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Caramel Apple Breakfast Bake

Caramel Apple Breakfast Bake is an easy to make breakfast or brunch dish filled with apples, cream, eggs, brown sugar and leftover rolls! perfect to make ahead or make and bake immediately. A Christmas and Easter brunch favorite!

Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Keyword breakfast, brunch, caramel apple, french toast, overnight
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings 12 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 dozen dinner rolls (about 12 oz) about 10-12 cups torn up
  • 8 eggs
  • 2 cups half and half
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon finely ground pepper

Caramel Apple Mixture:

  • 4 small Granny Smith apples (about 2 1/2 cups sliced) sliced thin
  • 2 tablespoon butter
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla

Caramel Syrup

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon
  • dash salt
  • 3 tablespoon raw sugar (coarse)
  • dash sea salt (optional)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Instructions

Prepare Casserole:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and place rack in middle of oven. 

  2. Add the torn up rolls (or other bread) to a greased 9x13 pan. 

  3. Whisk together eggs, half and half, vanilla, cinnamon, pepper, and sugar in a bowl. Or blend mixture together in a blender. Pour over the rolls (or bread) in the 9x13 pan. 

  4. Cover pan loosely with foil and bake for 30-40 minutes at 375 degrees. Prepare the apples and caramel sauce while baking.

  5. After baking, remove pan from oven remove the foil from pan.  Spoon the apples over the casserole. Drizzle  1/3 cup of the caramel syrup over the top of the apples and rolls. 

  6. Sprinkle with 3 tablespoons of raw sugar and a few pinches of coarse sea salt distributed evenly over whole dish (optional). 

  7. Place dish back into the oven and bake for another 10 minutes uncovered. 

  8. Serve immediately with remaining caramel syrup on side. 

Caramelized Apples:

  1. Place 2 tablespoons butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1 tablespoon vanilla  in a sauté pan over medium heat. Cook for a few minutes until bubbly. Add the thinly sliced apples and mix to coat the apples. Continue to cook, stirring about twice a minute, until the apples are caramelized, and the mixture starts to thicken and bubble, and the sugar is no longer grainy, about 5 minutes. Turn off heat and leave caramelized apples in pan. 

Caramel Syrup:

  1. Whisk 1/2 cup butter, 1 cup heavy cream, 1/2 cup brown sugar, spice and dash of salt on stove in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. 

  2. Cook until the mixture starts to boil.  Then cook for two additional minutes, stirring to prevent scorching. Remove from heat and add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda. Whisk again. Set aside. 

Recipe Notes

  • If you are making this dish ahead and wish to bake it the next morning, keep some half and half on hand and pour an additional 1 cup, drizzled over the entire dish just before baking and covering with foil. This will help keep the dish from drying out! 
  • The caramel syrup and the caramelized apples may be made ahead and refrigerated, or made while the dish is baking. If you would like to make the entire dish ahead, place the caramelized apples on the dish, and drizzle with caramel syrup. Cover with foil. Take out of refrigerator for an hour before baking. Bake at 375 for about 45-55 minutes, removing foil for last ten minutes of baking. Test center to see if done. Warm up remaining syrup in microwave for a few seconds and serve.