When we were in the mountains about a month ago with some of our friends, my gal pal Lisa made this recipe for Blueberry French Toast Casserole for breakfast one morning. It was so amazing, and I’ve been looking forward to making it again. Let’s be honest though, when you put cream cheese, and bread, and blueberries all together….what’s not to love?!
One thing that I particularly liked about this recipe was that it wasn’t too too sweet. Some french toasty recipes can load on the sugar, and this one really didn’t. There’s a little bit of maple syrup in the mixture that you pour over the bread to soak, but other than that, it’s the blueberry simple syrup that really adds the extra sweetness. I’m thinking this is what I’m going to be making on Christmas morning for our family this year as well. It is a beautiful dish and felt festive the first time I had it (even though we were eating it in our jammies with a cup of stove-top percolated coffee and a bunch of kids yelling in the background.)
I made some up yesterday to send with my Hubs to work this morning…just for fun. Rest assured I’ll be carving out a slice before I send it along though!
So here you go (oh…this is a make-ahead recipe…night before sort of thing):
Blueberry French Toast Casserole
Ingredients
- 12 slices day-old bread, cut into 1 inch cubes
- 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- 12 eggs, beaten
- 2 cups milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup blueberries (I used frozen)
- 1 tablespoon butter
Directions
- Lightly grease a 9×13 inch baking dish. Arrange half the bread cubes in the dish, and top with cream cheese cubes. Sprinkle 1 cup blueberries over the cream cheese, and top with remaining bread cubes.
- In a large bowl, mix the eggs, milk, vanilla extract, and syrup. Pour over the bread cubes. Cover, and refrigerate overnight.
- Remove the bread cube mixture from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Cover, and bake 30 minutes. Uncover, and continue baking 25 to 30 minutes, until center is firm and surface is lightly browned.
- In a medium saucepan, mix the sugar, cornstarch, and water. Bring to a boil. Stirring constantly, cook 3 to 4 minutes. Mix in the remaining 1 cup blueberries. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes, until the blueberries burst. Stir in the butter, and pour over the baked French toast
Enjoy ya’ll!
Several of you have expressed interest in a lower fat version of this and just fyi, I used low fat cream cheese and skim milk when I made it. I see no reason why you couldn’t use egg beaters (which are still eggs, just with a lower yolk to white ratio) and splenda to make the simple syrup.
I’m linking up too at Women Living Well and Tasty Tuesday
I’m heading to the grocery store after reading this!!! yummy!
shut up! That sounds sinful! Of course my thought is that i could make it with egg beaters, splenda and reduced fat cream cheese! i just might try it and let you know if it’s good the lower cal way 😉
I’d LOVE to hear how the low cal / low sugar version is….shoot me a note @ [email protected]? I was wondering about incorporating agave nectar….?
THX!
Yummmmmmmmmm!!! I am definitely copying that idea, and the Gaymon family will be having that Christmas morning, too. Let us know about the lower cal way, Toni!
The picture of this makes my mouth water. Thanks for sharing such a great recipe!