Drizzle this Blueberry French Toast Casserole with some maple syrup and serve with a side of bacon for the best breakfast or brunch ever! So much easier than flipping french toast and you can even prep it the night before for an easy morning.
I love the creamy texture and the slight sweetness of this blueberry french toast casserole. It is the perfect level of sweet without being too sweet to eat for breakfast. Serve with some air fryer bacon or oven bacon for a complete meal that doesn’t require any time spent standing at the stove.
Creamy Blueberry French Toast Casserole is easy enough for an average weekend morning, but impressive enough to make for a holiday brunch or special occasion!
What Kind of Bread is Best for a French Toast Casserole?
The bread is the star of this French Toast Casserole, so it’s important to use the best bread! The key is that the soaked bread needs to be tender but not soggy. Choosing a sturdy bread is ideal.
There are three types of bread that are best for French Toast: French Bread, Challah Bread, and Brioche Bread. All of these options get perfectly soft and tender, but don’t completely fall apart. Regular sliced sandwich bread is too soft and doesn’t hold up well when used for French Toast.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Grab some staple ingredients to make this impressive blueberry french toast. Here is what you need
- French Bread – you can substitute challah bread or brioche bread.
- Cream Cheese – softened to room temperature. Use the full fat, brick style cream cheese not the spreadable kind in a tub.
- Lemon – Both lemon juice and lemon zest.
- Fresh Blueberries – you can substitute another berry such as raspberries or strawberries.
- Eggs
- Milk – you can use nonfat, 2%, or whole milk.
- Maple Syrup – for best flavor, use pure maple syrup.
- Vanilla Extract – the real deal, pure vanilla.
- Salt – you can omit this if you are watching your salt intake, but it helps to balance the sweet flavors.
Step by Step Instructions for Blueberry French Toast Casserole
* Be sure to see the recipe card below for the
complete list of ingredients and full instructions *
The steps to make a french toast casserole are so simple and I love that it can be prepped the night before for an easy morning.
Prep: Grease a 9×13 inch baking dish. You can spray it with cooking spray or rub with butter.
Cut the bread. Cut the loaf of bread into 1 1/2-2-inch cubes. You could even tear it for a more rustic look. It’s going to be super soft when baked with the custard, so there’s no need to go for bite-sized.
Make Cream Cheese Filling: Using your stand mixer or an electric mixer with a large bowl, mix together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, lemon juice, and half of the lemon zest. Beat together until creamy and combined.
Mix Egg Custard Mixture: Using a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, maple syrup, salt, vanilla, a little lemon juice, and the remaining lemon zest.
Assemble: Layer half of the bread cubes in the bottom of the greased dish. Spoon the cream cheese mixture over the bread layer and spread evenly. Top the cream cheese with the blueberries then layer on the rest of the bread cubes. Pour over the egg custard mixture and gently press the top soaked bread layer down so that all the bread cubes are soaking in the egg.
Refrigerate: Cover the baking dish and pop in the fridge overnight (or at least 4 hours).
Bake. When you’re ready to bake, remove the casserole from the fridge while your oven is heating up. This will allow the casserole to raise in temperature as well so it will bake faster. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.
Storage and Reheating
Blueberry french toast casserole is best eaten immediately after baking, but see the tips below for storing leftovers.
Storage – Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container or in the baking dish, tightly covered. Store in the fridge for up to 4 days. Be aware that the berries will release moisture as it sits.
Reheating – While you can reheat slices in the microwave, I recommend reheating in the oven for best results. Heat in the oven at 350 degrees F until warmed through. It tends to get soggy in the microwave.
FAQs and Expert Tips
Making a french toast casserole is so much easier than flipping lots of slices to feed the family, but here are some of my top tips for best results!
- Overnight is Best – If you didn’t have time to let the french toast bake soak overnight, you can prepare and bake immediately. The flavors and texture is best when it has time to soak.
- Dust with Powdered Sugar – For an extra special appearance, use a fine mesh sieve to dust the french toast bake with powdered sugar.
- Full Fat Milk is Extra Decadent – you can use any milk, but using full fat whole milk makes the french toast extra rich and creamy.
- Reserve a handful of blueberries for adding to the top of the casserole before baking, or when serving for a pretty finish.
More Breakfast Casseroles You’ll Love
All of our Breakfast Casseroles are delicious, but here are a few favorites:
- Copycat Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole Recipe
- Overnight Baked French Toast
- Breakfast Enchilada Casserole
- Ham and Cheese Quiche
- Loaded Breakfast Tater Tot Casserole
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Creamy Blueberry French Toast Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 loaf of French bread cubed
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice + a dash of lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest + 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- 8 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Grease a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and arrange half of the bread cubes in the bottom.
- In a large bowl and with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, lemon juice and 1 teaspoon lemon zest. Spoon it onto the bread cubes and spread it out evenly. Top with blueberries and then add the rest of the bread cubes.
- In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, maple syrup, salt, vanilla, another dash of lemon juice and a teaspoon of lemon zest until well combined. Pour the mixture over the bread cubes and press it all down to make sure that everything gets soaked.
- Cover the dish and refrigerate overnight or for at least 4 hours.
- When you are ready to bake, pull it out and let it come to room temperature while the oven preheats to 350 degrees F.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until the bread is all puffy, golden and the edges are crispy. The middle should be fully cooked and not appear wet or soggy.
This recipe is FANTASTIC!!! It’s a huge hit every time I make it. New go to breakfast/brunch dish. I use about 1 1/2 French baguettes cut into cubes! They soften up perfectly when the casserole is refrigerated over night before baking. Soooo yummy
Fantastic feedback Vicky! Thank you so much for stopping by.
Hi! Trying this for Father’s Day, do you uncover before baking? Thanks!
Yes, you bake uncovered. If it seems to be browning too quickly, you can loosely cove it.
This was excellent! It will be my new go to brunch dish. Everyone loved it and asked for the recipe.
Love the comment Julie! Thanks for stopping by.
What can be an alternative for cream cheese?
The cream cheese is the “creamy” part of the recipe. If you omit the cream cheese I’d recommend using a different recipe. Try this Overnight Baked French Toast and add the blueberries on top and in the crevices.
Will frozen blueberries work?
Yes you can use frozen blueberries. I owuld make sure to brush off any ice, and maybe even thaw them first to avoid excess water.
Could you be more specific on the type of bread? Whole loaf or pre-sliced?
A loaf of french bread works great, then you can cut it up anyway you like.
The creamy blueberry lemon French toast bake is amazing. I baked this for an office event for my team and it was a big hit. To make serving easier, I baked it in the morning and topped it with maple syrup when it was warm. I made another one the next day for my husbands class and it got the same rave reviews. This is the perfect recipe to take to a potluck.
Thank You Jane! So glad you enjoyed it!