Baked Blueberry French Toast

Baked Blueberry French Toast

Pretend It’s Actually Spring with Baked Blueberry French Toast

I hear it’s spring. It snowed a ton on a trip to the Catskills and the forecast for NYC and Long Island this week is looking pretty chilly. Anyway, let’s forge ahead and pretend it is spring by eating “springy” things – like blueberries! Baked blueberry French toast is a super delicious and simple breakfast loaded with blueberries and custardy goodness.

Stale Baguettes Are Our Friend

To be married to someone French is to have A LOT of baguettes in the house. Unfortunately, they don’t last very long. We generally make toast after the first day and then toss whatever is left outside for the birds. This week we had two inedible baguettes, so I figured I would try out a recipe. So good!

Baked Blueberry French Toast – So Easy!

I cut the bread into cubes and tossed them in a baking dish. The next steps are typical French toast stuff: eggs, milk, vanilla, and then sugar and cinnamon. We also had a half package of blueberries left, so I sprinkled those over the top. The milk and egg mixture was poured over everything and the bread pressed down to soak in the liquid. The whole thing went into the fridge overnight.

Custard and Blueberry Deliciousness

In the morning, I let the dish sit out on a counter while the oven preheated. Forty-five minutes in a 350 degree oven and the toast was ready. The custard was super flavorful and the blueberries juicy and bursting. You can sprinkle the French toast with confectioner’s sugar or maple syrup. I mixed up some cinnamon sugar – 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 tsp of cinnamon – and sprinkled that on top. You do your thing!

Happy Brunch!

This is a great weekend breakfast to help you celebrate spring – or to pretend it’s spring. Either way, happy brunching! 

Baked Blueberry French Toast

An easy recipe for overnight baked blueberry French Toast
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Overnight Resting 3 hours
Total Time 12 hours 45 minutes
Course Breakfast
Servings 6 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 1 stale baguette
  • 1 cup blueberries
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 tbsp butter

Instructions
 

  • Prepare a 9×13 baking dish by lightly spraying it with nonstick cooking spray or coating lightly in butter. I didn't do this and some of the cooked bread got stuck.
  • Cut a stale baguette into slices and then cut each slice into one-inch cubes.
  • Place the cut bread into the baking dish.
  • Pour the milk into a medium bowl.
  • Add the four eggs to the milk and whisk it all together until slightly foamy.
  • Add the sugar and stir until combined.
  • Add the cinnamon and mix.
  • Add the vanilla and mix.
  • Sprinkle the blueberries evenly over the bread.
  • Pour the custard mix evenly over the surface of the bread.
  • Press the bread down into the blueberries. Be careful to do it gently so you don't break the berries. I actually tossed the bread in the liquid by using my hands.
  • Cover the dish with aluminum foil and put into the fridge. Leaving it overnight works best.
  • Take the dish out of the fridge the next morning and let it sit on a counter while you preheat the oven.
  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Cut the butter into cubes and dot it over the surface of the bread.
  • Bake the French toast with the foil on for about 30 minutes.
  • Remove the foil and let the French toast bake for another 15 minutes until the bread is golden and the blueberries bubbling.
  • Serve plain or with maple syrup or a sprinkle of confectioner's sugar. I made cinnamon sugar with 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 tsp of cinnamon and we used that.

Notes

Tips:
Don’t forget that this is an overnight recipe. You need to start early!
If you don’t have any baguettes, you can try very thick bread (like a peasant style bread).
The bread should be pretty hard/stale. You can accelerate that by cutting the bread when you buy it and placing it in the dish. Let it sit until it is fairly hard.
Keyword baguette, blueberry, breakfast, brunch, custard, French toast