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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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!
This is my go to for holidays or fancy bunches.
I’ve made it about 15 times. I have halved it and quartered the recipe if I need smaller amounts to accommodate different guest sizes. My only additions to the full recipe are to add 1.5 teaspoons of lemon extract. That really ups the lemon flavor. I also add about half a cup of cream cheese and put tiny pads of it scattered over each layer. I always make it the night before I need it. I prepare the topping the night before and pop it in the fridge and add the topping right before I bake it. This dish reheats very well if there are leftovers. I wouldn’t recommend freezing. It doesn’t do well. If you can’t find Hawaiian dinner rolls. Any brioche style of bread works well. The brioche style of bread which is “the Hawaiian” brand in the recipe, gives it an extra layer of sweetness. I typically buy the Hawaiian brioche hamburger buns from Costco. They are the exact same taste as the dinner rolls. 12 burger buns are normally $6. The hamburger buns are larger than the dinner rolls and I have no problem getting a perfect three layers and I always have one bun left over. I’ve made it with “freshly opened” buns and the recipe comes out a bit more moist. If you buy the buns a couple days ahead of time just open up the bag and leave them on the counter so they dry out a bit more. Just rip the bread into pieces and toss them into the dish. They don’t have to be any specific size. Additional notes: use only pure vanilla and pure maple syrup not the artificial type. The results will differ greatly and you won’t get that gourmet taste. You could reheat it if you baked it the day before you need it but it’s better right out of the oven. I typically pop it in the oven right when my guests sit down to eat brunch. I find by the time everyone is done eating quiche, salad and bacon our breakfast dessert is ready in 35 to 45 minutes. People are typically wowed when I present this as a dessert with the powdered sugar and additional maple syrup drizzled on the dish. I find this recipe is extremely well balanced. It’s not overly sweet if recipe is properly. 5 Stars all the way! Will be a family fave for years!
Oh my God this is so good. I’ve had lots of overnight French toast bakes I haven’t liked: either too dry or too mushy. This, however, was perfect. It will be on permanent rotation for my pot luck/retreat breakfasts. I’ve tried many recipes from Damn Delicious and have loved them all. Thanks!
When refrigerated overnight, does the crumble topping get added the next morning being going into the oven? Or does it get added before refrigerating?
The crumb topping is added right before baking, Jaclyn. 🙂
Thank you!
If prepared the night before, does the dish need to come to room temp or can it go into the oven directly from the refrigerator?
Can’t wait to try it, but have one question…can you use salted butter if you don’t have unsalted?
Sure!
This was delicious. One question however. You say to use a 9X13 pan with one package of rolls. Your instructions say 3 layers of bread but I barely got 2. I’ll use a smaller pan next time or double the rolls. Was a big hit with my fam though as is.
Same for me!! I think a smaller pan is best as well!
This is fantastic!! Just a quick question- this is to be baked uncovered correct?
Yes, that is correct.
How long can this be made before being baked? Can it be made more than 24 hrs in advanced, and just frozen until ready?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
Although I wasn’t sure about using King’s Hawaiian dinner rolls in this French toast recipe, I made the recipe exactly as written. This French toast is delicious, especially with the crispy crust that forms on the top layer! My whole family went back for seconds! Definitely a bed-and-breakfast worthy dish!
So good! Even my “don’t-like-french-toast” husband liked it!
I have some regular 5 grain bread. I was thinking this can be more like a bread pudding. Would you happen to have any recipes for bread pudding?
Not at this time. Sorry!
HI! ‘I want to make this for a new mom could i bake it than freeze?
You are so sweet to make this for a new mom, Kami!
Freezing sounds like an amazing idea but unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself. Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
I made it this morning but I have a question. Is the texture supposed to be soft and mushy? I’m not sure how’s its supposed to turn out. It Was a little too wet for my taste. Am I doing it right?
It should be similar to the consistency of bread pudding! 🙂
I will make this fresh for breakfast tomorrow. Thank you!
Is there a way to make this ahead and freeze it? Should I mix it altogether and freeze it, and then bake it in 2-3 days? Or do I bake it and then freeze it and reheat it up?
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself. Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
I have a sensitivity to maple syrup. Is there something I could use as a substitute/ equivalent in this recipe. Every other item in this recipe works for me, and sounds absolutely yummy. Would love to be able to try and make it.
It’ll of course taste a little different but you could use honey or brown sugar instead. If you like other kinds of syrup those could work as well. As always use your best judgement with modifications and substitutions.
Made this for Christmas brunch ….WOW ,! It was the first to go. Everyone loved it and it was super easy to make freeing time to spend with your family thank youmaria
Hello, I have everyrhing prepped and in the refridgerator and can’t wait to bake this up in the morning! I was wondering if this should be cooked covered or uncovered? Thanks!
Uncovered! 🙂
Hi! This looks like delicious! How would you go about making this ahead of time, as in a couple days ahead? Thanks!
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
Hello! Two questions. First, in your description before the actual recipe you mention Hawaiian sweet slider rolls, but in the actual recipe, just state Hawaiian buns. Which are the best? Also, they should be cubed, but I have no idea what size each cube should be.
Thanks so much.
They are actually the same, but the official label you want to look for is KING’S HAWAIIAN Original Hawaiian Sweet Dinner Rolls. The cubes can be as small or as large as you’d like.