Blueberry French Toast Casserole

The Youth wanted to bake as part of the Lock In activities, so I found a new-to-me recipe for a blueberry French toast casserole that we could prepare the night before. It turned out yummy!

Ingredients:

Body:

• 1 16 ounce loaf dryish french bread, or challah (slice bread day before, and let sit unwrapped to dry out a bit)
• optional - two or so stale plain bagels, cut into small pieces
• 8 ounces (224g) brick-style cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 3 Tablespoons (15g) confectioners' sugar (don't leave it out)
• 3 teaspoons (15ml) vanilla extract, divided
• 8 large eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2/3 cup (133g) packed light brown sugar
• 12 ounces fresh or frozen blueberries

Topping:

• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (spooned into cup & leveled)
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 8 Tablespoons (86g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed (1 stick) 

Instructions:

1. Grease a 9x13 pan with butter or spray with nonstick spray. 
2. Using a handheld mixer, beat the room temperature cream cheese on medium until completely smooth. 
3. Beat in the confectioners' sugar and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract until combined. 
4. Slice the bread into cubes, about 1 inch in size. Spread half of the cubes into the prepared baking pan. 
5. Drop spoonfuls of cream cheese mixture on top of the bread.  
6. Layer the remaining bread cubes on top of cream cheese.
7. Whisk the eggs, milk, cinnamon, brown sugar, and remaining vanilla in bowl until no brown sugar lumps remain. 
8. Pour milk mixture over the bread in the pan.
9. Sprinkle blueberries on top.
10. Cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap and stick in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, but overnight is best.
11. In the morning, pre-heat oven to 350°F (177°C). 
12. Remove pan from the refrigerator and let it sit out while oven heats up.
13. Make streusel topping by whisking the brown sugar, flour, & cinnamon together in a medium bowl. 
14. Cut in the cubed butter with a pastry blender or two forks. Sprinkle the topping over the casserole.
15. Bake uncovered for 45-55 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Carole's Notes:

We liked this! Here's the streusel topped version. (I used two types of streusel, the left side is drier and has some nuts in the topping. The recipe above shows what I would make next time - just the base topping.)

The recipe makes a lot - it would probably serves 16 people for breakfast with the extra bagels added in.

  

The recipe is lightly adapted from https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/baked-cream-cheese-french-toast-casserole/