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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This looks so, so yummy! However I’m in England, is there any alternative for the sweet rolls? I’ve never heard of anything like them. We have hot cross buns, but I think they’ll be a hot sticky mess!
Thanks in advance for any help! xo
Cathy, if you do not have access to Hawaiian Bread, I recommend using plain bread, preferably 1-2 day old bread.
You could use challah bread or there are recipes for King’s Hawaiian style bread on the internet.
I frequent Mass and Shaw/Star markets carry the Hawaiian slider rolls. I imagine others do too. They are usually around the deli section
I love baked french toast! This looks so heavenly!
Wow! I’ve shared with friends and on Facebook a link back to this! I have not tried yet, but it is on my to do list! Great Job!
Love all the juicy blueberries and lemon zest, this is perfect for mothers day!
I love french toasts and with blueberry, I just can’t wait to make it!
I can’t wait to try this weekend!
Love that this has a crumb topping – so creative!
I am a sucker for hawaiian bread, this looks amazing!
YUM! This might be my special breakfast request for my first Mother’s Day/also my birthday! Looks delicious and easy enough that my hubby could make it 🙂
we LOVE Kings Hawaiian bread and I can only imagine how sweet and delicious this french toast must be! I love the combination of blueberries and lemon…so perfect for spring. Can’t wait to try out the recipe!
This looks incredibly delicious.Is this the sameas a bread pudding? Do you have a great recipe ffor Vanilla Cream Sauce?
Gorgeous, a must-try for a blueberry lover like me!
This looks so good! I know that my husband and son’s will love it. I have never made anything like it, so thanks for once again helping to broaden my culinary skills.
I find myself leaning into the screen to get closer to these pics! I can practically taste this melting in my mouth. YUMMMMMM
Beautiful! I will definitely save this recipe for a special occasion!
I am totally obsessed with 1. Baked French toast because it feels fancy but it’s a cinch! And 2. the blueberry/lemon combo! Using Kings Hawaiian here is GENIUS! I can only imagine how soft and fluffy this is. My momma may be in a different country, but I’ll gladly eat her share! Pinned!
I’ve never actually made bread puddings, or baked French toast, but these photos are telling me I should definitely change that! This looks magnificent and I am sure any mother would appreciate this as a treat 😀 It doesn’t look toooo sweet either, which is a big plus 😀 Thanks for sharing! x
I love how simple yet elegant your recipe is! The blueberries really pop against the Hawaiian bread (it’s been my favorite since childhood… we always had it for communion at church, and us youngsters would beg for the leftovers after the service ended!), and those little curls of lemon zest are the prettiest finishing touch. You’re so talented at composing photographs!
Where can I get Hawaiian Bread?
Most grocery stores carry them!
Yum! I can’t imagine how soft it would be when hawaiian bread is already so soft. Great photos!
I had substituted
Hawaiian bread with fluffy pancakes and it was delicious! I would with no hesitation make this recipe again. My picky son loved it and that is rare. I highly recommend this scrumptious dish. Thank you for sharing!