This Overnight Blueberry French Toast is the best overnight breakfast casserole recipe! Watch the video showing you how to make this recipe, then scroll to the bottom of this post and print out the recipe so you can make it at home.
This is the best breakfast casserole recipe for a spring or summer brunch. Scratch that. You can make this one all year long!
Of all of my breakfast recipes, Overnight Blueberry French Toast is a favorite in my house for Christmas morning. We make it the night before, refrigerate overnight, and then it’s so easy to pull out and put in the oven while we’re opening gifts! If you’re a true lover of blueberries, you might also like to try my Blueberry Lemon Scones or this Fresh Blueberry Coffee Cake. We love blueberries at my house!
Ingredients needed:
- challah bread
- cream cheese
- blueberries
- eggs
- milk
- vanilla extract
- maple syrup
- white sugar
- cornstarch
- water
- butter
How to Make Blueberry French Toast Casserole:
This blueberry overnight breakfast casserole recipe uses 3 key ingredients that make it awesome: challah bread (my favorite), cream cheese (you can sub mascarpone cheese if you’d like) and blueberries (fresh or frozen). If you cannot locate challah bread, it’s okay to substitute French bread.
Start with adding cubed bread to a greased baking dish. Top the bread with chunks of cream cheese and then blueberries.
More bread is added on top of the cream cheese and blueberries. An egg/milk mixture is poured on top of all of that bread. At this point, you’ll cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
Do you have to let this refrigerate overnight?
It’s covered and refrigerated overnight to let the bread soak up all of that eggy mixture. This is an important step. I like to place a heavy book on top of the plastic wrap- covered casserole so it really gets that bread all down in there in the liquid. You need an overnight soak to really let that egg mixture soak into all of that bread!
In the morning, you can just take the casserole out of the fridge and bake it. I like to take it out of the refrigerator for about 1/2 hour before putting it in the oven.
While it’s baking, you’re going to make a quick and simple, warm blueberry sauce.
Overnight Blueberry French Toast Casserole topped with warm blueberry sauce
Let the blueberry french toast casserole sit for a while before you try to cut into it. You’ll get cleaner slices that way.
The warm blueberry sauce is drizzled on top of warm pieces of the blueberry french toast . And it’s SO GOOD! This would be the perfect breakfast treat to serve for a holiday brunch or family gathering. It’s special enough for that for sure.
I have had this recipe sitting in my email for years… 4 years to be exact! I don’t remember how I came to ask for it. I must have been on Twitter (the big thing back then) tweeting to my friends to send me recommendations for a good brunch casserole for Easter or Mother’s Day.
One of my friends really came through for me because this overnight french toast casserole is a big time winner.
The recipe comes from my friend Janet (an internet friend for many years who I recently met in person!!) She sent me this recipe in an email many years ago… and I’m finally sharing it with you today!
Thank you so much to my friend Janet for sharing this recipe. It’s delicious, and I’m happy to share it with you too. Enjoy!
If you’re looking for more recipes that would be great to serve for brunch, you might like to try my Cinnamon Bun Scones or Susie’s Breakfast Potatoes. Sunday Brunch Cheese Board, Cranberry Mimosas and Brown Sugar Bacon would also be great additions to a brunch!
Overnight Blueberry French Toast
Ingredients
FRENCH TOAST:
- 12 slices (about 1 pound) thick, stale Challah bread (one loaf)
- Two 8-ounce packages cream cheese (or mascarpone cheese)
- 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (or maybe a little more)
- 12 large eggs
- 2 cups milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
BLUEBERRY SAUCE:
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- 1 tablespoon butter
Instructions
- Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray and set aside.
- Cut the bread into 1-inch pieces. Place half into the prepared baking dish. Cut the cream cheese (or mascarpone) into cubes (or scoop with a small cookie scoop) and place on top of the bread. Top with the blueberries and then the remaining bread cubes.
- Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Whisk in the milk, vanilla and syrup until well combined. Pour over the bread cubes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight (I like to place a book on top of the plastic wrap to sink the bread into the liquid). The next morning remove the pan from the fridge 1/2 hour before baking. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the plastic wrap, then cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 25 to 30 minutes, or until the center is set and color is golden.
PREPARE THE BLUEBERRY SAUCE:
- In a medium saucepan whisk together the sugar and cornstarch. Add the water and bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir constantly and boil for about 3 minutes. Stir in the blueberries and reduce heat to low. Simmer for about 10 minutes or until the blueberries begin to pop. Stir in the butter until melted. Pour warm sauce over individual servings.
Notes
- I like to use whole milk- it just makes the dish a little bit more decadent all around.
- Mix in chopped fresh, frozen or canned peaches for a peach and blueberry overnight french toast!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Thanks so much for this recipe, I’m thinking of making it (and doubling the recipe) for when I have to cater a breakfast during a group holiday.
Do you think this would turn out the same if I cooked it in one of those disposable foil BBQ trays that are made for oven cooking instead of in a glass/ceramic baking dish?
I think you probably could!
We tried this yesterday and the baking time increased about 30-40 minutes.
This is a holiday staple in our house. I pull up your recipe, so I don’t have to dig out my mother in law’s written one. The only mod I make is that I make a thicker custard using half cream and half whole milk. I read a comment about this needing sugar. I wholeheartedly disagree unless you decide to skip the blueberry compote or maple syrup. I put out both for people to choose between. Even scaling back on our traditional family holiday brunch, this one is an absolute must. Thank you for making it easy for me to pull up rather than digging through my recipe binder!
A Holiday Staple in our Family
Delicious! Definitely make the blueberry syrup. Served it for a ro up of friends and everyone loved it.
I absolutely love this recipe and love having company so I can make it!! The warm blueberry sauce is amazing. This is a keeper in our home, thanks for sharing.
This looks so delicious! Going to prekk on are this soon!
Easter staple in our house. When it’s hard to find challah bread Thomas’ mini croissants work well too!
Any tips for storing leftovers? Can it be frozen?
I haven’t tried freezing this, but it might be ok!
i made this today for easter breakfast. Not a fan. I agree with the other reviewer that it may need sugar. I did not do the blueberry topping. Served it without. It really needs sugar with the cream cheese. i had high hopes for this recipe. I should have just done my easter eggs shaped muffins. Would not do this one again. Expensive to do and not a good taste
It’s not a French toast that is meant to be served without the blueberry topping (which has plenty of sugar!)
I used canned blueberries instead of fresh ones, which adds some sweetnes and I added the sugar as needed, at the end. I gradually added more sugar as needed at tge end. Turned out good.
I made this before, big hit!! Doing this for Easter, I. Can almost taste it!! Yummy
Everyone loved this recipe & requested I make it again