Brioche French Toast Casserole

Brioche french toast casserole is a delicious breakfast recipe that can be prepared the night before and stored overnight to make breakfast a breeze in the morning! It’s got a fluffy cream cheese and blueberry filling that pairs perfectly with the brioche. This recipe is perfect for holidays, family gatherings and brunch!

Why You’ll Love This Overnight French Toast Casserole:

• This casserole is the perfect weekend breakfast when you want french toast but don’t want to make each slice individually! Likewise, it’s great for feeding a crowd because you can more than one portion all at once.
• The cream cheese layer adds a delicious and creamy twist that pairs perfectly with the blueberries and fluffy brioche bread.
• You can prepare and make the entire meal the night before! It’s a great overnight french toast casserole for special days like Christmas morning, Thanksgiving, birthdays, baby showers and Mother’s Day when you want a nice family breakfast that only has to be put into the oven the next morning.
• It’s versatile! You can swap the blueberries for strawberries, peaches or raspberries depending on the time of year, what you have on hand, or what you’re celebrating! Or, you can skip the fruit entirely!

Blueberry French Toast Casserole Ingredients

One of the things that’s so great about overnight brioche french toast casserole is that it uses mostly pantry ingredients and staple items! It can be more time consuming, but there’s not much to the actual hands on time when assembling the ingredients and casserole.

For the casserole:

For the main part of the casserole, including the cream cheese layer, you’ll need 12 slices of brioche bread (1 regular sized loaf), 8 ounces of cream cheese, 1/4 cup of white sugar, a dozen eggs, 2 cups of milk, and 1.5 cups of blueberries. You’ll also need lemon juice, maple syrup, and zest from the lemon.

For the topping:

The topping is also all common pantry items you likely already have! For this you’ll need rolled oats, flour, white sugar and brown sugar, butter and cinnamon.

This will get combined together to make a delicious topping that pairs really well with french toast!

Alternative Topping Option:

If you don’t want to make the topping, or don’t have time, you can instead just use some powdered sugar sprinkled over the top of the casserole once it’s finished baking. Drizzle a bit of maple syrup over that and you’ve got an easy, no fuss topping!

How to Make French Toast Casserole:

Step 1

The first step is take out the cream cheese so it can come to room temperature. Then, the next step is to cut up the brioche bread into cubes. You want to let the cubed bread sit out in the casserole dish, bowl or a baking sheet for about a half hour to a full hour to let them dry a bit, especially if your bread feels very fresh. You can skip this step if you’re short on time, or do it ahead of time such as the night before.

Step 2

Next, add the softened cream cheese, white sugar and lemon juice to a bowl. Beat these together with an electric mixer, stand mixer or fork until they’re well combined and it’s a fluffy consistency.

Step 3

The next step is grease a 9×13 casserole dish with butter or a nonstick cooking oil spray. Then, add half of the cubed bread to the bottom and layer the cream cheese mixture over the bread. Top the cream cheese with 3/4 cup of the blueberries.

Step 4

Layer the remaining half of the bread on top of the blueberry layer, and then sprinkle over the remaining 3/4 cup of blueberries over the that bread layer.

Step 5

The next step is to prepare the egg binder for the french toast casserole. To do this, combine the eggs, milk, lemon zest and maple syrup into a large bowl and beat it well with an electric mixer or fork.

Step 6

Once it’s well combined, pour it evenly into the casserole dish over the bread and blueberries. Cover the casserole dish with a lid or foil and refrigerate overnight, or for at least 2 hours if you’re making it the same day.

Prior to baking, remove the casserole dish from the fridge and let it sit out about 30 minutes. While it’s sitting out, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. and make the topping.

Step 7

To make the brioche french toast casserole topping, simply mix the topping ingredients together in a medium bowl. Then you’ll sprinkle that over the top of the casserole in an even layer just prior to placing it into the oven.

Step 8

The final cooking step is to bake your brioche casserole! Place it into the heated oven for 50 minutes, or until a fork, knife or toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle of your french toast casserole.

How to Serve:

You can serve your french toast casserole all on it’s own, or pair it with an egg dish of some sort such as a quiche, egg bake casserole, or protein like bacon and sausages.

French Toast Casserole Pairings:

• Sausage Tomato Basil Egg Bake
• Eggs Benedict Casserole
• Slow Cooker Bacon and Hash Brown Egg Bake
• Sausage and Sweet Potato Skillet
• Creamy Sausage and Potato Casserole
• Bacon and Vegetable Breakfast Skillet

Making Overnight Brioche French Toast Casserole:

You can make brioche french toast casserole ahead of time the night before you want to enjoy it! To make this and let it sit overnight, simply follow all of the recipe steps up to cooking step 5. Once you cover the casserole dish and place it in the refrigerator, just let it stay there all night until the morning when you are ready to bake it for breakfast or brunch.

You can make the topping ahead of time and store it separately in the refrigerator as well. Before you bake it the next day, let both the casserole and the topping sit out for about an hour before sprinkling the topping over the casserole and placing the dish into the oven.

How to Store and Reheat Leftovers:

Leftovers should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It can be kept for up to 5 days.

To reheat your leftovers, you can heat the oven to 350 degrees F. and place the casserole dish into the heated oven, uncovered. Bake until it’s warmed through. The time will depend on how much of the casserole you have left, but it won’t be more than about 10 minutes. If you’re reheating individual portions you can reheat them quickly and easily in the microwave.

FAQ:

Can you use another type of bread for the french toast casserole?

Yes. Instead of brioche bread, you can use french bread for the casserole.

What is brioche bread?

Brioche is a type of bread that has more eggs in the dough than others. This makes it a fluffier type of bread that’s rich, buttery and has a hint of sweetness. It works great for french toast and french toast casseroles because of it’s texture.

Can you use another type of fruit for the french toast casserole?

Yes, brioche french toast casserole can be made with 1.5 cups strawberries, raspberries, peaches or another type of sweet fruit you prefer. Or, you can omit it altogether and make it without any fruit at all.

Can you use frozen blueberries or frozen fruit?

Yes, frozen blueberries or frozen fruit can be used in place of fresh fruit in french toast casserole. You do not need to let the fruit thaw first, unless there’s obvious freezer burn on the fruit (large white crystals). That would add excess moisture that you don’t want in your casserole and that should be melted and patted off prior to using.

Do you need to bake this french toast casserole with the topping?

No! You can skip the topping altogether to make this recipe quicker and easier. Or, you can use a simple topping out of just drizzling the casserole with maple syrup and a light layer of powdered sugar prior to serving, or on each individual piece.

Why is my brioche french toast casserole soggy?

The cause of a soggy french toast bake is that it’s undercooked. This is really easy to fix! Simply place it back into the oven and bake it for another 10 to 15 minutes, and test it’s doneness by inserting a fork or toothpick into the middle of the casserole. When you remove it, it should come out clean.

Other Breakfast Recipes You’ll Love:

• Breakfast Burrito Skillet
• Strawberry Baked Oatmeal
• Mixed Berry Baked Oatmeal
• Freezer Breakfast Sandwiches
• Slow Cooker Chicken Fajita Egg Bake
• Slow Cooker Apple Spiced Oatmeal

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