This Sweet Potato French Toast Cups recipe is perfect for making overnight. It’s topped with a delicious Vanilla Cardamom Creme Anglaise.
Busy Weekend Breakfast
A typical weekend breakfast in our household involves microwaved muffins or string cheese. We’re always busy on the weekends and it seems like from Saturday morning to dinnertime on Sunday, we’re running errands or working in the yard. Taking the time for a sit-down breakfast seems like a small luxury. And when we do have traditional breakfast foods like pancakes or waffles, it’s usually for dinner because I’m in no mood for cooking first thing in the morning.
The wonderful thing about French toast casseroles, though, is that they can be made the night before—and really, they’re so much better when you make them ahead of time too. Although I’ve never made a French toast casserole myself, I thought I’d try one because doing most of the work the night before and simply popping it in the oven in the morning seemed like the happy medium between the string cheese breakfast and homecooked pancakes or waffles. We’d still have something delicious to sit down to, but I wouldn’t have to be flipping pancakes while groggy and cranky.
About the Recipe
Of course, a whole French toast casserole is a little too much for two people, so I decided to make Sweet Potato French Toast Cups, using muffin tins—this way, we could easily freeze some of the leftovers for another weekend. The result is kind of a cross between French toast and bread pudding. By taking the time to bake the sweet potatoes, you can take advantage of their natural sweetness and add less sugar than in a typical French toast recipe. I deliberately left out spices in the French toast cups so the flavor of the Vanilla Cardamom Creme Anglaise would shine through—if you decide to make these without the creme anglaise, add some cinnamon, nutmeg, or pumpkin pie spice to the French toast before baking.

Ingredients
- 1 small sweet potato pierced with fork
- cooking spray or oil mister
- 8 oz stale bread cut into 1/2 inch pieces (any kind will do, but I like using a small baguette)
- 3 eggs + 4 large egg yolks at room temperature
- 1 cup low-fat milk
- 2 1/2 cup half-and-half divided
- 2 tsp vanilla divided
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp cardamom
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Place sweet potato on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake for about 45 minutes or until softened. Cool to room temperature and puree in food processor.
- Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray or oil. Divide bread pieces evenly among all 12 muffin cups.
- Beat 3 whole eggs in a medium bowl. Add milk, 1/2 cup half-and-half, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and brown sugar and whisk until well-combined. Whisk in 1/2 cup of pureed sweet potato (use any remaining potato puree for whatever you like or just eat it as-is--whatever!).
- Pour egg mixture over bread. Cover muffin tins with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
- To make the creme anglaise, heat half-and-half in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook until just simmering, about 5 minutes.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar and egg yolks. Slowly add half of half-and-half mixture to the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Pour half-and-half and egg mixture back into saucepan and raise heat to medium. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until sauce has thickened and coats back of spoon, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat immediately and stir in vanilla extract and cardamom; pour through strainer into a heat-proof bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- In the morning, preheat oven to 325°F. Remove plastic wrap from muffin tins and use a spoon to push bread down into the egg mixture before placing in oven. Bake for 35 minutes or until edges are golden but not brown. Loosen French toast cups by running a butterknife along the edges before popping them out. Serve with chilled creme anglaise.
26 Comments
The Mrs @ Success Along the Weigh
March 29, 2012 at 8:34 amIs everyone participating in the no more mallows thing because this is the 5th sweet potato recipe I’ve seen this morning! (And no doubt the tastiest…I’m drooling!) I’m thinking this would make a dang good breakfast. *stomach growl*
The Type A Housewife
March 29, 2012 at 10:56 amHa! That’s probably why–I think tomorrow is the last day to enter. 🙂 So if you want to enter, you have one more day!
Audrey
March 29, 2012 at 11:03 amThis looks so yummy. We love sweet potatoes and I’ve never considered using them in a breakfast casserole.
The Type A Housewife
March 29, 2012 at 9:04 pmI think I’ve used sweet potatoes in just about every way imaginable. 🙂 They are one of my favorite foods!
Carol @ Always Thyme to Cook
March 29, 2012 at 4:52 pmWhat a great idea to make individuals! They look so good, with or without the creme anglaise.
The Type A Housewife
March 29, 2012 at 9:03 pmThank you! They are definitely good without the creme anglaise too–maple syrup is a perfect substitute!
Emily
March 29, 2012 at 7:00 pmWhen you open your B & B, let me know! This recipe looks oh so delicious! And fairly easy, too.
The Type A Housewife
March 29, 2012 at 8:58 pmHa! Yeah, there are a lot of steps, but they’re all pretty easy, especially if you do most of the work the night before.
CulinarilyCourtney
March 29, 2012 at 11:26 pmOur brain waves must be on the same frequency or something, haha, because just tonight I was thinking that I should make some sort of French toast casserole! What a creative idea to add sweet potato too!
The Type A Housewife
March 30, 2012 at 12:52 pmWe totally are on the same frequency because last weekend I made overnight oats for a future post too! 😀 I hope you post your French toast casserole recipe if you end up making one–I think I’m totally hooked on them now!
myfudo
March 29, 2012 at 11:51 pmOur household loves sweet potato recipes. Will definitely try this!
The Type A Housewife
March 30, 2012 at 12:48 pmWe love sweet potato recipes too–they are so versatile and easy to work with!
BusyWorkingMama
March 30, 2012 at 9:39 amYUM!!! This is one I will definitely have to try! Looks delicious!
The Type A Housewife
March 30, 2012 at 12:46 pmThank you! It was SO good–I never do elaborate breakfasts like this, so it was nice for a change. 🙂
Brianne @ Cupcakes & Kale Chips
March 30, 2012 at 9:03 pmWhat a great idea to add the sweet potatoes to cut down on the amount of sugar you have to add. Yum! Good entry!
The Type A Housewife
April 1, 2012 at 6:42 pmThank you! Roasted sweet potatoes are SO sweet, you can definitely get away with adding less sugar whenever you use them in a recipe. 🙂
Stephanie @ henry happened
March 30, 2012 at 10:01 pmI love making French toast for the kiddos in the morning – the idea of putting it in muffin tins is genius! Pinning this 🙂
The Type A Housewife
April 1, 2012 at 6:33 pmIt is so convenient in the muffin tins. And less messy too. I think I’m going to make it this way from now on, in fact. 🙂
Jennifer
April 1, 2012 at 8:51 amthat little picture is too funny. Poor marshmallow 🙁
this recipe looks and sounds amazing though
The Type A Housewife
April 1, 2012 at 6:26 pmI know, I love that picture–so funny!
Genevieve
April 3, 2012 at 12:44 pmI love this idea for french toast cups – the individual portions would be perfect for serving at a brunch, and they sound amazing with the sweet potato! I’m with you on the simple breakfasts too – I usually eat the same breakfasts on the weekends as I do on weekdays. Once a year (on Christmas morning), our family enjoys an overnight baked french toast, so its more of a special treat that way!
The Type A Housewife
April 3, 2012 at 8:48 pmMy husband’s family has an overnight French toast casserole once a year on Christmas morning too. 🙂 Before that, I had never had (or even heard of!) making French toast in a casserole. I definitely can’t do big breakfasts everyday, but it’s a nice change of pace once in a while!
Brenda Williams
April 3, 2012 at 8:18 pmAnother great recipe for your cookbook! After spending from 1:00 to 7:30 pm at the Pioneer Woman’s booksigning for her new cookbook. Seeing all the people lined up for her scribble on the inside of their book and looking through my copy during the wait….I have all the more faith that YOU CAN produce an awesome cookbook!! You have the best recipes and totally beautiful photos already….just keep cooking and taking those photos!
The Type A Housewife
April 3, 2012 at 8:42 pmAw, thank you so much–it really means a lot! 🙂 I’m hoping to start working on a cookbook this summer, but I’m still figuring out how to go about doing it. It’s such a daunting task! But after spending years trying to find something that I was both good at AND enjoyed, I feel like I’ve finally found it in recipe development–it’s just a matter of trying to make a full-time income from it. 😉
All Natural Katie
April 8, 2012 at 7:34 pmSweet potatoes, vanilla, cardamom……DELICIOUS! I am definitely making these next time we have friends over for brunch.
The Type A Housewife
April 8, 2012 at 8:29 pmThis is definitely the perfect brunch meal–all the hard work is done the day before! 🙂