- Preheat your oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Bake the French toast, uncovered, in the oven for 45 minutes. Let it stand for 5 minutes before you cut into it.
- While the French toast is baking, make the cranberry syrup. Bring the syrup and cranberries to a boil in a small pot over medium-high heat. Let it continue to boil until the cranberries start to pop, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a blender and blend until smooth. Note: if you do not have a high-powered blender, strain the syrup through a fine-mesh sieve to remove any solid pieces.½ cup maple syrup, ½ cup fresh or frozen cranberries
- Serve the French toast with the cranberry syrup on the side for everyone to pour themselves.
Nutrition
We have thoroughly tested this recipe for accuracy. However, individual results may vary. See our full recipe disclosure here.
What kind of French bread do you buy that is vegan? Hoping I can get it here!
Hi just trying this yummy recipe tonight… what size casserole dish? Kathy
The casserole dish that I use is 8″x10″. I’d love to hear how it turns out!
This looks amazing!! I would like to use VeganEgg instead of flax egg/nutritional yeast. Any ideas about that? Should I do 1 or 2 eggs?
Also, I had some cranberries in the freezer from last year. When I thawed them out yesterday, they are quite soft. Do you think they are still usable?
Thank you!
To be honest, I’ve never used VeganEgg before so I can’t say for sure. But the recipe calls for 3 tablespoons of flax (the equivalent of 3 flax eggs) so I would opt for 3 VeganEggs.
I recently used some frozen cranberries from last year, too! As long as they’re not freezer burnt or haven’t thawed and been refrozen then they’re good to eat. 🙂
This looks like the perfect dish to take to a potluck holiday brunch I’m going to this weekend! I like using VeganEgg by Follow Your Heart instead of flax eggs for the more eggie texture. Would I need to adjust the liquid if I use it?
hi i made the French toast with the cranberry can i use a different fruit like frozen raspberry
Absolutely you can!
What a beautiful recipe. I will look fir veggemo. It sounds interesting.
Thanks, Jenny! Veggemo is delicious … I’ll cross my fingers you can find it near you. 🙂
Hi. I can’t get my hands on this stuff. Can I just use almond milk or coconut milk? And if so is there anything else I need to add?
Almond or coconut milk will work well, too. 🙂
Awww thank you so much!! It really is great not to have to do anything other than open presents and eat on Christmas, isn’t it?!
Awww sweetheart … you just put the biggest smile on my face. Thank you so much! I hope you have a wonderful Christmas!
If I don’t want to buy Veggemo Vanilla, could I replace it with something else like cocoa powder, almond flour, or finely ground nuts? (Plus sugar to make it sweet)?
Veggemo is a dairy-free milk made from vegetables. You definitely wouldn’t want to substitute nuts. If you can’t find Veggemo near you, you could substitute another type of milk, although I would add some vanilla to the recipe as the vanilla flavor in Veggemo Vanilla makes it quite special. 🙂
I found Veggemo, but I don’t care for all the added cane sugar they put in the vanilla flavor. How much vanilla should I add if I use the unsweetened version of veggemo? Thank you!
I usually prefer their unsweetened version, too. I would a 2 teaspoons for a nice vanilla flavor. 🙂
Great recipe and the pictures are awesome!
Thank you so much!!!