Blueberry Cream Cheese French Toast Casserole

Recipe type: Breakfast

Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 25 mins
Total time: 45 mins

INGREDIENTS:
12 1″ slices French Bread
2 8 oz. blocks cream cheese, room temperature
2 cups fresh blueberries-divided
12 large eggs
2 cups milk
⅓ cup maple syrup
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. butter
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 Tablespoon lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:
Spray 9 X 13 inch dish with Pam.
Cut bread into 1″ 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, 2 cups milk, ⅓ 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 saucepan.
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, cinnamon, and lemon juice, simmer for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until blueberries start to burst.
Don’t let them all burst. I like some of the blueberries to stay whole.

Turn heat off the blueberry sauce and stir in 1 Tbls butter.
Store in a plastic or glass container and refrigerate until ready to use.

The next morning take the casserole out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place covered casserole in the 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
Refrigerate 8 hours or overnight until bread is soaked through with egg, milk mixture.