Pumpkin French Toast Bake

Is it possible to use pure pumpkin instead of pumpkin butter?

Holy wow! Made this for dinner last night, and it did not disappoint. I used Trader Joe’s pumpkin butter, as suggested and a loaf of their cibatta bread that I cubed and baked at 200 degrees for 15 mins to dry it out a little bit. I had to bake the dish closer to an hour to get the right consistency, but it was amazeballs. The kids wanted seconds, and I am enjoying leftovers this morning. I love that it was not too sweet, but more of a savory french toast that gets it’s sweetness from the syrup. Yum!

HOW DO YOU MAKE THE PUMPKIN BUTTER?

Followed the directions perfectly… Used a Challah loaf that was 3 days old. And it turned out perfect! A total hit with my family! Thank you!

OH MY, I tried it with apple butter too!!! Delicious both ways!!

Try using Challah Bread (egg bread) (Available in a few markets Artisan bread section at the bakery. I get mine at Giant Market) for the bread. Cube the bread and leave it sit out on a cookie sheet to get stale. Stale bread soaks up all the good stuff and holds it! Also, try Half and Half in place of the milk. Half and Half has considerably less water content than milk and makes a creamier custard that doesn’t get as soupy in the mix. My kids hammer this stuff. Never any leftovers!

Made it this morning and it was an absolute hit! There were five of us and there was plenty. We each had second and third helpings. I’m not much of a breakfast person and I loved it! Didn’t use pumpkin butter or pumpkin spice but just threw some cinnamon, brown sugar and maple syrup into the mix prepared the night before. I also used a fresh baked French loaf from the grocery store and it was the perfect amount of bread for the recipe. If you follow the recipe and make sure to take note of the asterics made for those who aren’t, this will turn out just as it does in the picture. I can’t wait to make if again! Thanks for the recipe and the thorough directions :)

Made this twice last fall and am getting ready to make it for company this weekend. Such a great recipe, thank you!

I Loved this. I also added 4 oz of chopped cream cheese cubes to the bread mix and poured the pumpkin mix on top! So yummy!

Hi- Wondering if this would work in a crockpot? Thank you.

Hi there! I wanted to let you know I featured you on Sugar Blossoms today. Stop by and check it out!

I am so beyond frustrated with this recipe right now…I baked it for 45min and the top is even starting to brown but the bottom is still a mess…when taking it out of the pan it fell apart and looked sloppy and unappetizing and with each bite I thought I was going to get food poisoning from the raw egg…I get that it is supposed to be a custard but this is freakin ridiculous…I followed the recipe to a T and even added a bit more bread. I’m 8 months pregnant and haven’t had a leisure morning with my husband in weeks and we were so looking forward to a tasting fall breakfast and this now has me in tears…not trying this one again…

What is pumpkin pie spice? Can u find it in the grocery stores?

Where do you find pumpkin butter

Making this for fathers day gathering. Has anyone tried with Almond Milk? Or should I stick to regular?

I had a total cooking fail moment with some slightly experimental sugar-free gluten-free savoury pumpkin muffins (note to self: don’t experiment with ingredient substitution in gluten-free baking!) yesterday. I was pretty devastated because they weren’t very edible and I hate throwing food away…then I remembered I had pinned this recipe ages ago and so I decided to take another risk and experiment with making a savoury version of this! (I figured maybe two wrongs would make a right!?)

I chopped up the muffins and used half of the egg mix above and I put in cayenne pepper and tabasco instead of pumpkin spice. I poured it over and then topped with grated cheddar, powdered parmesan and a sprinkling of seasoning salt. Baked for a bit longer since the muffins were quite dense…turned out amazing!!! A huge improvement on the muffins and now I have breakfast for the week! Thanks for the inspiration.

Made this for breakfast this morning and everyone thought it was great. I used winter squash puree because that is what I had and just increased the amount of pumpkin pie spice and added brown sugar like you suggested. Worked Great! Thanks for the recipe.

This was horrible. It was like eating mushy bread. I even toasted mine and used a more stale bread. It was awful. I definitely don’t recommend it. It had a slight flavor like bread pudding but really nasty bread pudding like the kind you get at a truckstop.

After reading through some of the comments, I was afraid to make this. I’m so glad that I stuck to my guns, because it was FANTASTIC! I served it for Easter brunch (8 hungry people and we had left overs!) and it received rave reviews from all.
Three things:
1) I used dense, hearty whole grain artisan bread (one large loaf will do!) – and increased it to 5 cups because it seemed very soupy when I poured the egg mixture in. Make sure to push all the bread cubes into the egg mixture for a good even soak.
2) I doubled the vanilla and added 3/4 teaspoon of salt (I even sprinkled a bit of kosher salt over the top with the brown sugar)
3) use Pumpkin BUTTER, people! I bought mine at Trader Joe’s – it makes a huge difference.

A light drizzle of maple syrup was all it needed – the flavor was fantastic!

Thanks for the great recipe – it is the perfect thing to make for a crowd, easy prep!

Where is your recipe for simple pumpkin butter? I can’t seem to find it using the search bar.

After reading through a page of comments I didn’t see where anyone tried making it with pumpkin bread. At Thanksgiving we make our stuffing with pumpkin bread, which is now requested every year. I’m going to try this recipe with pumpkin bread will let you know how it turns out.

Made it! LOOOOVVVVEEEDDD it!!!!

This recipie rocked! I saw it last night on Pinterest and immediately went to the store for supplies. I used cinnamon bread from our local bakery (Second Street Bakery), put it together and had it for breakfast this morning! What a hit. I put walnuts and brown sugar on top, had whipped cream and maple syrup, OMG. Next Sunday we will try it with carmel sauce and maybe some thin sliced apple on top. So many combos you could try. Thank you for the wonderful recipies and your blog, its great. I think I might bake the ginger cookies tonight and bring them to work. Great job.

I made this for brunch today. So yummy! I think this has officially earned a spot on my “Make as Frequently as Possible!” list of recipes. I used French bread and pumpkin puree and it was perfect.

Made this New Year’s weekend and it turned out great. Was more like a pumkin bread pudding! I used plain dried bakery bread crumbs, a one pound bag and the pumkin puree. Flavor, texture and moisture were great! Very easy and will make again.

This is a wonderful hot breakfast that my whole family loves, and with two small children in the house, those are rare! I didn’t mind that the pumpkin flavor was light, as that makes it more likely that my kiddos will eat it. This morning I substituted a sweetened peach purée that I made this past summer for the pumpkin and left out the spice and it was wonderful! Can’t wait to try apple and raisin variations!

This was a little too wet and not spicy or enough pumpkin for my taste. I just made it with more pumpkin butter and less liquid…EGGNOG instead of milk and some extra nutmeg and cinnamon! Can’t wait to try it.

I made this for Christmas morning and it was a big hit! So yummy! I used a fruit bread. So good!

I just tried this and the bread turned out a lot wetter than I thought. Maybe I didn’t use enough but the top was golden brown and I let it bake for the full amount of time. Am I missing something? It was still good I was just concerned about the wetness.

This was so good – thanks! I made it Christmas morning :)
I was a little nervous, given some of the comments. My husband does not like anything mushy (I don’t mind.. I love bread pudding). I don’t know exactly how much bread I used, but it was enough to fill about a single layer (maybe single and a half layer) in a 9×11 pan. Then I used only 4 eggs, 3/4 cup milk, 3/4 cup pumpkin, plus the spices. I added walnuts and sugar on top in the morning, but I think it would have been better with the walnuts mixed in overnight. Other than that, it was sublime! I used my favorite gluten-free cinnamon raisin bread (from Abigail’s Bakery in New Hampshire). That was a real risk because I love this bread and didn’t want it wasted. I probably used about 2/3 of that loaf.

I would gladly try this with the full amount of liquid because I think it would be good a little mushy, but it was perfect just like this, cooked for the lower end of the time (I think I cooked it 33 minutes).

If you don’t like pouring maple syrup on top, I might suggest mixing a little sugar in with the egg mixture. The brown sugar on top was just enough to give it a little sweetness, but some people might like more.

Thanks again for the recipe!!

Highly recommend using the Williams Sonoma pumpkin pecan butter. It’s a seasonal item so you will have to wait until next falls to buy it but it’s amazing on it’s own and was perfect in this recipe.

Made this recipe for our brunch party for the Army Navy game and it was absolutely delicious and a huge hit!! Neither my husband nor I are huge fans of baked French toast because of it’s tendency to come out runny but this recipe had the perfect bread to custard ratio for us and came out moist and dense but not runny. I used a 1/4 a cup of the Williams Sonoma pumpkin pecan butter in place of the pumpkin butter and cut up the two pack of French baguettes from Costco for the bread. I also added dried cranberries which I thought would be a good addition since the original recipe she tried used raisin bread. Please add this recipe to your holiday must make list! You will love it and it’s a versatile enough recipe to try different breads and add ins. Thank you for this recipe. Go Navy!

Can’t wait to try this on Christmas morning.

I made this for breakfast today and it was delicious. I halved the recipe since there are only 2 of us. How do you halve 7 eggs? I used 4! I used canned pumkin, aboout 1/3 cup. My bread was a day old loaf of white country style bread leftover from last night dinner. The spice mixture was 1/2 t cinnamon, 1/4 t cloves and 1/4 t ground ginger. I also added about 1/2 t salt. As for some of the other comments about doneness…a good test of custard doneness, stick a table knife in the center. If it comes out clean, it is done, still a little milky, bake a little longer. Custardy dishes don’t freeze well at all, so I wouldn’t try that idea. Also the pumpkin flavored butter from country crock is not pumpkin butter. Pumpkin butter is concentrated pumpkin puree/spread. YUMMMM. ENJOY

I made this to take to church for breakfast! I used Texas toast bread 5 cups, some Cinnamon, extra pumpkin spice and raisins. I let it soak and set over night like 9 hours or more. It was a big hit and I will be making it again. Several asked for the recipe!

Came across this while looking for an old french toast recipe I used a while back – and will most DEFINITELY be making this tonight for a dinner party I’m hosting tomorrow (and YES I understand that it’s not necessarily a conventional dinner party food, but I incorporate brinner into as many things as I possibly can)

Love the blog!! :-) New fan right here!

This was so easy and delicious! I used a combination of white bread and dark whole wheat bread (bc that’s what I had) for the cubes, and I had to use more like 6 cups of cubes. The bread was fresh and moist already so I used a lot of cubes since I read all the comments saying it was soggy. It came out perfectly using that much bread. Flavor was good, not too pumpkiny, just enough and just enough spice to it. It’s a keeper!

I made this for my family for Thanksgiving morning, and it was delicious! Everyone raved about it. I used a crusty, rustic loaf of Italian bread from the grocery store bakery, and it worked perfectly. I used 1/3 cup pumpkin butter, but next time I may add even more pumpkin butter and pumpkin pie spice – it was delicious as it was, but we’re big pumpkin fans, so I’ll add more next time. This recipe is definitely a keeper!

I made this for my family and in-laws. Everybody loved it.

Wonderful Thanksgiving morning recipe – THANK YOU! I prepared it at about 9:30PM the night before. I used Pumpkin Butter as recommended and Wheat Bread (found in the bakery section of the grocery vs. sandwich bread [i.e. Wonder bread]. I cooked it for about 50 minutes and it turned out golden brown and it was terrific! My family enjoyed – especially our toddler. Thanks for posting this. We enjoyed it and I may pull it out from our box of tricks for Christmas morning too.

PS – Pumpkin Butter can be found at Fresh Market, Whole Foods, or Wegman’s (for readers/cooks) who live on the East coast. Highly recommended (small jar would be sufficient as only 1/4 cup is needed).

She neglects to say in the prep time that it takes an additional 12 hours in the refrigerator, which is part of the prep time. So don’t try and make it just in the morning.

I made this today (well, I made it up last night and baked it this morning) for my mom for her birthday – and it was a hit! I used regular wheat sandwich bread and Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Butter. Thanks for a great recipe and a great birthday memory :)

Thanks for sharing Dana!! I am excited to share this on my blog tomorrow, Nov 16th as one of “My Friday fave Pins”. I hope you will come by for a visit!!
Thanks for sharing such a fabulous recipe!!

I made this with white bread & it turned out amazing. I toasted the bread and I think it made a huge difference. I also added more pumpkin & pumpkin spice, since I didn’t have pumpkin butter. Mine didn’t turn out soggy. =D

If you follow the recipe as Dana suggested it will come out fine, tasteful and your family will love it. Loved it in Michigan thanks

What do you think about an Apple French Toast Bake? I only ask b/c at the moment I don’t have pumpkin butter at home, but I do have apple butter and apple pie spice…Think I should give it a shot?

I can’t wait to try this! Definitely making it for brunch on Sunday.

ugh it is in the photos but not the recipe! I didnt add it in!

Is it just me… I cant find where you used pumpkin pie spice!

Can you do this as a freezer meal too?

I tried em just this morning. Success!! :)

Sooo easy and sooo good! I made it into
2 batches and added raisins and walnuts
to one. For topping, I added some pumpkin
butter to maple syrup and heated it up…..
Deliciousness!!!! Thank you!

I have the same question as the other Amy – when does the pumpkin spice go in? Does it go with the milk, eggs etc, or is it only used if you do not use pumpkin butter? I had hoped the answer was in the chain below her question – but if it was, I missed it. Thank you

Where did you get those adorable plates?? So cute!!!!

I just made this today. I used 1 loaf of cinnamon bread from our local bread shop and 5 eggs and 1 1/4 cup of milk and 1/2 a can of pumpkin puree and followed the rest of the recipe. Soaked it over night and baked it at 350 for about 35 -40 mins. It did not turn out soggy and it smells good and I am waiting for my kids to get up and eat it. I thought it was good!

Where does one find pumpkin butter?

Sounds yummy! I love your plates — where did you get them?

Thank you. I scrolled all through but must have missed it. It would be nice if there was a link in this recipe to the Pumpkin butter recipe….or if it ws searchable on your site.

YUM! I just made this and it’s so good! I used the same ingredients but used a cinnamon raison bread which gave more flavor. I also added 4 tbsp of brown sugar. I will definitely be making this again.

This was GREAT! I made homemade whole wheat cinnamon bread and used the whole loaf. I used homemade pumpkin puree 1/2 cup, added some real maple syrup to the egg mixture, I also added a whole apple diced small. I did not put brown sugar on the top, just sprinkled cinnamon lightly with a little sugar in it. I refrigerated it over night. This morning, I mixed it up again to bring some of the egg to the top. It took 50 minutes to cook (not 40). ALL three of my kids had seconds AND we have breakfast for tomorrow too!

What is “pumpkin butter”?? I have searched this recipe & your site with no luck..

Mine is in the fridge now. I will bake in the AM. I am pretty excited. What I suggest is using enough bread to lightly fill it, even so that it looks like it is piled up a little bit. Then about 3 hours after refridgerating, go back and check to see how wet it looks and use your best judgement. I added 3-4 slices of bread just now. Also, in the AM before baking I am going to toss the bread pieces with my hands a little so that all the egg isn’t settled at the bottom, if that makes sense.

Just some tips as I went along that may help! I’ll let you know how it turns out :)

I am anxious to try, but I cook down my own pumpkin & freeze it that way I have real/fresh pumpkin all year round. I thought that one could make an apple one with apple sauce & apple pie spice. The sky’s the limit on variations.

Whats the best type of bread to use?

Tried this and loved it!! I love pumpkin and I’m always sad that most people, myself included, forget about pumpkin after the holidays. I would say the trick to not making it “soggy” like others have commented is to just use as much bread as it takes to fill your dish and not the amount stated. It probably helped to that the homemade bread i used was a couple days old which helps soak up all the yummy goodness. I also added raisins;)

I have this in the oven now. Some people said it should have pumpkin pie spice? I didn’t see that. How much?

I made this but I used 1 c or more of Libby’s pumpkin pie mix added more spices and a bit more bread all I had was hawaiian rolls and dried out ciabatta bread. WOW was it good. I was out of pumpkin butter.

Hello!!! I started this recipe and as always I didn’t read the part about soaking overnight so I have let it sit for about 45 mins bc we are starving. I will let u know the outcome! I also added cinnamon and a tad bit pumpkin spice bc I do not have the pumpkin butter I just used regular butter. I am going for more of a regular French toast…I hope it works!!!

I made this recipe exactly as written, buying pumpkin butter just for the occasion, and it turned out OK. I did not have the problem of several others of it being overly soupy but I did find that the inside was still very mushy even when the outside was crusty and brown. My biggest problem with it however was just how bland it was. Without maple syrup it really wasn’t much good at all, you could barely even taste the pumpkin! Maybe if you used cinnamon bread it would be better but as it was I think I would have been better off just making some good toast. Disappointed.

I made this for breakfast, and the whole family loved it. I saw some people said it didn’t have pumpkin flavor when made with puree. The things about pumpkin butter is that it is slightly sweet where puree has no sweetness to it. The only thing I did different was add 2tbsp. sugar, and that made the pumpkin flavor come out more. Also, I would not use basic sliced bread because I have learned it never sets well. I think next time I am going to try a little molasses, to give it that fall flavor. Also, I need to make 2 pans if we have company because my hollow-legged sons almost polished the whole pan off!

I made this last night to pop in the oven this morning and it delicious! I used a loaf whole wheat Ciabatta and I did take an extra step and make my own pumpkin butter. I followed your recipe exactly, and added about 2tbsp brown sugar and a handful of roughly chopped pecans before popping it in the oven this morning. So easy to put together and the family is rubbing their belly – thanks for sharing!

I am baking this right now but I also did not add the pumpkin pie spice because when I was cooking, I also missed it in the list as the above person mentioned..hope it doesn’t taste bland now? I just sprinkled cinnamon and brown sugar on top…

We call this bread pudding where I am from, and it sounds lovely in this version.

My ratios are near the same as yours, tho I always use at least 5 cups of bread. Here I think others may be getting a more soggy result due to using a less dense bread than your muesli bread. When I’m out of my homemade bread and can’t get at a hearty type of whole wheat bakery loaf, using the groceryshelf white or even whole wheat loaf absolutely makes for a soggier result.

In that case I’d say use 1/2 cup less milk and see if there is an improvement. Also I always cover my bread pudding with tinfoil for the first 2/3s of the baking, and uncover for the last bit of time. This way if a longer baking time is needed to set the custard well I can do it without burning the top.

Is pumkin butter sold off the shelves as is, or is there a recipe on the site for it? I am not familiar with this ingredient.

Can’t wait to try. It’s in the oven as I write this. One thing I was confused about with the recipe though. The 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice that is listed in the ingredients is not included in the instructions “whisk together egg, milk, vanilla and pumpkin butter”. Do you only add it if you are not using pumpkin butter? Or was it left out of the instructions on accident?

For those whose bread was to soggy, I suugest toasting the bread cubes for. 10 minutes then let them cool before pouring the mixture and soaking overnight. Toasted bread can absord more liquid and it cooks up more firmly. I also used less egg, less milk, more puree, nutmeg and cinnamon and brown sugar since I did not have pumpkin butter. My office loved it.

Just put this in the fridge… It seemed to need more break, closer to 4.5 cups, but you addressed that issue earlier. I am trying a homemade cinnamon bread loaf and pumpkin puree – no pumpkin butter. I can’t wait til morning!

I haven’t made this yet but just from reading the comments I am thinking that maybe straining the pumpkin puree first before using it would keep the final product from being too wet/soggy. A lot of the recipes I have been making say to strain the pumpkin overnight or for a few hours before adding to recipe….just a thought. :)

Where do you get pumpkin butter???

I don’t see how 3 1/2 cup bread cubes covers a 9×13 and soaks up 7 eggs and 2 cups of milk.

I just made this today and loved it. I used the pumpkin butter 1/2 cup and it had great flavor. I let it sit overnight and it was not soggy. Nice and golden brown on top. This was a test and I will make it for the holidays for overnight guests. Yum!

i had to use more bread than suggested as the amount suggested was just floating in 9×12 pan… also had issues with it too runny in middle & too dry/crunchy on top…. maybe a lower temp, longer bake time? am cooking longer & hoping for the best… smells awesome!

Do you have to refrigerate overnight?

Ok so I just made this and did not have pumpkin butter but I looked up what was in it and added that to the mix. I let it refrigerate for about 7 hours and baked it for 45 minutes it turned out good next time I will add more pumpkin. The top is crispy and the inside is fluffy like soufflé, moist but not runny. Will make again but I will get pumpkin butter first.

I can’t wait to try this. I think I want to make it for Thanksgiving morning when we watch the parade. Maybe a new tradition if all goes well. Thanks for sharing!

I think if you increased the pumpkin puree, then those that are complaining they cannot taste the pumpkin will like it more.
I use 1/4 cup of pumpkin puree per serving in my french toast. It isn’t a casserole, but the flavor is definitely present. Perhaps reducing some of the liquid and increasing the puree?

I’m going to make this…love French toast.

Full disappointed with this recipe. Made it as the recipe suggested. I didnt have pumpkin spice so I used a tad extra pumpkin puree, I also used cinnamon to add some extra flavor. I cooked it for the full 45 minutes and it was still wet feeling. On top of being mushy and wet there was hardly any flavor. This recipe was sooo easy to make and smelled incredible, so I am disappointed that it did not turn out as expected. Also, I couldnt have cooked it any longer because the top was getting dried out and brown. Hope this turns out better for you!

This looks great. I wonder if it can be frozen to bake later? I am in a swap group and with the holidays coming, the members are thinking that it would be nice to offer trades that would compliment the Thanksgiving cooking chores. I can see this being a great way to make Thanksgiving morning breakfast or even next morning breakfast easier for anyone hosting out of town family over the weekend. And for me, this would be a great way to incorporate my back yard eggs into the swap. Thanks.

Just wondering if anybody has actually tried it … that is usually why I read the reviews to see what others take on it is …sounds good

What a mouth watering pumpkin french toast. Definitely on my list to make!

OMGoodness!!! This is incredible!

Oh I make something like this, not with a Pumpkin taste. Mine is just plain but with cream cheese. I make it in a deeper pan so it puffs up more and makes more like a bread. Then slice it like a bread. If I am lucky and there is any left (a rarity). I freeze it so it’s a quick breakfast on the go in the mornings when I don’t have time to do wait for the normal bake time. I can’t wait to make this one, I know my family will be happy that I have another french toast bake to make it sounds so yummy!

Oh my gosh – most perfect breakfast ever! Can’t wait to try it.

Wow, this French toast bake is sinful! Found it through most favorited photos on FoodGawker.

This looks absolutely amazing. I can’t imagine what would be a better breakfast on Thanksgiving morning.

Pinned this one to try. Can’t wait!

what a beautiful breakfast. it looks delicious!

Hello beautiful breakfast! I now knwo what to do with all the bread I have.

This looks so good! I love anything pumpkin!!

Ha ha! Yes, breakfast of champions!!
Genevieve

I’m drooling!! Totally trying this one soon!