Make Ahead Blueberry Breakfast Casserole is delicious and can be made with frozen blueberries, thus bringing a taste of summer to any special morning, whether it be Christmas, Easter or just a relaxed weekend brunch with family or friends. I have made this recipe several times, so in December 2015 I decided to update the pictures. I have left one original picture, as marked, but otherwise they are all from 2015. Affiliate links have been used to link to items I am discussing.
The roots of this recipe are kind of interesting. This is actually almost exactly what I served on Christmas morning, only with a lemon syrup and I never wrote down what I did. And I never found the energy to remember. Then I acquired this fabulous new cookbook, Bake Until Bubbly, by Clifford A. Wright, and he has a recipe that looks very similar to mine.
Original photo from January 2010
So I made his. And it was great too. The recipe as I have written it [and continued to make it] is a mash-up of the 2 recipes, taking what I liked best from each recipe. I use more blueberries– especially for a special occasion, like Christmas morning, I do not think you can use too many blueberries. And I like the syrup much tarter–taste as you go, we like a lot of lemon juice in ours.
This Make Ahead Blueberry Breakfast Casserole is an awesome breakfast, and barely any work–and what work it is is done the night before. On Christmas, I served it with bacon. This most recent time I did not bother. [And I seem to have gotten lazier as the years have gone by as I did bother with meat this most recent Christmas in 2015.] Whether to serve it with meat depends on how formal the occasion is and how early you are eating (i.e., do you need the extra protein to last you til lunch).
- to assemble the casserole:
- 14 oz stale bread, cubed (I used a leftover lean-dough multigrain artisan style bread)
- 5 oz cream cheese, cubed
- ¾ cup fresh or frozen blueberries
- zest of 1 orange (reserve the orange for the next morning)
- zest of 1 lemon (reserve the lemon for the next morning)
- 3 T sugar
- pinch of salt
- 6 large eggs
- 1 cup whole milk (I used cream and 1% because that is what I had)
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- for the blueberry sauce:
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 T cornstarch
- ¾ cup water
- juice of 1 orange (use the one that was zested the night before)
- ¾ cup fresh or frozen blueberries
- pinch of salt
- 2 t unsalted butter
- lemon juice to taste (use the lemon from the night before, and start with 1 teaspoon--but we like a lot more)
- Lightly butter a 9X12 casserole dish. Place half of the bread cubes into the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle the blueberries over these, along with the cubed cream cheese. Then sprinkle the other half of the cubed bread.
- Whisk together the orange zest, eggs, milk, salt, sugar and maple syrup. Pour it over the prepared casserole dish. Cover with foil and place in the refrigerator overnight.
- The next morning, preheat the oven to 350 F. Remove the casserole from the fridge and let it stand at room temperature for 30 minutes while the oven heats up. After the 30 minutes, place the casserole, still covered with foil, into the oven. Bake, covered, for 40 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake for an additional 25 minutes.
- In the meantime, prepare the blueberry sauce: Blend the sugar and cornstarch in a large saucepan. Mix in the water and the juice of the reserved orange. Place over medium high heat, stirring, until the mixture thickens and becomes clear (it will boil), about 5 minutes.
- Add the blueberries and salt and reduce the heat to low. Cook until the blueberries burst, about 10 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and lemon or lime juice to taste--tasting every teaspoon or so. Set aside and cover to keep warm until the casserole is done.
If only a vertical collage will do, click here for the Pinterest link!
Wow! This looks amazing! I'm always looking for different breakfast items to try. One question though, do the eggs seem to cook into the bread?
Wow! This looks amazing! I'm always looking for different breakfast items to try. One question though, do the eggs seem to cook into the bread?
Double WOW!!!!
So simple and so delicious!I love blueberries (…berries in general) and this is a good way to change the italian classic breakfast. And what about the blueberry sauce: wonderful!!!
I would love to wake up to this! It looks incredibly delicious. I could see myself eating this as a dessert!
I would love this! I need to have some friends over for brunch so I can make it! Looks yummy Laura!
Josh and Candice: I am not sure what you mean. This dish is basically a version of a bread pudding, so the stale bread is meant to absorb the egg mixture, much like French toast. Does that help?
Hey Laura, google my name on the BB…I've been making something like this for our Christmas morning breakfast for at least 5 years now. It's very similar to the recipe you posted but I think it's more of what you might be looking for…and a bit easier, too!
Yum does this look delicious! Really the perfect breakfast! Or afternoon snack for that matter. Love the combination of great flavors with the blueberries!
how awesome. i suspect that the tiny hint of orange contributes quite a bit to the deliciousness of this comfort food. it's terrific, laura!
This looks good and since you can prepare it the day before makes it a suitable breakfast option.
The recipe doesn’t say what you do with the orange the next morning. ????
I apologize. That has been fixed! Thanks for letting me know.
Thank you much 🙂