There’s not one word more perfect than “unbelievable” to describe this overnight blueberry french toast casserole. Perfect make-ahead recipe for busy mornings!
Now THIS is french toast! Made with chunks of crusty bread, sweet blueberries, lots of brown sugar, a sweet egg-y custard, assembled in a baking pan, and topped with brown sugar cinnamon streusel.
There’s enough goodness to make your entire family happy. And then some.
This casserole is the definition of comfort food. I made it for my friends who just welcomed their daughter into the world. I prepped the french toast the night before and brought the dish to them the next morning after baking it for about 45 minutes. That’s the beauty of this breakfast… it’s designed to be made ahead of time.
It’s designed to MAKE LIFE EASIER!
I typically use challah bread when I make french toast– either in traditional form or as a casserole. It’s my favorite when making berries & cream french toast also. Although you can use sourdough bread or french bread like I use for mini french toast. Homemade or store-bought, whichever is easiest. Even homemade honey-oat bread would be fantastic. No matter what type of bread you use– make sure it’s crusty. Day-old and a little stale. Bread that’s been sitting out a day or two (and therefore has lost some moisture) will absorb much more of the egg custard.
Speaking of the egg custard. What you’ll make is a thick mixture of eggs, milk, brown sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon will go into the custard AND in the streusel on top. The cinnamon soaking into the bread is phenomenal!
For that creamy custard taste, I use 8 eggs total and a little over 2 cups of whole milk. Whole milk is key; I don’t suggest a lower fat milk. Even half-and-half would do. You want a luxurious, thick custard.
You’ll cut the bread up into cubes, pour the custard overtop, and stick the whole pan in the refrigerator. During this time, the crusty bread soaks up the cinnamon spiced egg custard, imparting flavor and moisture into the dish as a whole. You can leave it in the refrigerator anywhere from overnight down to 3-4 hours. I find the longer the bread soaks, the tastier the casserole. So, put the refrigerator to work!
During the last few minutes of fridge-time, prepare a brown sugar streusel topping. This is like icing on the cake. The streusel topping is made from equal parts brown sugar and flour, a dose of cinnamon, and cold butter. Emphasis on the cold! The butter is cut into the other 3 ingredients using a pastry blender. Alternatively, you can use two forks or even your fingers.
Sprinkle it over the soaked bread and bake until golden brown. This is the kind of breakfast you make on the weekend not only to gobble up with friends and family, but to smell it as it bakes. I always thought baking banana bread was the best aroma from the oven but this… oh man. It’s even better.
There’s so much texture and flavor, but I think the best part of this overnight french toast is the juicy blueberries. They pop and burst, leaving sweet blueberry juice in between all the cracks and crevices of the casserole.
Fill your plate and top it all with maple syrup, butter, fresh fruit, or a shower of confectioners’ sugar. There’s no wrong way to eat this unbelievable goodness! Just as long as you go back for seconds.
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Unbelievable Blueberry French Toast Casserole
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 9 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: serves 12 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
There’s not one word more perfect than “unbelievable” to describe this overnight blueberry french toast casserole. Perfect make-ahead recipe for busy mornings!
Ingredients
- 1 (12-14 ounce) loaf french bread, sourdough bread, or challah*
- 1 cup (180g) fresh or frozen blueberries*
- 8 large eggs
- 2 and 1/4 cups (540ml) whole milk
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) pure vanilla extract
Streusel Topping
- 1/3 cup (69g) packed light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup (41g) all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 6 Tablespoons (86g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- optional: extra blueberries, fresh fruit, maple syrup, and/or confectioners’ sugar for topping
Instructions
- Grease a 9×13 inch pan with butter or spray with nonstick spray. Slice then cut the bread into cubes, about 1 inch in size. Spread cubes into the prepared baking pan and top evenly with blueberries. Set aside.
- Whisk the eggs, milk, cinnamon, brown sugar, and vanilla together until no brown sugar lumps remain. Pour over the bread. Cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap and stick in the refrigerator for 3 hours – overnight. Overnight is best.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Remove pan from the refrigerator.
- Prepare the topping: Whisk the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl. Cut in the cubed butter with a pastry blender or two forks. Sprinkle the topping over the soaked bread.
- Bake for 45-55 minutes or until golden brown on top. I usually bake it for 45 minutes because I like it softer. Serve immediately. Cover leftovers tightly and store in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Prepare the topping in advance, cover tightly, and store in the refrigerator. 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 up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and warm up in a 350°F (177°C) for 35 minutes or until warm in the center.
- Half Batch: This recipe can easily be halved in an 8 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. I typically use a loaf of challah bread that I slice and let sit out overnight. You’ll wind up with about 12 cups of cubed bread. A little more or less is OK.
- Fruit: Instead of blueberries, try strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries. In the fall, try cranberries or thinly sliced apples or pears. So many options!
Keywords: overnight french toast casserole, blueberry french toast casserole
Reader Questions and Reviews
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Hi Sally!
I make breakfast once a month for all my farmers and vendors at our farmers market. Can I bake this, cool, refrigerate and reheat the next day. It’s my only option.
We don’t see why that would be an issue! Warm up in a 350°F (177°C) for 35 minutes or until warm in the center. Hope it’s a hit!
I have been making this recipe for years, it is absolutely my family’s favorite for special occasions. We double the recipe for big get togethers. If I don’t have time to cube the bread I buy pre-cubed “stuffing mix” at our local grocery store (omitting the seasoning of course!) and still let it soak up all of the goodness overnight. I cannot gosh enough about this recipe!
★★★★★
Hello. This recipe sounds wonderful. My sister’s birthday is December 23. And I always make a special blueberry (her favorite) breakfast entree. This recipe will be celebrated this year! Blessings to all. And stay safe.
Michelle in Maine
Hi Michelle, Thanks for choosing this recipe for her birthday celebration! Let us know how she likes it.
Love this recipe. It is beyond yummy and was easy to make. Question: i baked it for 50 minutes and it had risen to just above the sides of a 9×13 pan, but once it cooled it was only about 1/3 the way up the side. Did O not bake it long enough or is that standard?
Hi Peggy, If it puffed up a lot during baking it’s completely normal for it to sink a bit as it cools. We are glad you enjoyed it!
If we only have 1-2 hours to refrigerate before baking is that ok? Is there something different I should do to make the timing work out?
Hi Kelly! It will still be delicious, but a bit less soft. Hope it’s a hit!
i make a similar dish every year with out the topping. I am looking forward to making this for our early christmas breakfast tomorrow wiht my father. 🙂
I make this when my adult kids and their spouses are visiting. Everyone LOVES it. It reheats well (if there’s any left over which is rare). I love that I can make it the night before and just pop it in the oven in the morning.
★★★★★
Can you mix different berries together with this recipe?
Absolutely!
Yummy! I’ll add more berries but this is easy and delicious! Thx! Ps. I used oat milk and gf flour. My kids never noticed and loved it!
★★★★★
Question: how do you offset the liquid from using frozen blueberries?
Hi Beth, I’ve never had an issue switching to frozen blueberries in this recipe– with no changes. If you’re concerned, try reducing the milk down to 1 and 3/4 cups (420ml).
This is the perfect combinations of flavors, I added some chopped walnuts to the topping sooooo good. Love all your recipes
★★★★★
Amazingly delicious!! Followed recipe to perfection!!
★★★★★
Hi Sally,
Can I substitute heavy whipping cream for the milk? Will this change the taste or texture too much?
Hi Emily, heavy whipping cream would yield a very rich and thick French toast casserole. We recommend sticking with milk.
I have a small B&B and I have been making this Blueberry French Toast bake often. Guest love it and it comes out perfectly delicious ! Thank you..one of my favorite recipes…
★★★★★
I went ahead and made it the first time with heavy whipping cream although the team here suggested not to do so. It came out amazing with a very creamy and rich filling. Today I made it with milk and it was also delicious, however, the bread didn’t seem to soak as well in milk as it did the heavy whipping cream. So although substituting heavy whipping cream makes it more decadent, it’s now my preferred method.
★★★★
This recipe is a winner! It’s not hard but it has a very special feel to is. I always request my family to make it for mothers day. My little daughter always asks for it for her birthday.
★★★★★
I cannot emphasize enough how much I love this recipe! I’ve made it 4-5 times and every time I get compliments nonstop about how much others enjoy it. I typically use sourdough bread or french bread and either way it turns out amazing. Easy to make and heat up and great for leftovers.
★★★★★
This is my family’s favorite! I switch up the berries to whatever I have on hand. The fave combo is blueberries and raspberries. I’ve used frozen and fresh without altering liquid measurements. It’s always perfect! I have only used whole milk the first time I made it. I always use coconut milk (from the carton) now and it’s perfect too if someone needs a dairy free option. Another way I’ve done it is with leftover croissants. Its sooo delicious. This is such a versatile recipe. Thank you!!!
★★★★★
Absolutely the best. As written, I would have rated it 4-1/2 stars. I don’t like a lot of sugar in my food. The first change I made was to omit the 3/4 cup of light brown sugar that gets mixed in the egg milk mixture. Didn’t miss it at all. I used a 14 ounce brioche loaf. I placed approximately half the bread cubes in the pan and sprinkled lightly with unsweetened flaked coconut. Would have liked to sprinkle some slivered almonds on the coconut but hubby doesn’t like almonds. Next time, will sprinkle some chopped walnuts over the coconut. I didn’t make the struesel topping but did mix 1/4 cup of light brown sugar with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and pinch of nutmeg. Sprinkled this on top just prior to baking. At 45 minutes it was cooked perfectly. I let it stand for 10 minutes before slicing. Oh my, this made the best dinner. Served it with maple syrup and a selection of fresh fruit.
★★★★★
Haven’t tried this yet, but it looks absolutely wonderful! However, it is on the menu! It is just my husband and me, and sometimes our daughter and husband visit, so when you say the recipe could be halved, what about making it and dividing it between two 9″ pans? Serve one and freeze the other?
Hi Barbara, yes, you can definitely do that! Follow the freezing directions found in the Notes section. Enjoy!
I have made this recipe sooo many times now. It has become a tradition to have on the first and last day of school- by my kid’s request! My daughter loves to have leftovers cold in her school lunch too. Thank you!
★★★★★
This was absolutely yummy! Definitely on my make-it-again list, especially when family comes to visit. The local grocery store gives our Church pantry day-old bread. This loaf was really stale and we were going to have to toss it, so it wouldn’t go to waste I thought it would be perfect for this recipe. I added extra milk and 1/2 cup of sour cream, since it was so dry. I also used an extra cup of raspberries along with the blueberries and increased the amount of streusel. My problem is that I can’t leave a recipe alone, always have to experiment! I used a 9×13 pan instead of two 8-9 squares. Actually, it was very easy to divide up into pieces, once it had cooled. I wrapped them in plastic wrap, bagged and froze them. So I will use the big pan next time as well.
★★★★★
Oh my! This is utterly delicious; can’t have just one piece! The streusel topping makes this recipe outstanding- it’s not the usual soggy French toast recipe. This will be made often at our house!!!
★★★★★
Hi Sally, been using your site as my go-to for baking as of late – always wonderful! Wondering if this recipe is able to adapt to muffins possibly? Have a large party upcoming and will be more of a finger-food situation than knife-and-fork (although very casual so messy is ok lol).
Thanks!!
Hi Emily Jean! You could definitely bake this French toast casserole in a muffin tin. It may be a little tricky to evenly disperse the egg mixture, but it shouldn’t be a huge issue. We’re unsure of the bake time. Let us know how it goes!
Made this for a girlfriends breakfast, everyone loved it. What about reheating in the microwave?
How many slices of bread would be needed for one casserole? (I don’t know how many 12 ounces would be )
Hi Lola, it depends on how big your slices are, but you’ll want about 12 cups of cubed bread. A little more or less is OK.
Made this last night and served it this morning as our out of town guests came in from the airport along with hot maple syrup and crispy bacon. It was a HUGE hit. Will be making again. I cut down the sugar in the custard to half cup and it was still sweet enough.
★★★★★
Absolutely delicious recipe! I found this a couple months ago and we have made it numerous times since. I have also shared this recipe with several family and friends. This will be our Christmas breakfast go to from now on. I have made both full and half batches. I have used 1% milk with good success and also added cream to the milk since I rarely have whole milk in my home. The streusel topping is really what puts this recipe over the top. Thanks for another great recipe. PS: I made your white wedding cake this summer and it was a huge hit.
★★★★★