Blueberry Breakfast Casserole

This blueberry breakfast casserole is perfect for a holiday 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 and it feeds 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 during the holidays, right?

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

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?

BLUEBERRY BREAKFAST CASSEROLE 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 blueberries
• Cream cheese
• Eggs
• Half and half
• Brown sugar
• Ground cinnamon and nutmeg

HOW TO MAKE A BAGEL BREAKFAST CASSEROLE

• 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 them 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 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.

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.

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