Blueberry Breakfast Casserole

This blueberry breakfast casserole is perfect for brunch or breakfast. It’s a breakfast bake with blueberry bagels, cream cheese, and frozen blueberries that bake together in a rich custard. The top is toasty, and the inside is custardy-soft. You can assemble it the night before and bake it in the morning for an easy breakfast that serves a crowd.

This blueberry breakfast casserole is also known as a bread pudding, but instead of serving it for dessert, you serve it for breakfast – ideally, a holiday breakfast because if there’s any excuse to break out the decadent breakfast bakes, it’s for a holiday breakfast or brunch, right?

Unlike other similar breakfast casseroles, it has a surprising (well, at least to me) ingredient: blueberry bagels.

The bagel breakfast casserole concept is one I first discovered when I made an everything bagel breakfast casserole (twice so far) to rave reviews. It’s a savory bagel breakfast casserole and both times I’ve made it people begged for the recipe, which I refused to share because some things are sacred.

Just kidding, of course, I shared it – and I am here, too, because you should totally try it. So, be sure to check it out.

Anyway, it was the bagels and cream cheese everyone loved so I thought, why not make a sweet breakfast bake using bagels? I imagined blueberry bagels combined with cream cheese and a sweetened custard would work very well.

Spoiler alert: it did.

Overnight Breakfast Bake

This blueberry breakfast casserole is rich and sweet with pops of fruity brightness from blueberries layered in the custard and blueberry bagel pieces.

Every slice has pockets of cream cheese, so the whole thing is like a crazy amped-up breakfast bagel but better because who wants to toast bagels two at a time for twelve people?

It’s also topped with a simple streusel topping that turns the top of the casserole toasty golden as it bakes while the middle bakes up soft and custardy. Also…

• It’s a great make-ahead breakfast. In fact, you must makeit the nigh before to allow all of the bagel pieces to soak up the custard made with half and half and eggs.
• It serves a crowd for the holidays or other special occasions, but I’ve also tested it at a smaller scale, and you can cut the entire recipe in half to serve a smaller group of six.
• It’s a lot like a baked French toast casserole, but more fun because – bagels!

Is it an everyday breakfast? Um, probably not but it’s definitely one to pull out for the special breakfast and brunch occasions. You know, when some celebratory indulgence is in order.

Ingredients

It starts with the casserole itself (more about the topping in a minute), which you can assemble the night before you plan to serve it.

• Blueberry bagels
• Frozen or fresh blueberries
• Cream cheese
• Eggs
• Half and half
• Brown sugar
• Ground cinnamon and nutmeg

How to Make It

Tear the bagels into bite-sized pieces. It helps to slice them in half first if they aren’t already.

Place half of the bagel pieces in an even layer in a 9×13″ baking dish.

Top the bagels with half of the blueberries.

Add half of the cream cheese. You can either cut it into small pieces or just pull off pieces to place on the bagels. I like to space the cream cheese cubes apart so each piece of casserole ends up with a few pockets of cream cheese.

Add the rest of the bagel pieces, blueberries and cream cheese to create the second layer.

Whisk the eggs in a bowl. Add the half and half, brown sugar, and spices and whisk again. Pour the egg mixture over the casserole.

Streusel Topping

If you’ve ever made streusel topping you already know it’s a little bit of a pain. Mixing cold butter into butter, sugar and flour is a bit labor-intensive for me so when I learned how to make streusel topping in a food processor I was like, sign me up.

• Place brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, an sliced cold butter in the food processor. Pulse it until the butter breaks down and the whole thing looks like coarse sand.
• Sprinkle the topping over the top of the casserole.

If you don’t have a food processor, you can cut the butter into the flour and sugar by hand using a pastry cutter.

So, I like me some streusel topping and for this recipe, there is a decent amount. If you like more of a hint of streusel topping (read: less sweet) I recommend cutting the ingredients for the topping in half.

Once you’ve added the topping cover and refrigerate the casserole at least for a few hours but ideally overnight.

The next morning, when it’s time for breakfast just pop it in the oven and bake it at 375°F for 40 to 50 minutes. Let it stand for a few minutes before slicing and serving.

Leftover blueberry breakfast casserole (if you’re lucky enough to have some) will keep in the refrigerator for two to three days. Just rewarm it in the microwave.

Scramble some eggs, maybe whip up a fresh fruit salad, and brew some coffee, and you have the makings for an epic holiday breakfast for Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, a random Saturday… you know, basically any occasion that needs something decadent like this blueberry breakfast casserole as the centerpiece.

Happy breakfasting ☕

More Holiday Breakfast Recipes

I don’t always make a huge epic breakfast but when I do, it’s usually for the holidays. So, here are some more delicious recipes to make a few times a year when there’s a reason to go all out at the start of the day.

• Browse all kinds of sweet and savory brunch recipes that are great for any holiday celebration.
• These make-ahead breakfast enchiladas with eggs, sausage, beans, and green chile are one of my favorite savory breakfasts.
• If you love bagels, set up a bagel platter with all the toppings including homemade vegetable cream cheese.
• Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins are soft, tender, and loaded with blueberries – they perfect brunch muffins.
• A savory Breakfast Strata with broccoli, cheese, and ham is a great make-ahead recipe!

Print

Post updated from the archives. First published in November 2019.