Description
Easy make-ahead Blueberry French Toast Casserole with a buttery streusel topping. Perfect for weekend brunch, holidays, or feeding a crowd! Prep the night before and bake in the morning for stress-free entertaining.
Ingredients
For the Casserole:
- 1 loaf sturdy bread (12–14 oz): French, sourdough, brioche, or challah, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 12 cups)
- 1 cup blueberries: fresh or frozen (don’t thaw if using frozen!)
- 8 large eggs
- 2 1/4 cups whole milk
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
For the Streusel Topping:
- 1/3 cup packed brown sugar: light or dark works great
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter: cold and cubed
Optional for Serving:
- Pure maple syrup
- Extra fresh blueberries
- Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Instructions
Spray your pan or smear butter around. Hack up the bread into chunks. They should be like an inch or so but I’ve never measured. Throw it all in the pan. Scatter the blueberries over it. If they’re frozen just use them frozen—don’t wait for them to thaw.
If your bread is super fresh from the store today you can dry it out by sticking it in a 300 degree oven for 10 minutes but I usually forget to do this and it turns out fine anyway.
Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat them with the milk, brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Mix it till you don’t see egg whites floating around. Pour it over the bread. Mash the bread down with a big spoon so it soaks up the liquid. Some pieces float back up and that’s fine—those are gonna be the crispy ones everyone fights over.
Cover it with plastic wrap or foil and stick it in the fridge. Needs to be in there at least 3 hours but I always do overnight because who has 3 hours in the middle of the day. The bread has to really soak or you get crunchy dry bits mixed with soggy bits and it’s gross.
Mix the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a bowl. Cut up your cold butter into little cubes and throw them in. Use a pastry cutter or just stab at it with two forks until it looks like crumbly wet sand. Keep this in the fridge until you need it.
Your butter really needs to be cold from the fridge. Room temp butter makes this weird and oily.
Heat the oven to 350. Pull the casserole out and take the cover off. Dump the crumbly topping all over it. Try to spread it around but don’t stress about making it perfect. Bake it 45 to 55 minutes. I check at 45 and if I want it really soft I take it out then. If I want cleaner slices I wait till 55.
You know it’s done when the sides look set and when you jiggle the pan the middle only moves a little bit. Top should be brown.
Leave it on the counter for 5 or 10 minutes or when you try to scoop it out it’ll be soupy. We dump maple syrup on ours. If people are coming over I’ll put powdered sugar on top because it looks fancier.
Notes
- Avoid sogginess: Make sure your bread is slightly dried out before starting, and don’t press ALL the bread down into the custard—leave some pieces poking up for textural contrast.
- Even baking: Rotate your pan halfway through baking if your oven has hot spots. This ensures even browning on that beautiful streusel topping.
- Test for doneness: Insert a knife into the center—if it comes out mostly clean with just a little custard clinging to it, you’re perfect!
- Smart shortcut: Buy pre-cubed bread from your bakery’s day-old section. It’s already dried out AND saves you cutting time!
- Common mistake to avoid: Don’t use fresh, frozen blueberries straight from the freezer without tossing them in a tablespoon of flour first. This helps prevent them from sinking and creating a soggy bottom layer.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes + Chill Time: 3 hours (or overnight)
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American