Fluffy on the inside with cinnamon streusel topping and juicy berries throughout, this blueberry French toast casserole makes for one delicious breakfast. Easily prepped the night before and baked in the morning. 
My favorite breakfasts are ones that are warm, cozy and don’t require too much work first thing in the morning. This blueberry French toast casserole meets all of those criteria. It has a deliciously fluffy texture, cinnamon flavor, and crunchy streusel topping with blueberries throughout. You can easily throw it together the night before, then pop it in the oven in the morning when you wake up.
It’s essentially somewhere between classic French toast and a blueberry coffee cake thanks to the crunchy streusel topping. And if you love bread pudding or French toast that’s super fluffy – then this is the recipe for you.
2 Baking Options
This French toast casserole can either be prepped the night before and baked the next morning, or prepped and baked the morning that you plan to serve it.
Either way, you’ll:
- Slice your bread into squares about 1 inch in size. You can also simply rip it into pieces if you prefer.
- Then you’ll make the French toast batter just like you would with regular French toast – whisking together the eggs, a little sugar, milk, cinnamon and vanilla extract.
- Place the bread into a large, 3-quart casserole dish along with the blueberries.
- Then pour the French toast batter over the bread, and give it a gentle stir so that all the bread is covered in the liquid.
From there, you have 2 options.
1. Make-Ahead/Overnight Blueberry French Toast Casserole
If you plan to prep the casserole the night before and bake the next morning, you’ll cover the dish and place it in the fridge. You can make the streusel, pop it in an airtight container, and refrigerate it overnight. In the morning when you’re ready to bake, sprinkle the streusel on top and bake as directed. Alternatively, you can also mix together the streusel in the morning.
However, do not sprinkle the streusel on the casserole before refrigerating overnight. The moisture from the milk and egg mixture makes the streusel become soggy instead of crunchy.
2. Bake Immediately
If you plan to prep your blueberry French toast in the morning, after making the French toast mixture you’ll sprinkle the streusel on top and bake immediately. I actually prefer the texture when I prepare it the night before because it gives the bread time to really soak up the French toast batter. Either way, it’s delicious.
French Toast Tip: Always Use Stale Bread
When making any kind of French toast – it’s important to use stale or day-old bread. When the bread is dried out, it’s able to soak up more of the egg batter without getting soggy. It also creates French toast that’s puffier in the center.
If your bread is fresh, don’t stress. You can easily dry out the bread in your oven. Before making the casserole, turn the oven to 250F degrees and place slices of bread on a baking tray. Bake the bread for about 10-15 minutes. When you remove the bread from the oven, it should feel slightly dry/stale (but definitely not as crispy as toast).
I like to use a thick-cut white bread for this blueberry french toast casserole – anything like brioche, challah, texas toast, or just something white and fluffy (but stale) is perfect.
Note that the amount of French toast batter you need will depend on your bread. More stale bread can soak up more batter. As well, different types of bread will soak up more or less batter. You may not quite need all of the French toast batter to soak your bread.
Fluffy in the middle, crunchy streusel of top, and sweet blueberries throughout – this blueberry streusel French toast casserole is hard to pass up. And if you’re looking for more blueberry breakfast recipes – then don’t forget:
Blueberry French Toast Casserole
Equipment
- 3-quart casserole dish (such as a 9x13 inch pan)
Ingredients
French Toast
- 1 large loaf of stale white bread* 15-18 oz
- 1 cup blueberries fresh or frozen
- 8 large eggs
- 2 cups milk I prefer 2%
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Streusel Topping
- ½ cup all-purpose flour AKA plain flour
- ½ cup brown sugar light or dark
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter melted
Instructions
French Toast
- Lightly grease a 3-quart casserole dish (such as a 9x13 inch pyrex or ceramic baking dish).
- Slice the bread into small squares about 1 inch (2.5 cm) in size.
- Place the bread and blueberries in the greased baking dish and gently toss the mixture.
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs.
- Whisk in the milk, sugar, vanilla extract and cinnamon.
- Pour about ½ of the egg mixture batter over top of the bread in the casserole dish. Gently toss the mixture with a rubber spatula.
- Pour the rest of the egg batter over the bread a little at a time until the bread is completely covered/soaked in batter. Note that you may not need all of the batter, depending on how dried out the bread is, and how much of the batter it soaks up.
Streusel Topping
- In a medium bowl stir together the flour, brown sugar, white sugar and cinnamon.
- Stir in the melted butter - the consistency should be similar to wet sand.
Overnight Baking Instructions
- Cover the French toast casserole and place in the fridge overnight.
- Place the streusel in an airtight container and place in the fridge overnight.
- When ready to bake, remove the casserole and streusel from the fridge and preheat the oven to 350F degrees.
- Sprinkle the streusel on top of the casserole.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes - baking the casserole longer will make it less gooey. After about 30 minutes, if the top already looks brown, gently tent a piece of aluminum foil over top of the pan and continue baking.
Baking Immediately
- Preheat the oven to 350F degrees.
- Sprinkle the streusel over top of the casserole.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes - baking it for longer will make it less gooey. After about 30 minutes, if the top already looks brown, gently tent a piece of aluminum foil over top of the pan and continue baking.
Notes
- Thick-cut white bread works perfectly. Bread such as challah, brioche, or Texas toast work well.
- The bread should be stale/dried out so that it can soak up the egg batter without getting too soggy. If your bread is not stale, preheat the oven to 250F degrees. Place slices of bread on a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the bread feels dry to the touch.
- Frozen berries work, but can bleed color - leaving streaks of blue/green in the casserole.
- Store leftovers covered in the fridge for up to 2 days. Reheat in the microwave before enjoying.
- Nutrition information is based off the casserole being evenly shared between 10 people - including the streusel topping but without syrup, whipped cream, etc. It is meant to be an estimate only.
Nutrition
Looks good! Planning to assemble tonight for tomorrow’s breakfast