This Hawaiian Roll French Toast Casserole turns a package of soft, sweet rolls into a custardy baked breakfast with cinnamon streusel on top. You can prep most of it the night before, so it comes together quickly in the morning!
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Brunch is such a fun meal to make, but make-ahead brunches are always best. That way, I can have a slow leisurely morning and still manage to get a fabulous meal on the table.
My Hawaiian roll french toast is one of the most-loved recipes on my site, so I decided to turn it into a casserole for a make-ahead brunch easy to serve to a crowd.
King's Hawaiian rolls are already a bit dessert-like, so they soak up custard like it was meant to be. And the streusel addition provides a cinnamon-sugar top that makes a french toast casserole even more appealing then simple french toast.
❤️ Why this recipe works
Hawaiian rolls do all the work: the rolls are soft and slightly sweet, so they soak up custard really well and bake into a tender, almost bread-pudding texture without turning to mush.
The rolls are kept whole: most of the Hawaiian roll french toast casserole recipes I've seen involve cubing the bread. I keep the rolls whole and nest them back together to give you individual pieces that lift out intact. Also, because there's less exposed surface than cubes, the soft rolls hold their shape instead of getting mushy.
The streusel adds a sweet crunch: a buttery brown sugar crumble on top gives a contrast against all the soft custardy bread.
It's an easy, make-ahead, crowd-friendly brunch: you can prep the bread and custard the night before and bake in the morning. One 9x13 dish feeds a full crowd and you won't have to stand over the stove flipping bread as everyone arrives.
🗒 Ingredients
The ingredients are pretty simple for this french toast bake. Here's everything you need (be sure to view the recipe card at the bottom of this post for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions):
- King's Hawaiian sweet rolls: sliced in half horizontally
- Large eggs
- Whole milk
- Heavy cream
- Granulated sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Ground cinnamon
- Salt
- Unsalted butter: melted
- Confectioners' sugar and maple syrup: optional, but highly recommended for topping
And for the streusel topping:
- All-purpose flour
- Light brown sugar
- Ground cinnamon
- Salt
- Unsalted butter: chilled and cut into cubes
🍞 Recipe tips
- Slice the rolls while they are still connected (instead of slicing them individually) if you can. King's Hawaiian rolls come as a slab and if you slice the whole slab in half horizontally before pulling the rolls apart, you get nice even tops and bottoms.
- After you pour half the custard over the roll bottoms, give them a gentle press so every piece is actually soaking in the liquid.
- Dipping each top back into the remaining custard is what gets the inside of the roll wet. Don't skip this step or your casserole will be soft on the bottom and dry on top.
- This recipe calls for LOTS of streusel topping, so be sure to get some of it into the gaps and seems of the casserole.
- Bake the casserole gently tented with foil for the first 30 minutes to let the center set without the top getting too dark. Then, take the foil off for the last stretch to get a golden streusel topping.
- To check for doneness, check the center rather than the edges as the edges will set first. Stick a knife into the middle and make sure it comes out mostly clean. If it is still wet in the center, give it a few more minutes of bake time.
- Top with powdered sugar before serving and let guests add their own maple syrup and/or additional toppings.
At first, I thought I'd need a couple of the rolls to be a serving, but with the robust custard base, just one roll felt like a meal to me.
Because I used whole rolls instead of cubing them, they lift out really well as individual servings with lots of custard yuminess surrounding each roll.
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The french toast is perfectly tender and flavorful and omg so good. It's perfect for a crowd, but I find myself gravitating to it on a slow weekend where I want a breakfast with lots of leftovers.
I love serving this dish with bacon or breakfast sausage and lots of berries.
⏲️ How to store
Luckily, leftovers of this Hawaiian roll french toast casserole store really well! Once the dish is cooled, cover it tightly and keep leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days.
To reheat individual portions, you can put them in the microwave. If you want to re-warm the whole pan, keep it covered with foil and put in the oven at 325 degrees F until heated through.
🎉 Variations on recipe
This Hawaiian roll french toast casserole recipe is basically a blank canvas for anything you want to do! I love it just as is, but here are some fun ideas for ways you can jazz it up a bit:
- Add fruit: tuck fresh or frozen blueberries or raspberries or thin fresh apple slices into the seams before baking. Berries and this cinnamon custard are a delicious match!
- Add nuts: add ⅓ cup chopped pecans to the streusel for crunch or into the casserole itself for toasted nut flavor.
- Swap the spices: instead of just using cinnamon, you can also add pumpkin pie spice or a pinch of nutmeg in the fall.
- Add a cream cheese swirl: dot softened cream cheese between the rolls for little pockets of tang.
- Incorporate citrus: add the zest of an orange to the custard for a brighter, brunch-y flavor.
- Use a unique syrup: instead of topping with maple syrup, try a unique homemade flavored syrup from my collection of simply syrup recipes.
☀️ How to prep ahead
This casserole is built for a make-ahead morning with one very important rule. Prep the pieces the night before, but do not assemble and soak the whole thing overnight.
Hawaiian rolls are soft to begin with and a full overnight soak, like you do with lots of french toast casseroles, will turn them gummy.
Here's what I recommend doing the day before you want to serve the dish:
- Slice the rolls: cut them into tops and bottoms, then cover and leave at room temperature.
- Whisk together the custard: mix the eggs, milk, cream, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Cover and refrigerate.
- Make the streusel: combine the ingredients in a bowl, cover it, and keep it in the fridge so the butter stays cold.
In the morning, everything comes together so quickly. Just give the custard a quick whisk, arrange and soak the rolls, scatter on the streusel, and bake.
You get a fresh from the oven breakfast without doing the fussy part while your guests are arriving or your family is waking up!
🥞 More brunch recipes for a crowd
Here are some more breakfasts that I love serving when I have friends and family coming over:
If you love Hawaiian rolls as much as me, be sure to also try my Hawaiian roll cinnamon roll recipe and my standard Hawaiian roll french toast recipe!
🙋♀️ FAQ
If you're looking for a breakfast that feels extra special, but doesn't require you to stand over the stove, this Hawaiian Roll French Toast Casserole is it. Sweet soft rolls, a cozy cinnamon custard, and a buttery streusel top, all in one dish!
Make it for a holiday morning, a birthday breakfast, or a random Sunday when you just want something good. Dust it with confectioners' sugar, pass the maple syrup, and watch it disappear.
📖 Recipe
Hawaiian Roll French Toast Casserole
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Ingredients
- 1 package (12 rolls total) King's Hawaiian sweet rolls sliced in half horizontally
- 6 large eggs
- 1 ¼ cups whole milk
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter melted, plus more for greasing
- Confectioners' sugar and maple syrup optional for topping
Streusel Topping
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup packed light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoon unsalted butter chilled and cut into cubes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with butter. Arrange the Hawaiian roll bottoms in a single layer, cut side up.
- Whisk together eggs, milk, cream, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt until fully combined.
- Pour half of the custard evenly over the rolls, pressing down gently so every piece is saturated.
- Dip each top half into the remaining custard to soak it, then nest it over its matching bottom, reforming each roll.
- Pour any remaining custard mixture into the gaps and seams between the nested rolls. Drizzle the melted butter over the tops to help with browning. Sprinkle streusel evenly over the top of the casserole.
- Tent the dish with foil and bake 30 minutes. Uncover and bake another 20-25 minutes, until the top is golden and the center is set. A knife should come out mostly clean.
- Let rest 5-10 minutes. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve warm with maple syrup if desired.
Streusel Topping
- Combine flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl.
- Cut in the cold butter with a pastry blender, fork, or your fingers until it forms coarse crumbs. Cover and refrigerate until baking.
Notes
- To prep ahead: you can slice rolls, mix custard ingredients together, and make crumb topping the day before you want to serve it. Cover rolls and keep at room temperature, cover custard and store in the fridge, and cover streusel topping and store in the fridge.
- Leftovers keep covered in the fridge up to 3 days; reheat in the microwave or oven.
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