This Blueberry Cream Cheese French Toast Bake is made in 15 minutes. Soaked challah bread layers - sweet vanilla cream cheese - blueberries. Top with whipped cream and maple syrup.
Would you love to be surprised by your Valentine with this beautiful and delicious breakfast in the morning? Served with whipped cream and lots of maple syrup on top? And a bouquet of red roses?
I highly recommend using challah bread for this recipe. It has the perfect texture and adds a delicious taste to it. I know there are versions existing using white or French bread, but in combination with the blueberries and the cream cheese, challah bread is definitely the right bread for this recipe.
The challah bread is cut into slices, not cubes. Soak the bread slices in the egg-milk-mixture and arrange 1,5 - 2 slices next to each other at a 45° angle along the short side of your 9x13 inch casserole.
Then smear the vanilla cream cheese on top, lay a few blueberries on top of the cream cheese, and lay another layer of soaked challah bread on top overlapping. The cream cheese and the blueberries should be almost fully covered by the second bread layer.
At the end pour the rest of the egg-milk-mixture on top.
Let it rest for 1 hour. This is enough time for the challah bread to soak up the liquid. If you want to, you can make it one day ahead and let it stand in the fridge overnight.
Blueberry Cream Cheese French Toast Bake
Ingredients
To make the cream cheese filling
- 1 cup cream cheese (8oz / 225g)
- 1 tbsp granulated white sugar
- 1 vanilla bean* (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
To make the French toast bake
- 8 large eggs, beaten
- 2 ½ cups milk (600ml)
- ½ cup granulated white sugar (100g)
- 2 tbsp butter, melted (30g)
- ⅛ cup maple syrup (30ml)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 vanilla beans* (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 loaf challah bread or brioche, sliced (14-16oz / 400-450g)
- 1 heaping cup fresh blueberries (190g)
- 2 tbsp white sugar for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish with butter. Set aside.
- Stir together cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla* in a bowl until combined. Set aside.
- In a large bowl whisk together eggs, milk, sugar, butter, maple syrup, cinnamon, vanilla*, and salt with a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment on medium speed just until combined. Soak 1,5 - 2 challah bread slices on both sides and arrange next to each other at a 45° angle along the short (9-inch) side of the prepared baking dish. Spread with cream cheese and sprinkle a few blueberries on top of cream cheese. Arrange another layer of soaked challah bread slices that it overlaps the most of the cream cheese and the blueberries (watch video). Repeat until you run out of ingredients. Cover with foil and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C.
- Remove from the fridge and sprinkle with 2 tbsp white sugar. Bake for 45-50 minutes. Cover loosely with parchment paper the first 20 minutes to prevent browning too much. Remove from the oven and let cool for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with whipped cream and maple syrup. Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 1 day.
Your photos are stunning, and I need to french toast stat!
Thank you so much, Tracey! Perfect Valentine's breakfast, isn't it?