Blueberry and Lemon Baked French Toast Casserole

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 1 cu. half & half or 1/2 cu. milk, plus 1/2 cu. heavy cream
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 cu. light brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tbl. lemon zest, minced
• 1 cu. blueberries
• 1 small loaf Challah, sliced into 1" cubes, about 6 cu.
• 2/3 cu. maple syrup
• 3 tbl. lemon juice

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x10" baking dish with butter.
2. In a large bowl, lightly whisk the eggs. Whisk in the half & half, vanilla, sugar, salt, and lemon zest. Stir in the blueberries, then add the bread. Toss gently to coat all pieces.
3. Transfer the soaked bread and blueberries to the prepared baking dish, stir as needed to distribute the berries evenly. Cover with foil, bake for 20 minutes.
4. Remove foil, bake another 20 minutes, until the top layer of bread is lightly browned and just a little toasted.
5. Stir together the maple syrup and lemon juice in a small pitcher or glass measuring cup. Heat in the microwave or in a small pan on the stove until warmed through, about 2 minutes.
6. Scoop or slice the baked french toast and serve drizzled with the warm syrup.
7. **** A 7x10" baking dish, a 9 or 10" square or round would work for this recipe. The cubes of bread just need to fill the pan. The recipe could be doubled to fill a large 9x13 pan.