Overnight Blueberry French Toast Casserole
Juicy berries, crunchy walnuts, yummy cream cheese, and warmed-up maple syrup make this Overnight Blueberry French Toast Casserole a fantastic breakfast or brunch dish for Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and any day of the year. It can easily be doubled to accommodate a crowd! It’s a make-ahead dish, so you can just pop it in the oven for breakfast the next morning.
If you love blueberries, check out our other delicious, tried and tested blueberry recipes like these scrumptious Blueberry Zucchini Muffins, easy French-style dessert Blueberry Clafoutis and ricotta cheese filled Blueberry Ricotta Pound Cake!
It is an established fact that my family loves French Toast (or eggy bread as my British hubby would say) for breakfast and especially for brunch. I have a few versions of it including 3 in this blog!
We surely cannot get enough of it. I have tried many variations of this delicious American-style stuffed French toast but the blueberry version is one of our favorites.
It is just so wonderful to bite into this warm overnight-soaked baked bread and then into your mouth suddenly burst delicious juices from the berries!
The crunch from pecans or walnuts is an added delight to your tastebuds, too!
But that’s not all – the almost melted cream cheese provides a delightful contrast of texture and flavor which makes your palate truly dance with joy!
As if that’s not enough, it’s made even better by drizzling your freshly baked french toast with warmed-up pure Maple syrup and then helping yourself with a generous dusting of powdered sugar on top to add extra sweetness and love! Aren’t you hungry yet?
Did I mention you drizzle it with some melted butter on top, too? Don’t forget that!!!
This version is good for about 4-6 servings. I only have a small family of 4 and to leave any guesswork every time I make it, I have finally decided to jot down my exact measurements and how I make it.
Of course, this can easily be doubled when you are serving more. Just use a 9 x 13 baking dish instead. Please enjoy!
This is perfect to make during berry season especially when blueberries are in their best and sweetest form! Pick the best quality blueberries you can find – I am an avid fan of Michigan blueberries and think they are the best.
I’ve done a lot of blueberry picking when I lived there for 10 years so you can imagine how many times I have made this dish before – a lot!!!
Ok, so you are probably getting so hungry at this point so let’s go on to the method of how to make this most delicious Overnight Blueberry French Toast Casserole!
WHAT ARE THE INGREDIENTS FOR OVERNIGHT BLUEBERRY FRENCH TOAST CASSEROLE?
- Brioche or Hawaiian Sweet Rolls – I love using this instead of french bread because the end product is a soft and fluffy french toast.
- cream cheese – buy a good quality cream cheese
- chopped pecans or walnuts – optional if you can’t have it or don’t fancy it. It does add a lot to the casserole so if you can have it – do!
- Blueberries – pick the best!
- Eggs
- Milk
- Brown Sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Spices (Cinnamon, Nutmeg, ground Cloves) – add at least one of the spices or all three for some yummy hints of warm spice
- melted Butter (to be used after baking) – anything is better with Butter, right?
To serve
Powdered sugar, for dusting
Pure maple syrup, for drizzling
HOW TO MAKE BLUEBERRY FRENCH TOAST CASSEROLE? – To print and see full instructions check out the recipe card below!
Butter or grease an 8 x 8 square baking dish. Place half the bread cubes in a single layer, filling in all the gaps.
Evenly scatter the cream cheese cubes, nuts, and blueberries on top. Cover completely with the remaining bread cubes.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Evenly pour the egg mixture over the bread cubes.
Gently press down on the cubes with your palms to allow the top layer of bread to absorb the liquid. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Meanwhile, remove the dish from the refrigerator and let sit for 20-30 minutes at room temperature. Bake the French toast covered for 20 minutes.
Take the dish out of the oven, uncover and then take the remaining blueberries and gently press them into the bread evenly spreading them all over.
Return to the oven and bake for another 18-20 minutes or until the cubes are nicely toasted and there’s no more liquid at the bottom.
Transfer the dish to a rack and drizzle the melted butter on top. Let sit for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the rim of the pan to release the French toast.
Cut into squares. Serve sprinkled with powdered sugar and warmed maple syrup drizzled on top. Enjoy this lavish breakfast or brunch dish!
Overnight Blueberry French Toast Casserole
Ingredients
- butter, as needed to grease baking dish
- 1 loaf brioche or Hawaiian Sweet Rolls (about 12 oz), sliced into 1-inch cubes
- 1/2 block 8-ounce package cream cheese, halved then sliced into cubes
- 1/3 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped
- 1 cup fresh blueberries, plus an extra handful (separate for topping)
- 4 large eggs, (5, if your egg yolks are quite small)
- 1 cup milk
- ¼ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp ground Cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground Nutmeg
- 1 pinch ground cloves (optional)
- 3 tbsp butter, melted (for drizzling after baking)
- maple syrup, as needed
- powdered sugar, as needed
Instructions
- Butter or grease an 8 x 8 square baking dish. Place half the bread cubes in a single layer, filling in all the gaps.
- Evenly scatter the cream cheese cubes, nuts, and blueberries on top. Cover completely with the remaining bread cubes.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Evenly pour the egg mixture over the bread cubes. Gently press down on the cubes with your palms to allow the top layer of bread to absorb the liquid. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
- The next day, preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Meanwhile, remove the dish from the refrigerator and let sit for 20-30 minutes at room temperature. Bake the French toast covered for 20 minutes.
- Take the dish out of the oven, uncover and then take the remaining blueberries and gently press them into the bread evenly spreading them all over.
- Return to the oven and bake for another 18-20 minutes or until the cubes are nicely toasted and there’s no more liquid at the bottom.Transfer the dish to a rack and drizzle the melted butter on top. Let sit for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the rim of the pan to release the French toast.
- Cut into squares. Serve sprinkled with powdered sugar and warmed maple syrup drizzled on top. Enjoy this lavish breakfast or brunch dish!
Notes
Nutrition
Last updated on April 10th, 2025 at 10:31 pm
We love this. We make a double batch and share it with family and friends.
Yay, so glad to know that! Thanks for letting us know!
Tell me what you think about this? I have a jar of Amerena cherries that I have been really wanting to use.. what if I use them (drained) instead of blueberries, and keep everything else in the recipe the same.. would almond extract be better, or keep the vanilla?
I love blueberries and I definitely want to try it the way you have it but I have the cherries on hand and they need to get used up.. thanks for your recipe!
Denise, I’ve actually made this with cherries although the dried kind so I cannot see why it won’t work (I’ve made this with cranberries, too!). I haven’t used almond extract so I cannot tell you how it would taste. If you want to try that just don’t put too much because almond extract tend to have a strong taste – just add enough to enhance but not overwhelm. I hope that combo works. Let us know. Thanks!
Absolutely delicious and a breeze to prepare. I don’t recall seeing the calories listed within the article though.?
Glad you enjoyed this. It’s such a huge favorite on the blog. The nutrition would be added once I’ve updated the recipe card. I’m at the hospital as I write so you need to wait for a bit.
Hi,
I’d love to try this recipe but my daughter is highly allergic to all nuts. Can I leave them out or substitute them with something else?
You can leave out the nuts if you like. It should still be yummy. Enjoy.
Looks really pretty and simple to make. It sounds like bread pudding.
Similar. Yes, it’s very easy to make indeed. Thank you!
Did I miss it, what is the recipe for 9×12 size. This looks so delicious.
As I mentioned in the post, you just need to double the recipe to make it fit a 9×13 pan – that’s all. Enjoy.
Fantastic recipe! Definitely a keeper! Made it for Easter brunch, and everyone loved it. I doubled the recipe. Used the king’s Hawaiian bread and took your suggestion and added pecans.
Used some hot dog buns and white sandwich bread that I needed to use up. Otherwise made exactly as written. Came out awesome!! Will definitely make again!!
YAY! So glad this worked for you. Thanks for letting us know.
Great French Toast!! I used frozen blueberries. Next time I’ll be using fresh blueberries. The frozen just didn’t do it for me, which is my own fault because the recipe page says to use fresh for best results. Otherwise, I’ll be keeping this in my rotation for a while!
Such an easy delicious brunch! I made it for the first time for company at the lake. It was a hit with everyone!
I am so delighted that you loved this! It’s so delicious indeed. Thank you so much for letting us know.
I just made this and wow!!
Let’s just say I had trouble getting the edges even- you know what I’m sayin’? So good!!
So happy for the suggested substitute of Hawaiian rolls bc I can’t ever find brioche bread/rolls. Thank you!
Yay! So happy you enjoyed this! Thanks for letting us know. It’s absolutely delicious!
Made this for Christmas morning and wow, it’s so good! Love the convenience of using Hawaiian rolls since brioche bread is a little harder for me to find. Super simple to make and so delicious! Thanks for sharing!
So glad you enjoyed this! Thank you for letting us know.
This was absolutely delicious. It went over really well at my house.
Yay! So glad to know that!
I made this recipe a lot, one of my favorite. I always made using the 8 x 8, now I need to make bigger, using maybe a 9 x 13. If I use a 9 x 13 do I just double the recipe? thanks
Yes, you can just double the batch! Thank you!