Blueberry Cream Cheese French Toast Casserole

Ingredients

FRENCH TOAST

12 slice bread, any kind or loaf of french bread

2 pkg 8 oz - cream cheese, room temperature

1 c blueberries, fresh or frozen

12 large eggs

1 c milk, add a little at a time until milk is absorbed by bread

1/3 c maple syrup or honey

BLUEBERRY SAUCE

1 c sugar

2 Tbsp cornstarch

1 c water

1 c blueberries, fresh or frozen

1 Tbsp butter

Directions 

French Toast Casserole:

Spray 9 X 13 inch dish with Pam. 

Cut or tear bread into cubes and arrange in the bottom of dish

Cut up cream cheese into 1 in cubes. 

Drop the cream cheese cubes over the top of the bread. 

Sprinkle 1 cup blueberries over the top.

In mixing bowl, combine 12 eggs,1 cup milk, 1/3 cup maple syrup. 

Pour this mixture, a little at a time until the bread soaks up the milk but not soggy. 

Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

Blueberry Sauce: 

You can make this ahead of time and refrigerate, then warm up before serving.

Stir together 1 cup sugar and 2 Tbls cornstarch in a medium sauce pan. 

Add 1 cup water and stir until smooth. Stir well so cornstarch won't be clumpy. 

Heat to boiling and stir 2-3 minutes until thickened.

Add 1 cup blueberries, simmer for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until blueberries start to burst. 

Don't let them all burst. I like some of the blueberries whole.

Turn heat off the blueberry sauce and stir in 1 Tbls butter. 

Store in plastic or glass container and refrigerate until ready to use.

The next morning preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Take casserole out of the refrigerator. 

Place covered cassrole in a 350 degree oven and bake for 30 minutes. 

Then uncover and bake for another 25-30 minutes or until top is a golden brown and the center is set.

While the casserole is baking, you can heat up the blueberry sauce on top of the oven or microwave until warm. Serve over top of casserole.

Prep time: 

30 min to put everything together

8-24 hours - refrigerate several hours or overnight until bread is soaked through with egg, milk mixture.

Cook time: 1 hour

Alternate Sauce, I call it cheating.

Take jam or preserves, what ever flavor of fruit you are using to make this. 

Put preserves in small sauce pan, add 1 Tbls cornstarch, mix until smooth, add additional fruit if desired. Warm in sauce pan until smooth and thickened. 

Serve over the french toast, ice cream or anything else you can think of.

Apparently, some people are getting soggy results. 

Add milk a little at a time until milk is absorbed by bread, you don't want it to be soggy before you bake it. 

If its soggy before you bake it, it will be soggy after you bake it.