Baked Blueberry Lemon French Toast
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No stress, no fuss breakfast! Prep the night before or freeze as needed. Easy, simple and company worthy!
what is baked french toast
Baked French toast, also known as a French toast casserole, is a make-ahead breakfast dish with custard-soaked bread baked until golden brown, adding desired toppings such as fruit, confectioners’ sugar or maple syrup.
reasons to make baked blueberry lemon french toast
- Make-ahead and freezer friendly. Conveniently prep everything the night before and pop it in the oven right before serving. No stress, no fuss, and no more flipping individual slices of French toast while your guests are impatiently waiting, aka hungry toddlers!
- Great for large crowds. With its easy prep and hands-off cooking, this French toast casserole is perfect for big family gatherings, holidays (think Christmas morning before presents or Easter brunch), baby showers and weekend company.
- Guaranteed favorite. Who doesn’t love French toast? With its soft custardy-bread-pudding vibes and cinnamon sugar crumb topping, this breakfast casserole is sure to be a guaranteed crowd-favorite.
- Versatile, flexible recipe. Use cinnamon swirl bread, add in different berries, swap out for gluten-free bread or top with nuts, dried fruit or syrup. Baked french toast can be as simple or as over the top as you want!
how to make the easiest french toast casserole
- Layer with bread cubes and blueberries
- Top with milk + egg custard
- Refrigerate overnight
- Sprinkle with brown sugar cinnamon crumb topping
- Bake until golden brown perfection
tips and tricks for success
- Use day-old, stale bread. The best French toast casserole starts with stale, dried bread. The drier the bread, the more custard it can soak up without falling apart.
- Use fresh blueberries. Frozen blueberries will have more juices released that may result in soggy French toast.
- Avoid fat-free milk. Use whole milk for the creamiest texture as fat free or 2% milk will not provide enough richness for the custard.
- Prep the night before. Baked french toast is one of those great dishes that you can prep ahead of time and is recommended to do so, assembling everything the night before and giving the bread plenty of time to soak the egg custard. This is key for that favorited bread-pudding texture.
- Halve the recipe. Need a small-scale version? This recipe can easily be halved and baked in an 8×8 baking dish, reducing the bake time to about 35-40 minutes.
- Freeze before baking. This will preserve the texture and prevent sogginess, storing the crumb topping separately. Always use a freezer-safe baking dish, label, date and freeze up to 3 months.
baked blueberry lemon french toast variations
Bread
Use day-old, stale brioche, challah, sourdough or cinnamon raisin (or cinnamon swirl) bread.
Fruit
Add in your favorite berries (strawberries, raspberries or blackberries), bananas, apples or peaches. We also have a pumpkin, cinnamon apple and strawberries and cream version.
Cream cheese
Add in 1 (8-ounce) package brick-style cream cheese, cubed, for an extra decadent, creamy layer.
Topping
Serve with maple syrup, cinnamon sugar or blueberry jam.
Tools For This Recipe
9 x 13 baking dish
Baked Blueberry Lemon French Toast: Frequently Asked Questions
You can quickly dry out the bread by baking the bread cubes in a single layer on a sheet pan at 275°F for about 10-15 minutes.
There can be many reasons for this – too much dairy was used, the bread was soaked too long or the bread was too soft (ex. white bread). If your french toast is soggy, pop it back in the oven, increasing the baking time as needed until the desired consistency is reached.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Yes! Prior to baking, cover the french toast tightly with plastic wrap, then aluminum foil. Freeze up to 3 months. To reheat, thaw overnight in the fridge and bake as directed, adding a few more minutes to the bake time as needed.
For the best results, we recommend assembling, freezing, then baking to help preserve texture. But if you’ve already baked your french toast, no worries at all – it can still be frozen!
Baked Blueberry Lemon French Toast
Ingredients
- 1 (12-count) package KING’S HAWAIIAN Original Hawaiian Sweet Dinner Rolls, cubed
- 1 cup blueberries
- 1 ½ cups milk
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup, or more, to taste
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
For the crumb topping
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup brown sugar, packed
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, cut into cubes
Equipment
Instructions
- Lightly coat a 9 x 13 baking dish with nonstick spray. Place a layer of bread cubes evenly into the baking dish. Top with blueberries in an even layer, repeating 2 more times and ending with a layer of bread.
- In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, maple syrup, lemon zest, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour mixture evenly over the bread cubes. Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove baking dish from the refrigerator; let stand 30 minutes. Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the bread cubes.
- Place into oven and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Serve immediately, sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar, if desired.
For the crumb topping
- In a small bowl, combine flour, sugar and cinnamon. Add cold butter and toss to coat, using your fingers to work the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles coarse crumbs.
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Up here in BC the dinner rolls aren’t available. What common ingredient could I sub them for? Croissants?
So delicious!! Doubled the recipe for a 9×13 pan based on some of the previous comments and baked for 45 minutes and it was perfect! Will definitely be making this one on repeat.
This was a hit at easter brunch. Still used a 9×13 baking dish, I just used a few extra rolls(3) and added a 1/4c of milk to compensate. This will definitely be a regular in my brunch rotation.
This was the perfect treat for our family and was so good!
Leaving a 5 star review, only after adjusting the size of the casserole dish to 8×8, per amount of the listed ingredients!
Need to correct size of casserole dish or double the listed ingredients for a 13×9 casserole dish.
Recipe is a great brunch casserole and restaurant quality!
Can I make this two days before?
I made this with about 4 other breakfast casseroles/crockpot dishes for my daughter’s second birthday breakfast party and it was very popular. Thinking of meal prepping it before her baby sister comes next month. Has anyone ever frozen this ahead of time? I know in previous comments the blogger shared she had not tried freezing it.
Made this today absolutely delicious but 9×13 pan is not what is shown in your pictures. Mine turned out so flat. Maybe a 2 quart casserole dish? When I make it again I will double the recipe for a 9 x 13 pan, there is no way 1 package of Kings Hawaiian Rolls and 1 cup of blueberries yields 3 layers!!!!!!!!
Can I use frozen blueberries for this recipe?
I’ve made this several times and it is always a huge success – everyone loves it! I double the amount of blueberries and serve it bourbon maple syrup and something savory (bacon or sausage on the side, or a quiche if I have a larger crowd). Someone always asks for the recipe!!!
I have been making this recipe for a few years now. It is on a permanent rotation and have switched it up, depending on the fruit I have in the fridge. I have also tweaked the crumb topping by adding oats to it. It is ALWAYS pretty Damn Delicious!! Thank you for creating this recipe!!
Best Easter French toast ever. I added twice as many blueberries.
Best Easter French toast ever. Best overnight French toast. I added twice as many blueberries.
I want to make this for an Easter brunch for my family. My sister just started going gluten free. Has anyone had experience with a decent gluten free bread? I know they’ve improved, but have no idea what to use.
Thanks in advance!
Canyon Bakehouse is the best! Country White is my favorite! They also make a Hawaiian Sweet Bread. Available in the gluten-free aisle (doesn’t need to be refrigerated). Some stores have it in the freezer section. Available at WalMart and and other grocery store chains.
My DIL made this today for Mother’s Day, absolutely delish! I
could have eaten more, but just started a weight loss plan!!
A keeper recipe!!
I made my husband make this for Mother’s Day today and it is honestly one of the best things I’ve ever eaten!
Any possible way to make the crumble without butter? Just realized we don’t have any left and it’s Christmas Eve : (
Hello, if I were to double this recipe and cook two 9×13 dishes at the same time, should I adjust the temperature and lengthen the amount of time in the oven? Thanks in advance
Hi! Any idea on how this recipe would do cooked in a crockpot?
I made this for Father’s Day breakfast. I doubled the recipe and was a little worried, because I’ve never made a bread pudding consistency dish, but it was a hit! Even my picky eater and anti blueberry daughter was asking for more! Whoo hoo!