This overnight Blueberry French Toast Casserole is an excellent choice for a breakfast buffet. Assemble it a day in advance and bake it in the morning for an easy addition to your brunch menu.
Looking for more make-ahead brunch ideas? My Ham and Asparagus Strata is a savory overnight breakfast casserole we love!
Imagine lying in bed after sleeping in late, listening to the quiet rumblings of your husband and children working away in the kitchen. The house smells of coffee and the delicious breakfast that’s being lovingly prepared by your family. It’s Mother’s Day and this is your day.
Reality check.
Congratulations if this is happening in your house. If not, I’m certain your little ones have their hearts and intentions in the right place. Plus, their big ideas about a gourmet Mother’s Day breakfast would probably wreak havoc in your kitchen anyway!
This easy Blueberry French Toast Casserole recipe allows you to take the morning off from cooking and will make your children feel like accomplished cooks. It also gives you an excuse to get your kids in the kitchen to cook with you (or with Dad), all in the name of Mother’s Day. It’s genius!
Put this easy breakfast casserole together with your kids help the day before Mother’s Day, or any special day. Let it rest in the refrigerator overnight and in the morning, just mix together the simple topping and pop it in the oven.
They will feel they’ve really done something special for you when this comes out of the oven and there will be very little to clean up.
Ingredient Notes
- Cubed bread: Pick up a loaf of thick-sliced bread or Texas Toast. If you can’t find either, a loaf of French bread can be sliced thickly and cubed.
- Blueberries: For the best result, I recommend using fresh blueberries. Thawed frozen berries can be substituted but the texture won’t be quite the same.
- Mascarpone cheese: This Italian, soft textured triple cream cheese adds rich, creamy goodness to this recipe. If you want to lighten it up a bit, you can substitute one-third less fat cream cheese but the mascarpone takes it into the stratosphere. Check the gourmet cheese section at your local grocery store. You gotta try it!
- Egg custard: Large eggs whisked with whole milk, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, almond extract, cinnamon, and nutmeg. This is the eggy custard base of the French toast casserole.
- Streusel topping: Sliced almonds tossed with some light brown sugar and melted butter.
How to Make Blueberry French Toast Casserole
- Slice the bread into 1-inch cubes and place half of them in a greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Top the bread cubes with the blueberries and dollops of the mascarpone cheese.
- Layer the remaining bread cubes over the top.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, almond extract, cinnamon and nutmeg.
- Pour the egg mixture evenly over the casserole, moistening the top layer of bread cubes. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate it overnight.
In the morning, remove the dish from the refrigerator and let it sit on the kitchen counter while you make the topping and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Combine the almonds, brown sugar, and melted butter in a small bowl.
- Sprinkle the topping evenly over the top of the casserole and bake it for 40 to 45 minutes or until nicely browned.
Tips for the Best Blueberry French Toast Casserole
Avoid a Soggy French Toast Casserole: Standard sandwich bread is not substantial enough to stand up to the custard in this recipe and will likely result in a soggy casserole. Instead, be sure to use thick-sliced bread or slice a loaf of French bread yourself.
Use Fresh Berries: I don’t recommend substituting frozen blueberries for the best texture. However, you can substitute raspberries, blackberries, or a mixture with a delicious result.
Add Texture: The nut streusel topping is an easy way to add more flavor and nice texture to the recipe.
Bake it Uncovered: Bake the casserole uncovered so it will cook properly and the streusel topping will brown and crisp.
Serve with Maple Syrup: Warm some pure maple syrup briefly in the microwave and serve it with the casserole. It’s delicious smothered in syrup!
Storage Tips
Cover and refrigerate leftovers for up to 4 days. Reheat individual servings in the microwave just until heated through.
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Blueberry Almond French Toast Bake
Ingredients
- 1 loaf Texas Toast or thick sliced bread, 12 slices
- 8 ounces mascarpone cheese
- 6 ounces fresh blueberries
- 8 eggs
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon pure almond extract
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
For the almond topping
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
- ⅓ cup brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup sliced almonds
Instructions
- Coat a 9- x 13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- Cut the slices of bread into 1-inch cubes. Place half of the bread cubes in the prepared baking dish and sprinkle evenly with the blueberries. Drop small pieces of mascarpone over the top of the blueberries and top with the remaining bread cubes.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla extract, almond extract, cinnamon, and nutmeg until well combined. Pour the mixture evenly over the top of the bread cubes. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
- The next morning, remove the casserole from the refrigerator and allow the dish to sit on the counter while you preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Combine the melted butter, brown sugar, and almonds in a small mixing bowl. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the top of the casserole and bake, uncovered, 40 to 45 minutes, or until casserole is golden brown on top. If needed, you can broil the top briefly to further brown the crust. Let it rest 10 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
This post was originally published on May 11, 2012. It has been updated with new text and images.
We had this for brunch today and it was delicious! I already love French Toast Bake recipes but I loved the addition of almond extract (doubled it) and mascarpone in this. It was perfect! Used a loaf of Italian bread.
That’s great, Michelle! So glad you enjoyed it. So nice to hear from you 🙂
I don’t like blueberries so will try wiht raspberries.
We made this for our kids and it was a hit. Bill ate two servings and barely ate his lunch. Yum!
I just visited the Pinterest board you mentioned and was drooling all over it! Of course, this was the yummiest-looking of the bunch!
I didn’t noticed that I missed this post. My weekday is impossible to make something like this but usually weekends are more relaxed. This one sounds very lovely and I love to have this with my breakfast coffee to balance out the sweetness and bitterness… lovely recipe!
Val this looks fantastic – breakfast bakes just totally RULE!!
oh man, this is such a delicious breakfast! would definitely love to wake up to something like this!
Happy Mothers Day! Good call and making this the night before, such an easier way to enjoy the day. Brunch at a restaurant on Mothers Day is FAR to hectic for my taste.
What a mouthwatering breakfast bake, Valerie! This looks so delicious!
Fantastic idea! Your boys did a great job. I’m sure this would have been a perfect treat on sunday morning. Mascarpone and blueberries with almonds sounds just perfect.
My kids usually make breakfast for me on Mother’s Day, but I had to work all day yesterday. We ended up with a not so gourmet breakfast for dinner instead. It’s the thought that counts right!? Hope you had a fabulous day celebrating with your family!
Happy mother’s day! And I’m loving this french toast. I’ve made baked french toasts with strawberries before and I absolutely loved it but I’m sure I’ll love this just as much, if not more!