Mindblowing Blueberry French Toast Casserole with cream cheese and homemade fresh blueberry sauce will wake up your taste buds in the morning with an explosion of flavor.
Plus, as a prep ahead overnight breakfast casserole, this is also the perfect recipe for busy holiday mornings with lots of friends and family to feed.
This rich, delicious, and fruity topping melts right into the sweet cream custard for a brunch recipe everyone will be RAVING about.
Why you will love this Blueberry Breakfast Casserole
Just like a traditional French toast recipe, this blueberry French toast casserole combines cinnamon, vanilla, sugar, and eggs into a quick mixture to pour right on your bread.
Then adding the homemade and sweet blueberry sauce is the perfect topping to round out an incredible morning.
There are four parts to this recipe. First, prepping the bread, making the cream cheese layer, making the french toast egg mixture, and finally, the blueberry topping sauce. Following each step below carefully will help ensure the most incredible and delicious recipe results!
Ingredients
- Italian bread – Like Southern bread pudding, stiff thick Italian bread should be cut into 1″ cubes. While I never recommend using regular white bread for this breakfast casserole, French Bread, Brioche bread, or Challah bread also holds up quite well.
- Cream cheese – Cream cheese can be notoriously hard to work within its cold state, so prep it by unwrapping and leaving it on the counter for 15 minutes before starting the recipe. This makes it easier to mix.
- Heavy whipping cream – Do not substitute heavy cream with milk unless necessary, as the whole cream gives the vibrant flavor of blueberry casserole.
- Fresh blueberries – Frozen blueberries can easily be substituted for fresh ones in most recipes. In this breakfast recipe, frozen blueberries may be used in the blueberry sauce recipe but shouldn’t be used as a substitute for the fresh blueberries laid on the french toast bake.
- Misc ingredients: Other ingredients needed to complete this breakfast recipe are eggs, granulated white sugar, vanilla extract, and ground cinnamon.
How to make French Toast Blueberry Casserole
*Please read through the whole recipe so you can adequately assemble this casserole*
- Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray.
- Cut bread into 1″ cubes and place bread cubes into the bottom of the pan.
- In a mixing bowl, add cream cheese, powdered sugar, and 2 and 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream together and beat well with a mixer.
- Spoon dollops of cream cheese mixture on top of the bread cube mixture.
- Sprinkle pieces of bread with whole fresh blueberries.
- Add eggs, 2 cups of heavy whipping cream, white granulated sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon in a separate bowl, and beat well.
- Pour french toast egg mixture over bread and cream cheese in the casserole dish.
- Bake covered for 30 minutes. Remove foil and discard.
- Continue to bake blueberry breakfast casserole for 20-25 minutes until the top is golden brown and the casserole is cooked through. Remove from oven and let stand to set. Move on prepping the blueberry sauce.
Blueberry Sauce Ingredients
This blueberry sauce isn’t super sweet; It’s just sweet enough to take the sour edge off of cooked blueberries! I always like to double the blueberry sauce for my breakfast dish, but I will leave that up to you!
- white sugar
- cornstarch
- Fresh blueberries – Juicy blueberries work best, but frozen berries are acceptable in a pinch for this sauce.
Fruit Variations
This can be made with other fruits. Try our strawberry bake recipe!
How to make Blueberry Sauce
While your casserole is cooling and setting, now it’s time to make the blueberry sauce. You can easily double this recipe if you want more (which I recommend, but it’s up to you).
- Add water, sugar, and cornstarch to a saucepan.
- Heat over medium-high heat until boiling. Continue to boil for 3-4 minutes.
- Add fresh blueberries and reduce heat to medium-low.
- Continue to heat, occasionally stirring until blueberries pop and sauce is dark purple, about 15 minutes.
- Spoon blueberry sauce (and optionally extra blueberries) on top of cream cheese casserole and serve. Optional: Serve with a bit of fresh lemon zest on top.
Can Blueberry French Toast Casserole be made overnight?
Casserole recipes are amazing because they are notoriously an excellent item to prep ahead. And yes, this blueberry french toast casserole CAN be prepped the day before!
- If you are making the night before, after pouring egg mixture and cream cheese into the dish, cover with foil and put in the fridge.
- The following day, remove from the refrigerator and continue on step 8. While you do not have to bring it to room temperature after an overnight stay in the fridge, it does help take the chill off before baking, and less likely, the middle will still need to warm.
I never freeze anything with cream cheese as it can cause separation.
You can make it ahead of time and place it in the fridge, tightly covered with foil or in an airtight container, and bake the next day.
Yes! Strawberries make a delicious and gorgeous breakfast casserole as well.
When breakfast casseroles require cut-up bread, the bread is the key. If the bread is soft and fresh, the egg mixture sops it up and makes it soggy. It’s always best to use a stiff bread like French or Italian, and a day-old or stale bread can help with the overall integrity of the dish.
Brown sugar
Maple Syrup
Powdered sugar
Side dishes that complement Dessert Breakfast Casseroles
This sweet breakfast casserole can be a lot of sugar in the morning, so balance it with sausage biscuits with white gravy, twisted bacon, or make some hash browns in the oven.
Related Breakfast Casserole Recipes
- Hashbrown Ham Casserole is a great way to use up left over holiday ham.
- Cracker Barrel Copycat Hash brown Casserole will remind you of eating out but at home.
- Sausage Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole is a reader favorite recipe that is excellent accross the board.
- Cinnamon Roll French Toast Casserole is another take on easy dessert breakfast casseroles with the rich taste of french toast smothered in maple syrup.
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Blueberry French Toast Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 loaf 16 oz, Italian bread, cut into 1″ cubes
- 1-1/2 packages cream cheese softened
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 2 1/4 th cups heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- 10 eggs
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Blueberry Sauce
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
Instructions
- Grease a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Cut bread into 1" cubes and place into the bottom of the pan.
- Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar and 2 1/4th cups heavy whipping cream together and beat well with a mixer.
- Spoon dollops of cream cheese mixture on top of the bread.
- Sprinkle with whole blueberries.
- In a separate bowl, add eggs, 2 cups heavy whipping cream, white sugar, vanilla and cinnamon and beat well.
- Pour egg mixture over bread and cream cheese.
- If a lot of the egg mixture is on top of the dish, feel free to use a spoon to push some below the cream cheese.
- Bake, covered with foil, for 30 minutes.
- Remove foil and discard.
- Continue to bake breakfast casserole for 20-25 minutes, until completely cooked and heated through.
- Remove from oven and let stand while making blueberry sauce in next step.
Blueberry Sauce Directions:
- Add water, sugar and cornstarch to a sauce pan.
- Heat over medium high heat until boiling. Continue to boil for 3-4 minutes.
- Add blueberries and reduce heat to medium low.
- Continue to heat, stirring occasionally until blueberries pop and sauce is dark purple, about 10 minutes.
- Spoon on top of french toast and serve.
Video
Notes
- If you are making the night before, after pouring egg mixture and cream cheese into the dish, cover with foil and put in the fridge.
- The following day, remove from the refrigerator and continue to step on baking. While you do not have to bring it to room temperature after an overnight stay in the fridge, it does help take the chill off before baking, and less likely, the middle will still need to warm.
- Brown sugar
- Maple Syrup
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Sharing of this recipe is encouraged and appreciated. Copying of full recipe to any social media is prohibited.
Comments & Reviews
Nancy says
Hi! Can I use a reduced fat milk for the egg mixture?? Maybe a 1% or 2%.
Trisha says
Yes, it should be totally fine.
Andrea says
Can the blueberry sauce that goes on top be made ahead of time and warmed up? I’m trying to figure out if this would work to feed my kids before church on Sunday while I’m still getting ready.
Trisha says
Andrea, I havent done it but looking at the ingredients, I dont see that as an issue. Just be careful not to burn your sauce.
Trisha
Sue Chitwood says
I have made this numerous times and EVERY time have referred to my pins or copied it!! This is by far the best French Toast casserole ever!!!
Gram says
We loved it!
Breakfast or dessert, so hard to choose!
Had an idea to make it with apples, pumpkin, raspberries….endless deliciousness!
Karen says
I tried this recipe this morning. I’ve added 15 minutes to cooking time and it still isn’t done. I did test the temperature of the oven. It’s fine. Not sure if it will ever be edible.
Very disappointed especially as I have company here!!