Every bite of blueberry French toast casserole is full of texture and flavor… from the soft custard-soaked bread and juicy blueberries to the crisp brown sugar streusel on top. This make-ahead breakfast casserole benefits from an overnight rest in the refrigerator, so all you need to do in the morning is pop it in the oven.
I originally published this recipe in 2015, and I’ve since updated it to include new photos and extra success tips. This blueberry French toast casserole has become one of my most-loved make-ahead breakfast recipes for a reason.
In fact, this recipe is such a fan favorite, that it deserved a spot in print! You’ll also find a version of this recipe in my cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.
I always thought nothing could beat the smell of homemade cinnamon rolls coming from the kitchen. Until I made a pan of this blueberry French toast casserole.
This make-ahead recipe is best made a day in advance. Do all your slicing, whisking, and combining the day before. Then top with an easy crumb streusel before baking it the next morning. Much more appealing than standing over your griddle making individual slices of French toast!
The result is a breakfast casserole with layers of flavor and texture: soft custardy bread, bursts of blueberries, and a crisp brown sugar streusel on top. The smell alone will bring everyone into the kitchen.
Whether you’re planning Christmas breakfast, Easter brunch, Mother’s Day, or a weekend family breakfast, this overnight French toast bake is always a hit.
Why You’ll Love This Make-Ahead Breakfast
- Make-ahead friendly: Assemble the night before and bake in the morning
- Perfect for brunch: Feeds a crowd with minimal effort
- Great texture: Soft custard-soaked bread with crisp streusel topping
- Juicy bursts of berries: Fresh or frozen blueberries work
- Easy to customize: Try other berries or seasonal fruit
One reader, Carole, commented: “The best French toast casserole I have ever made—and I’ve made several! My family loved it. ★★★★★”
Another reader, Michelle, commented: “I made this for Easter brunch. It was sooooo good! I wasn’t sure about the blueberries at first, but it was delicious! Everyone loved it! It was the only dish everyone went back to for seconds. Definitely recommend making this! ★★★★★”
Another reader, Cieta, commented: “I have been making this recipe for 10 years now. Thank you! It is always the most popular brunch item, the best! ★★★★★”
What Is the Best Bread for Blueberry French Toast Casserole?
Bread is the foundation of this recipe, so choose something sturdy and flavorful. Great options include:
- Challah
- Brioche
- Sourdough
- French bread
- Artisan bread
Bread to avoid: Avoid flimsy sliced sandwich bread because it tends to fall apart once it’s been soaked in the custard.
Success Tip
Whatever type of bread you choose, make sure it’s slightly stale and crusty. Slice it into cubes and let it sit for about a day before using.
Why?
Slightly stale bread works best because it absorbs the egg mixture more easily. If the bread cubes don’t absorb all the custard, your casserole will end up with a dry top and a soggy bottom—not ideal! We recommend using day-old bread for homemade brioche French toast for the same reason.
If you forgot to let it sit out and your bread is fresh, all is not lost. Cube it and toast it briefly in the oven to dry it out.
Here’s Everything Else You Need
After you have your slightly stale cubes of bread, whisk together the custard.
- Blueberries: You can use either fresh or frozen berries here, whatever’s convenient!
- Eggs: You need 8 large eggs.
- Milk & Heavy Cream: I use whole milk in this recipe, but you can use lower-fat or nondairy milk if necessary. Add a bit of cream, too, because it makes for a richer, creamier custard.
- Brown Sugar: With its higher molasses content, brown sugar is the best choice for sweetening this breakfast bread pudding.
- Lemon Zest: A little brightness that makes the blueberries pop.
- Vanilla Extract, Cinnamon, & Salt: The flavor-enhancers no French toast casserole should be without.
Brown Sugar Streusel Topping
The crumb topping is what really takes this casserole from good to unbelievable.
While it’s a simple mixture of just 4 ingredients—brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and butter—when baked, it creates a lightly crisp, buttery topping that contrasts beautifully with the soft custard-soaked bread.
It’s quick and easy, and similar to how I make the crumb topping for coffee cake. Use a pastry blender (or two forks) to cut cold cubed butter into the dry ingredients. You can chill this overnight, too, then sprinkle it on the casserole just before baking.
What to Serve With Blueberry French Toast Casserole
Serve your blueberry French toast casserole with maple syrup, more fresh berries, homemade blueberry sauce topping, or a generous dusting of confectioners’ sugar.
Because this dish is sweet and rich, it pairs nicely with something savory. Perfect brunch pairings include:
- Easy Breakfast Casserole (another make-ahead recipe)
- Ham & Cheese Scones
- Ham & Potato Casserole
- Breakfast Strata
- Frittata or Breakfast Egg Muffins (individual-sized frittatas!)
- Maple Chicken Breakfast Sausage
Here’s a shortcut for creating “stale” crusty bread for French toast casserole: Spread the bread chunks on a lined baking sheet and toast in a 300°F (149°C) oven for 10 minutes. Your bread is now slightly dried out and ready to soak up all that egg custard.
Yes. In place of the blueberries, try strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries. Or try a medley of berries as I do for berries & cream French toast casserole. In the fall, try it with cranberries or thinly sliced apples or pears.
Yes, you can omit the berries & lemon zest for a classic/plain French toast casserole. If you have a copy of Sally’s Baking 101, see page 206 (French Toast Casserole: 3 Ways) for a gingerbread variation perfect for the holidays!
You don’t need to prepare the casserole in advance, but I highly recommend you do. It will need to rest for at least 3 hours, but overnight is best. This allows the bread to really soak up the custard. Both you and your blueberry French toast casserole can then get a good night’s rest… it’ll see you in the morning!
Unbelievable Blueberry French Toast Casserole
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes (plus overnight time)
- Yield: serves 12
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This unbelievable blueberry French toast casserole is made with soft custard-soaked bread, sweet blueberries, and a buttery brown sugar streusel topping. The casserole benefits from sitting in the refrigerator overnight before baking, so this is an excellent make-ahead breakfast recipe! This recipe is also in my cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.
Ingredients
- 1 (12–14-ounce/340–400g) loaf of sturdy day-old bread, such as French bread, sourdough, brioche, or challah, cut in 1-inch cubes*
- 1 cup (140g) fresh or frozen blueberries
- 2 cups (480g/ml) whole milk
- 8 large eggs
- 1/2 cup (120g/ml) heavy cream
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
- pinch of salt
Crumb Topping
- 1/3 cup (67g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/3 cup (42g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- optional: extra blueberries, maple syrup, and/or confectioners’ sugar for topping
Instructions
- Grease a 9×13-inch pan or any 3.5—4-quart baking dish with butter or nonstick spray. Spread the cubed bread in the pan and sprinkle evenly with blueberries. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the milk, eggs, heavy cream, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, lemon zest, and salt until combined. Pour over the bread. Cover the pan tightly and refrigerate for 3–24 hours. Overnight is best.
- Make the crumb topping: In a medium bowl, mix the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Add the cold butter. Using a pastry blender or two forks, cut the butter into the brown sugar mixture until pea-sized crumbles form. Cover and refrigerate the topping for at least 15 minutes or up to 1 day. Chilling it helps ensure that it won’t sink into the casserole.
- Remove the casserole from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes while you preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C).
- Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the casserole. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes. Cover loosely with aluminum foil and continue to bake until the center appears set, 25 to 35 minutes more.Â
- Cool the casserole for 5 minutes before serving. Store tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Prepare the topping in advance, cover tightly, and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 day. Sprinkle over the soaked bread before baking. For freezing, prepare the recipe through step 4 (without preheating the oven), and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bake as directed. Baked casserole can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and warm up in a 350°F (177°C) oven for 35 minutes or until warm in the center.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9×13-inch Baking Pan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk
- Half Batch: This recipe can easily be halved in an 8-inch baking pan or 9-inch baking pan. The bake time will be slightly less, around 30–35 minutes.
- Bread: Day-old, crusty bread is perfect for French toast casseroles so it can soak up the egg custard. I typically use a loaf of challah bread that I slice and let sit out overnight. If you only have fresh bread, here’s a shortcut for creating “stale” crusty bread: Spread the bread chunks on a baking sheet and toast in a 300°F (149°C) oven for 10 minutes.
- Fruit: Instead of blueberries, try strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries. In the fall, try cranberries or thinly sliced apples or pears. So many options!
Reader Comments and Reviews
This is one of my favorite recipes from Sally and always a big hit with guests! Look forward to trying the revised version!
Can I make this vegan with flax eggs and non-dairy cream and milk? Also grainfree bread? Any advice appreciated!
This sounds awesome. How can I make it non dairy?
Hi Linda, we haven’t tested this recipe with dairy free substitutes, but we’re sure you could substitute in dairy free milk/cream and a vegan butter. The casserole may be a little less rich with those swaps.
The cream isn’t in the directions….
Hi Bianca, we aren’t sure what happened but when updating the instructions for formating, there must have been a glitch or typo where the cream and zest were not included. So sorry about that! We fixed it. Thank you so much for flagging.
We make this every time we have overnight guests and it’s a hit every time!
I made this casserole as directed with an exception. I used 1 1/4 cup whole milk and 1 heaping cup whole milk plain yogurt. All I can say is this, between three adults, the 9×13 pan is empty…so good! For me, there isn’t a need for added syrup nor powdered sugar. The brown sugar in the egg custard, struesel, and blueberries are sufficient. Thank you for sharing this delightful dish!
Delicious! I made this for a bridal shower brunch and it was a huge hit!
I love this recipe! I’ve made it twice now and it’s been a hit both times. Is it possible to make this in a larger casserole dish (10×15)? If so, could you advise on how recalculate the recipe and cook time? Thanks!
Hi Kate, you can certainly try making it in a larger pan, although we’re unsure of the exact bake time. Keep a close eye on it and bake until golden-brown on top. So glad this is a favorite for you!
I used leftover dinner rolls that no one ate to make my this. The only change made was to double the blueberries. Everyone seemed to like it.
Would it turn out ok if I omit the blueberries, or will it be dry?
Hi Jaclyn, you can omit the blueberries here, or here is our baked cream cheese French toast recipe that you may also enjoy.
I love this recipe & am making it again but this time I’m wondering if I can substitute canned evaporated milk for who,e milk being as that’s all I have… thank you!!
Hi Cheryl, we haven’t tested evaporated milk here, but would expect different results if not using whole milk. For best results we would wait to make this French toast casserole until you have whole milk!
Reconstituted evaporated milk (not low-fat) = regular milk! For 2 1/4 c milk, use 1 cup + 2 tbsp evaporated milk and 1 cup + 2 tbsp water. If low-fat is all she has, that will still work – just very slightly less rich.
Can I use extra creamy oatmilk instead of whole milk?
Hi Stacy, the texture may not be quite as creamy but that should work just fine.
We loved this recipe! Thank you Sally!!! It wouldn’t let me give a 5 star review, definitely 5 STAR! Also would love to get the macros/nutrition facts for this recipe!!! Please!!!!’
Hi Bridget, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
I loved this recipe!!!! So yummy!!! But curious if there’s nutrition facts/macros for this.
Hi Bridget, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Sally,
Everyone loves this recipe when I make it. 10/10. Usually we eat it right away, but this time I plan to prep ahead and freeze for my maternity leave. Curious if I should put the streusel on before I freeze or if I should add that once I thaw?
Hi Katie, you can freeze the entire casserole with the topping on it.
I’ve made this recipe twice for church breakfast. I made it by your recipe,adding a mixture of 12 oz softened cream cheese mixed with 1/4 cup sugar & 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. I dolloped this over the bread cubes before adding 1 1/2 cups blueberries. It was delicious!! Was asked to share the recipe!! I am new to your website and looking forward to trying some of the other recipes. I love making breads. Do you have bread machine recipes??
Hi Sally. I am fully cooking this recipe a day ahead of time and have to re heat it when I get to my destination. What temp should I do that at and should I cover it when re heating? Also the Streusal Topping should I wait till I re heat it to put it on or do it on the first cook?
Hi Angie, you can bake the casserole with the streusel topping, let cool completely, then tightly cover and refrigerate. When you get to your destination, reheat it in a 300-350F oven, loosely covered with aluminum foil, for about 30 minutes or until warm all the way through.
Thank you
this recipe is great!! we’re on vacation and didn’t have any flour. so i improvised and used this pancake mix.. made with whole wheat flour and oats, and it turned out great. also added a pinch of salt to the topping. but the base is great, not soggy. very fluffy, would definitely make again.
I haven’t tried it yet it’s in the refrigerator ready to bake tomorrow. Just wondering: I feel like not all the pieces of bread are touching the mixture or are soaked. the mixture probably only covered The bottom of the pan is that okay or should it be Higher up and touching all the pieces of bread? Wondering if I should make more mixture, but I followed the directions
Hi Katie, you want some poking out – this gives a nice variety of texture.
I have made this recipe many times, and our family really enjoys it! Thank you! I prepared it yesterday morning with the intention of having it for dinner last night. However we decided to wait to have it tonight instead. Will it be ok to leave it in the fridge longer than 24 hours before baking (about 30 hours) or would it be better if I go ahead and bake it this morning and reheat it for dinner?
Hi Amy! It could get too soggy if left for longer. We would bake it and reheat!
I would like to make this! Would using leftover rolls from Thanksgiving work? I don’t see why not. Have you tried making this vegan?
Hi Alexis! The texture will be softer overall with dinner rolls. We haven’t tested making this vegan, but eggs are a key ingredient here.
Sally this is one of my favorite recipes ever! We make it so often. I hope you can and will answer this for me. I would love to try this base as a savory overnight French toast – sausage, a bit of veg, an appropriate herb or spice Thank you for your advice! – and the important part – no cheese. Can it be used like this in your opinion? Milk or cream is fine; my husband is very averse to cheese.
Hi Donice, we’re so glad this is a favorite for you! We’d recommend on of our savory breakfast casserole recipes instead: easy make ahead breakfast casserole, breakfast strata, everything bagel breakfast casserole, biscuit breakfast casserole. You can omit the cheese in any of them if you wish. Let us know if you try them!
I’ve made this countless times, and it is SO good. I’ve recently perfected making sourdough. Think I can use sourdough bread in place of the French bread?
Absolutely!
Is this baked uncovered?
Hi Natty, we bake it uncovered.
This is my favorite go-to breakfast/brunch for company. Always a hit.
I’ve made this recipe many times in the past and have always loved it. Yesterday I had a bunch of leftover plain bagels so I substituted the french bread with the bagels and it turned out fantastic! I hate waste and I knew the bagels weren’t going to get eaten unless I transformed them! Lol