Pumpkin French Toast Bake

I plan on making this, love pumpkin anything but reading the recipe its almost like an old fashioned bread pudding recipe, which I also love. Lol.
But does sound yummy.

Followed the recipe, let it soak overnight etc. Flavor was great, but it takes a LOT longer than 45 minutes to bake. At 50 minutes it was still quite soggy in the middle. Mine took about 1.5 hours. Both my internal temp gauges verified my oven was at 350.

This was great. Based on some other reviews, I did almost double the amount of pumpkin butter and pie spice, and would do that again. It was light and fluffy. Yum!

I make overnight French toast all the time and one thing I have found it is it better to use day old French bread instead of just bread slices.. That may be why some are saying it is sloppy or has raw egg.. or maybe it tastes eggy.. I use 2 loafs.. cut crust off and then into squares.. The French bread cut into smaller pieces seems to soak up a lot of the mixture. My recipe also calls for 12 eggs and 2 cups milk.. I am sure that also makes a difference.. I bake it covered with foil for 30 minutes and uncovered 30 minutes.. Perfect every time!!

Do you think I could sub in some egg whites? 7 is a lot…

I am concerned that the top will be too dry for my tastes, do you think this would work if you baked it with aluminum foil covering it to keep the top moist? If so, are there any other changes that would need to be made?

I loved this recipe. I made it with gluten free bread and with almond milk. I didn’t have the pumpkin butter so I used the pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice. I drizzled a little maple syrup over the top prior to baking and sprinkled with brown sugar. I ended up baking it for 45 minutes. It puffed up a bit when I took it out of the oven and settled fairly quickly. The consistency was great. I know some of the reviews have said it didn’t have a lot of flavor but it was great for me. I probably did use more pumpkin spice than the recipe called for.. =)

Made the pumpkin purée with brown sugar version using pumpkin streusel breakfast bread from Target. Sooooooo delish! Everybody was asking for the recipe! Two thumbs up minimalist baker!!

I would love love LOVE to see a vegan version of this, it looks delightful!! The first thing that came to mind was to try it with blended tofu instead of eggs. I might have to try that… :D

Delicious! Absolutely the best breakfast ever! It turned out perfect!

I am making this now. I didn’t have pumpkin butter so I used some canned pumpkin instead. I added sugar and a bit more vanilla. I will let you know tomorrow how it turned out.

I made this a couple weeks ago for my in-laws and they loved it. I accidentally added 3/4 cup of pumpkin butter but it turned out great. I also added some melted butter with the brown sugar and pecans before sprinkling it on top and it was delicious. Thanks for the recipe

Made this last night and cooked this morning. My family really enjoyed it! I only made a half recipe, since there are only three of us. I used Texas toast (leftover from my daughter’s special PSAT breakfast request last week…don’t know if I would have tried it otherwise). I added a tablespoon of sugar, and used about a teaspoon of Pumpkin Pie spice. Making a half recipe, I adjusted the bread to fit my dish and used four eggs. I cooked it for 40 minutes at 350 degrees. I’m really glad I came across this on Pinterest. I’m not much for making special things for breakfast, it was a treat. Thank you.

Looks awesome. I wonder if a cast iron skillet would work well here.

I just found your receipt for the pumpkin butter!
I’ll get it made today!!
Thanks

Where do you get or how do you make pumpkin butter?
This French toast looks wonderful and I can’t wait to try it!!!

can you make this meal vegan as well??? it looks delish :D

I’m making this now! A few things that I did differently: I used challah bread because it’s personally my favorite bread to use for French toast – I think it will work well since the outer crust is quite firm (almost like a soft pretzel-texture) and the inside is quite fluffy and sweet. I used extra pumpkin puree and extra pumpkin pie spices since I noticed some comments saying that the pumpkin flavor wasn’t very strong with the original recipe. Unfortunately I didn’t catch the detail about overnight preparation and I am making it for a particular occasion, but I did have a few hours to let it sit and soak. If all goes well, I may make this again with pumpkin eggnog as a partial milk substitute.

This looks amazing!!! Just wish it was Vegan… any chance you’d try to convert it?! :)

Any suggestions for an egg free version? Seven eggs is a lot to ask of my usual flax egg replacement.

Oh Lord help me ! The smell when you walk in my kitchen is ahhhhhh!
REMINDER: Must leave some for others !!
From Montréal.

hi – Planning to make this dish soon. can you pls share the contents of the pumpkin pie spice since we do not get it here in India.

Thanks

Best french toast recipe ever!, I made something similar yesterday.

ADD more pumpkin butter AND pumpkin pie spice to recipe! I used crusty italian (big loaf) bread.

I came across this recipe and was super delights. I made my first batch for my son’s teachers for their last day of school last week. I found a separate recipe to make homemade pumpkin butter (orange juice, brown sugar, pumpkin puree, etc), which I made and used for this recipe. When making the first batch of this pumpkin french toast, I found the flavor not pumpkin enough …. actually, i didn’t taste much of any pumpkin in the liquid before I poured over the bread. So, I added a bit more pumpkin butter but still not a whole lot of BAM… pumpkin. I went ahead with it just in case the flavor came out overnight with soaking and the added pumpkin spice just before baking. I think it still needed more.

In comes batch #2 a couple of days later for home. I added a total of 3/4 – 1 cup (not 1/4 cup) of pumpkin butter and 2 tsp (not 1 1/2 tsp) of pumpkin pie spice into the liquid mixture. I sprinkled a good amount of pumpkin pie spice on the top the next morning just before baking. Those tweaks did the trick… I got the pumpkin flavor I wanted…. I can tell it’s pumpkin now.

Thanks!!!

Hi. Do you think this recipe would work in the slow cooker?

This recipe is delicious! It was the perfect Christmas morning breakfast!

We did have success trying it GLUTEN FREE… (So we didn’t follow the recipe exactly).. But I’ll share what I did in case someone else would want to try. :-)

We used Udi’s GF white bread (it absorbs better than their whole grain) and just followed the recipe ingredients etc… We did use the Oh She Glows pumpkin butter (so good!)
We also used almond milk, added a little extra pumpkin spice, and topped it with coconut sugar v Brown sugar

I was a little nervous about attempting to let it sit over night (because of the gf bread).. So we made it the morning of and let it soak in the fridge for only 30 mins.

We then baked it as advised but started checking on it around the 25 min mark because gf just doesn’t cook the same way… We prob pulled it out somewhere between the 30-35 min mark and it was nice and toasted on top and custardy inside.

We found the recipe easy to follow and easy to make slight preference adjustments. This recipe is a keeper and just may become a christmas tradition. Thank you!

I made this for Christmas morning and people loved it! Easy to make and tasted delicious❤️❤️❤️

Just made this for the first time for Christmas Morning for a tough crowd – my kids. It was quite a success with my daughter (10 y.0.) not my son (7 y.o. – he is tougher by far with different food options). I enjoyed it! I read all the reviews and made changes as necessary. – I used cinnamon raison bagels (about 4-5) I had left over in the freezer, they held up well to the liquid mixture and I fluffed up a little. I used pumpkin puree and added the pumpkin pie spice and maple syrup to the liquid and shook some on top before baking – it was good but I would have liked even more pumpkin – minor adjustment for next time. It was crispy on top and not soggy on the inside – baked for 30 min and added an extra 6-8 minutes after I checked it, not sure it needed it but it wasn’t dry. Only 4 stars because of the adjustments and the need for even more pumpkin flavor. Definitely need a bread that can absorb the liquid or cut back. Also, made it the night before, stirred it all and added brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice and pecans to the top before baking – so easy!

Making this for the third year in a row! Best french toast recipe ever!!

I have plans to make use of our leftovers with this!

We have leftover homemade white poppy seed bread and a package of raisin bread. Then I’m going to scrape out the filling of a homemade pumpkin pie (from a pumpkin) that wasn’t eaten because it wasn’t sweet enough. I’ll add honey, cinnomon, sugar and enough extras to that mix to make it sweet and then add to the rest of the ingredients.
I might try to add in some pumpkin coffee creamer in place of some of the milk. And plenty of maple syrup!

Thanks! Now I know what to do with that sad pumpkin pie our aunt left at our house!

My husband loves this breakfast. Luckily, this time of year I found pumpkin bread made by Pepperidge Farm. I mix that and some other grainy bread and its Delicious. Thanks for making me popular with my family!

I made this dish for a brunch today. I bought one loaf of french bread, but should have used 1.5 loaves. I had to add 4 slices of white bread to soak up the rest of the egg mixture.
The French toast was delicious! Only change I would make was maybe upping the amount of pumpkin butter or adding pumpkin purée. The pumpkin wasn’t quite as strong as I would have liked. Everyone absolutely loved it though!

I made my own pumpkin butter just for this and it is now a thanksgiving traditional breakfast in my house and even the children love it. Thank you its so yummy and worth the extra calories!

I have tried and LOVED Lee Drummond’s Recipe “The Pioneer Woman” for Baked French Toast and it is great! I was intrigued by the “Pumpkin” version. I am thinking the best way to make it less SOGGY and more French toast like is to consider adding in a tbsp. or two of flour. I eat gluten free so I subbed gluten free bread and used GF All purpose flour. Turns out like a dream everytime! With this great recipe idea I believe it is possible!

I made this with pumpkin spice egg nog for the milk. I think it’s the best food I’ve ever eaten!

Heya!

Your recipe looks SO delicious, I just HAVE to recommend your post on my blog. I’m gonna use one of your pictures for that – should you mind, just send me an email…

Thanks for sharing!!
Conny

Would this work with pumpkin bread?

Absolutely amazing recipe. I made it for a Halloween brunch for 10 yesterday, and it was a massive success. Used French bread. I added sweetened and condensed milk to the milk mixture for added sweetness. Thanks for the warning :-)

I also used almost three time as much pumpkin pie spice and pumpkin purée. This made it a bit more soupy, but I was careful not to use 100% of the mixture, letting some go to waste, instead of pouring it all on the bread. I also baked for a bit longer…was also cooking bacon in the oven at the same time, so it was tricky opening and closing the oven frequently.

This was a show stopper, many ppl loved it. Thank you!

I made this for breakfast this morning for my husband and I and it was soooo good! I used an 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 pan since it’s just the two of us and cut the recipe in half. I still had to cook for about 45min but I think I had to much egg not enough bread but now I know for next time! I would definitely make this again.

Love your recipes, but the non-stop super annoying Verizon ads playing randomly while on any page of your blog are a huge, huge turn off:(((

The biggest key to this recipe is the type of bread you use. If you skip the spices and pumpkin butter it will be bland. If you use regular bread it will be soggy. I went to the market and bought a loaf of homemade sour dough, something hearty and crusty like a rustic bread with raisin etc. is amazing in this dish and will soak up the batter.

Can you veganize this recipe?

Hi,

This look great! Just wanted to let you know I’ve featured your recipe in a must make breakfast list on my blog, The Handmade Experiment. Check it out!

Can I make this with gluten-free bread? Will it get too soggy?

This is a simple and delicious recipe that I will definitely make again! I halved the recipe, and it was the perfect amount to feed 2 people (with leftovers). I used Maple Pumpkin butter from Wegman’s and Challah bread from Trader Joe’s. The Challah bread worked perfectly to soak up all of the liquid overnight. I also added raisins and walnuts to the top, which went nicely with the pumpkin flavors. One recommendation I have is to leave a lid/tinfoil on your baking dish for the first 20 minutes – this helped to keep the casserole from drying out. I did bake for the 45 minutes, as I was worried that the bread was still too “wet” and wanted to make sure it was cooked through.

I made this for a meeting this past weekend and it was AMAZING! I took the extra time to make your muesli bread (two loaves, delish) and the pumpkin butter. Homemade really made the difference here and it was very good. The pumpkin butter recipe yielded quite a bit so I shared a small jar with my sister-in-law:) The muesli bread base is adaptable for any kind of filling (dried fruit, nuts, etc). You really could put anything in there and it would still be amazing. Next time I might add some diced apples and cinnamon to the base recipe. Thank you for sharing!!

I made this today for brunch with my family. It was a hit and even my 2 picky boys LOVED it!! I forgot about the brown sugar on top but sprinkled it on after 30 min of baking. It tasted perfectly crunchy and delicious!! I did have to add about 15-20 min of baking time. Maybe because I used sandwich bread and it wasn’t quite done in the middle. I will be adding this to our family favorite recipes :). Thank you!!

Made this this morning for Christmas and it was very good! I used cinnamon bread (just regular stuff you buy in the bread isle), a little extra pumpkin butter but still didn’t taste very pumpkinny, dots of cream cheese and I made a streusel topping that I put on right before going in to the oven. I made it at 8:30 last night and pulled it out of the fridge at 8:15 this morning. Put tin foil on it for first half hour then uncovered for 15 more minutes. It was yummy! Will definitely make this again! Used a 9×13 pan, there were 4 adults and half a pan left.

This was amazing! I served this at Thanksgiving brunch and everyone loved it.
I use brioche which I think would make a big difference in how this would come out. The bread being super fluffy, soaked up all the ingredients and came out perfect- soft in the middle and toasty in top. I did not use the pumpkin butter so I used more of the other ingredients like suggested. Topped it with sliced almonds and warm maple syrup.
It was much easier than doing individual peices of French toast and tastes delish:)
Thanks for sharing

Made this dish for Thanksgiving breakfast. I used your basic 100% whole wheat sandwich bread, and pumpkin puree (adjusting spices, as suggested). Toasted pecans, and put them, along with brown sugar, on the top before baking. I like the flavor. Will do it again with a bit of tweaking to bring it around to just how I, and my family, like it. (Possibly adding some crumbled bacon – delish.) Thanks for the recipe.

not a fan of this dish. I love pumpkin more than any other flavor and i felt like this was to eggy for me. I added extra pumpkin pie spice and all i could taste was the eggs! Will not be making this again..

Hi Dana,

I made this recipe yesterday for us to have for breakfast while watching the Thanksgiving Day parade – it was perfect. Thank you!

I made this with challah bread for Thanksgiving breakfast and everyone loved it.

I just made this for Thanksgiving and made a couple of substitutions. For the bread, I used Pepperidge Farms pumpkin bread, I used Kroger brand vanilla Carbmaster milk (60 calories per cup and 11 grams of protein), I used 3 whole eggs and the rest egg whites with a big spoonful of pumpkin pie filling since I forget the pumpkin butter. It was really good although I think I cooked it about 5 minutes too long-it was a little dry but some Torani’s pumpkin pie sauce fixed that! Thank you for this idea. I’m toying with a cranberry-orange version for Christmas.

I read some of the other reviews as I was making this. I used a very dense 10 grain bread from the best bakery in the city…the kind you have to wait in line for at the farmer’s market outside in 25 degrees :) I used pumpkin butter that I made from allrecipes.com. I did soak it overnight, but drained some of the excess that did not get soaked up by the bread. I baked at 375 for 40 minutes. I also sprinkled brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice on top before baking.

Next time I will increase the pumpkin butter and pumpkin pie spice. I will also cover the top with foil for the first 1/2 of baking and then remove for the last part to prevent the top from over browning. I may also try adding the cream cheese as someone suggested as a future variation.

Can someone explain ((about)) how wet this should be before baking? The bread cubes were all moist this morning when taking it out of the fridge but there was no extra liquid, so I made added a little more. I followed the recipe but split it in half and used a smaller pan. How much liquid should you see before baking?

I’ve made this today for the first time, it was really good. I had to use pumpkin puree, and although I used more pumpkin spice and sugar, there was not much pumpkin flavor. Nex time maybe I will use more puree, or I’ll try to do my own pumpkin butter! I used Challah bread, and bake it for 45 minutes, and the texture was excellent.

Here’s a little tip: if using nuts (I’ve used pecans) toast them in a pan really quick (they get burn very easily) and put them in the bread, then bake. It reaaaaaally enhances their flavor!

I used Challah Bread last time and my family loved it. Making it again for company tomorrow.

Could you add apples to this? What would the ratio be?

Can this receipe be made in muffin tins or must it be a casserole dish? Just thinking outside the box…

My daughter is allergic to eggs …any suggestions????

Tried it this morning but didn’t notice that I should have made it last night and then put it in the oven this morning. It was crunchy on top and soggy in the middle. My kids and I loved the smell but no one finished even eating what I put on their plate. Dissapointed for sure! Maybe I’ll try it once more but I’m not holding my breath.