Description
This Blueberry Cream Cheese French Toast Casserole is a delightful breakfast treat featuring toasted brioche or challah cubes layered with blueberries and a smooth cream cheese custard. The casserole is soaked overnight for a fluffy texture and baked to golden perfection, served warm with your choice of syrups or homemade blueberry sauce.
Ingredients
Scale
Casserole
- 1 loaf (16 ounces) brioche or challah sliced into 1-inch cubes
- 2 6 oz. half pints blueberries (12 ounces total)
Custard
- 2 8 ounce blocks cream cheese, softened (16 ounces total)
- 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 6 eggs at room temperature
- 2 cups half and half at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
For Serving (Pick One)
- Blueberry sauce
- Berry syrup like boysenberry (store-bought is great)
- Maple syrup
- Strawberry syrup
Instructions
- Toast bread: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the cubed bread in a single layer on a large baking sheet or two half sheets and bake for about 10 minutes until toasted but still soft in the center. Watch carefully to avoid burning. Set aside.
- Prepare custard: In a large mixing bowl, beat softened cream cheese and sugar with a hand mixer until smooth. Add eggs and continue beating until fully combined. Slowly incorporate half and half, then add lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla extract, and salt, mixing until smooth.
- Assemble casserole: Grease a 9×13 baking dish lightly. Layer half of the toasted bread cubes evenly, then scatter half the blueberries on top. Pour half the custard mixture evenly over this layer. Repeat with remaining bread cubes, blueberries, and custard. Press down gently to submerge bread in custard. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
- Bake casserole: Remove casserole from refrigerator while preheating oven to 350 degrees F. Bake covered with foil for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake uncovered for an additional 15 to 25 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean and internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F.
- Make blueberry sauce (optional): While baking, prepare blueberry sauce according to your preferred recipe.
- Serve: Serve warm topped with blueberry sauce, berry syrup, maple syrup, or strawberry syrup.
Notes
- If using sliced brioche from the bread section instead of bakery, slices may be thinner but it works fine.
- Use frozen blueberries without thawing, just brush off excess ice.
- Use room temperature cream cheese, eggs, and half and half for smooth custard; white flecks of cream cheese after mixing are okay and will melt when baked.
- To quickly bring eggs to room temperature, immerse them in warm (not hot) water for 20 minutes.
- You can microwave half and half briefly to reach room temperature.
- To make a half batch, use an 8×8-inch baking pan and reduce baking time to 30-35 minutes.
- To bake immediately without overnight soaking, skip toasting the bread, mix bread cubes with custard in a bowl for full saturation, let sit 30-60 minutes at room temperature or longer in the fridge, then transfer to baking dish layered with blueberries.
- Store leftover casserole covered or in airtight container in refrigerator up to 5 days.
- Reheat individual portions in microwave for 30-45 seconds or covered in oven at 350 degrees F for 10-15 minutes until warmed.
- To freeze cooked casserole, cool completely, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and foil, freeze up to 2 months; thaw overnight in refrigerator before reheating.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 350 kcal
- Sugar: 20 g
- Sodium: 250 mg
- Fat: 18 g
- Saturated Fat: 10 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 35 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 9 g
- Cholesterol: 160 mg
