Description
This Blueberry Cream Cheese French Toast Casserole is a delightful breakfast dish featuring toasted brioche or challah cubes layered with fresh blueberries and a rich cream cheese custard. The casserole is soaked overnight for maximum flavor and baked until golden and fluffy, perfect for a special morning treat served with your choice of syrups or blueberry sauce.
Ingredients
Scale
Casserole
- 1 loaf (16 ounces) brioche or challah sliced into 1-inch cubes
- 12 ounces blueberries (2 6 oz. half pints)
Custard
- 16 ounces cream cheese, softened (2 8 ounce blocks)
- 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)
- Maple syrup
- Strawberry syrup
Instructions
- Toast bread: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread cubed bread in a single layer on a large baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes until toasted but still soft inside. Set aside.
- Prepare custard: In a large mixing bowl, beat softened cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs until fully combined, then add half and half, lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla extract, and salt, mixing well.
- Assemble casserole: Lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish. Layer half of the toasted bread cubes, then half the blueberries, pour half the custard evenly over. Repeat with remaining bread, berries, and custard. Press gently to submerge bread. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
- Bake: Remove casserole from fridge and let sit while preheating oven to 350 degrees F. Bake covered for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake for an additional 25 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean and internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F.
- Optional blueberry sauce: While baking, prepare blueberry sauce as desired.
- Serve: Serve warm with blueberry sauce, berry syrup, maple syrup, or strawberry syrup.
Notes
- If using store-bought sliced brioche, thickness may vary but works fine.
- Use frozen blueberries directly without thawing; brush off any ice.
- Use room temperature cream cheese, eggs, and half and half to avoid lumps in custard.
- Room temperature eggs hack: soak eggs in warm (not hot) water for 20 minutes.
- You can microwave half and half briefly to reach room temperature.
- For a smaller batch, bake in an 8×8-inch pan for 30-35 minutes.
- To bake without overnight soaking, skip toasting bread, mix bread and custard together, let sit 30-60 minutes, then layer with blueberries and bake.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge up to 5 days.
- Reheat in microwave for 30-45 seconds or oven at 350 degrees F for 10-15 minutes.
- Freeze baked casserole up to 2 months; thaw overnight and reheat before serving.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 320 kcal
- Sugar: 18 g
- Sodium: 210 mg
- Fat: 15 g
- Saturated Fat: 8 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 38 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 8 g
- Cholesterol: 130 mg
