Amazing Blueberry and Cream Cheese French Toast Casserole

We love this brunch casserole and so do our guests! You make it the night before and just pop it in the oven in the morning.

If I was a blueberry…this is how I’d like to be remembered :).

How to make delicious Blueberry and Cream Cheese French Toast Casserole!

First, the bread. I used a loaf of the stuff they bake up at your local grocery store. Cheap and cheerful! But you can sub with brioche or texas toast type if ya wanna get fancy. Anything that you can cut into big chunks. If you can find day old bread, even better. Or just leave it out overnight if you have the time.

Ingredients:

For Casserole:

• 1 large loaf french bread - about 8 cups day old is best
• 8 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups half and half
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup fresh blueberries or frozen blueberries that have been tossed in 1 tablespoon of flour to keep them from bleeding
• 1 8 oz package cream cheese, light or regular cubed. (for easier cutting put in freezer for 15 minutes)
• 1/4 cup raw sugar for sprinkling on top optional

Blueberry Sauce:

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 cups blueberries

Instructions:

1. Butter a 9 x 13 casserole dish.
2. Cut french bread into 2 inch cubes and set aside.
3. In large bowl, combine eggs, half and half, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and salt. Whisk until completely mixed.
4. Put one half of bread cubes in prepared dish.
5. Top with half cream cheese cubes and half cup of blueberries.
6. Add remaining bread cubes and top with remaining cream cheese and additional half cup of blueberries.
7. Pour egg mixture over bread cubes. Pressing mixture down so completely soaked by egg mixture.
8. Cover with plastic wrap and store in refrigerator for at least 2 hours or up to 48 hours.
9. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
10. Remove plastic wrap and sprinkle casserole with raw sugar.
11. Cover casserole with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
12. Remove foil and bake an additional 20-30 minutes or until center is firm and bread is slightly brown on top.
13. Cool slightly and serve with blueberry sauce.
14. Blueberry Sauce
15. In small saucepan, combine sugar, water and cornstarch until simmering.
16. Add blueberries and simmer for 10 minutes. Using a fork or whisk, slightly break up the blueberries to desired consistency.
17. Cool slightly before serving or store in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

NOTES:

Tips to make this Blueberry French Toast Casserole with Fresh Blueberry Sauce:

• The egg and bread has to sit at least 2 hours or overnight. Can be made up to 2 days in advance.
• Freeze the cream cheese for 15 minutes to make cutting into cubes much easier.
• Feeds 8-10 people.
• Comes with a blueberry sauce recipe that takes only 10 minutes, is super simple and makes enough to out last the last bite of this casserole …thats always a problem with sauce isn’t it? Never enough. But I got ya covered on this one!
• We used fresh blueberries, but frozen is okay. (If using frozen, just toss them in 2 tablespoons of flour, so they don’t bleed all over your pretty little casserole. After tossing them in the flour, shake off the excess). But fresh is best for this recipe.
• We sprinkled it with raw sugar so the top was all crunchy and stuff…yum.