Pumpkin French Toast Bake
Sweet and spicy pumpkin french toast is made the night before for an easy, early-morning preparation.
Servings 10
Ingredients
- 5 1/2 - 7 1/2 cups 1-inch bread cubes (depending on type of bread)*
- 7 large eggs
- 2 cups milk (any kind)*
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 cup pumpkin butter (or sub double the amount of pumpkin puree)*
- 3-4 Tbsp brown sugar (for topping)
- Nuts (like pecan or walnuts // optional)
Instructions
- Cut any kind of bread into 1-inch cubes - I recommend a crusty, whole grain variety, but sandwich bread will work, too. Just use enough slice to fill a lightly greased 9x13-inch baking dish quite full.
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla, pumpkin butter and pie spice until well combined. Pour over bread and push down with a spoon or your hands until it's all soaked and mostly covered. Cover with saran wrap or lid and refrigerate overnight.
- In the morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (176 C), uncover and top with brown sugar, additional pumpkin pie spice and nuts (optional). Bake for 35-45 minutes or until golden brown and no longer wet.
- Serve immediately with maple syrup, honey or agave nectar. Store leftovers in the refrigerator covered for up to a couple days.
Notes
*For the bread cubes, just use as much bread as it takes to fill the bottom of your dish generously, plus up about 1 to 1.5 inches. If you've added too much to soak up the liquid, just remove some. And if it looks too wet, add some more bread.
*I used 2%, but use skim or low-fat for a lighter recipe. Alternatively, use non-dairy such as soy or almond.
*I HIGHLY recommend using pumpkin butter, as it has a concentrated pumpkin flavor and is much sweeter than puree. But if using puree instead of butter, it's important to compensate the flavor by adding a bit more puree, pumpkin pie spice, and a little agave nectar, brown sugar or maple syrup to the batter. Otherwise, it will lack that delicious fall, pumpkin flavor you're going for.
*I used 2%, but use skim or low-fat for a lighter recipe. Alternatively, use non-dairy such as soy or almond.
*I HIGHLY recommend using pumpkin butter, as it has a concentrated pumpkin flavor and is much sweeter than puree. But if using puree instead of butter, it's important to compensate the flavor by adding a bit more puree, pumpkin pie spice, and a little agave nectar, brown sugar or maple syrup to the batter. Otherwise, it will lack that delicious fall, pumpkin flavor you're going for.
Nutrition (1 of 10 servings)
Serving: 1 g Calories: 122 Carbohydrates: 13.7 g Protein: 7.8 g Fat: 4 g Sodium: 145 mg Fiber: 1.3 g Sugar: 7.4 g