Hello Thanksgiving breakfast.
Pumpkin French Toast: A made-from-scratch breakfast casserole with sweet cinnamon and creamy pumpkin in every delicious bite. It’s perfect for feeding a crowd, or for enjoying on a quiet and chilly autumn morning. Simply assemble the night before, and pop it into the oven in the morning for a delicious and comforting breakfast.
If this were a Friends episode, it would be called: The one where she has way too much fun taking “pouring shot” photos.
Pumpkin Baked French Toast
(Serves 4-6)
- 3 1/2 cups cubed bread (I used Ezekiel, but other types are fine. French bread would be really good in this recipe, as would cinnamon-raisin. Depending on the type of bread, you might need more or less than 3.5 cups. You want enough to fill an 8×8 pan.) (175g)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or just add a little extra cinnamon)
- sweetener of choice (If you want to top the casserole with syrup post-baking, use 3 nunaturals stevia packs or 3 tbsp sugar. If you’d prefer a sweeter breakfast casserole that needs no topping, increase the amount to 5-6 tbsp)
- 1 1/4 cups milk of choice (300g) (Depending on your choice of bread, you might need to use less. This is a good amount for the Ezekiel bread.)
- optional: 2 tbsp butter-type spread of choice (for a more buttery result) (30g)
- 1 cup MoriNu silken-firm tofu, or 1 cup yogurt of choice (240g)
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree (I used canned pumpkin) (120g)
- optional: handful of raisins
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except bread, and stir very well. (If using the tofu, you should blend these ingredients. Otherwise, just stir by hand.) Grease an 8×8-in baking pan, and pour the cubed bread into the pan. Cover evenly with the wet mixture, then cover the entire dish with a lid or saran wrap and fridge overnight. The next morning, preheat oven to 400 F and cook about 30-35 minutes. Top with maple syrup or your favorite French toast topping (or eat plain, if you opt to use the extra dry sweetener pre-baking.)
And for everyone who asked:
Can you guess which Gossip Girl character I was?
I didn’t include costume photos in my original post for a few reasons, the main one being it’s not a very elaborate costume. I didn’t think it was worth posting. I also don’t normally take my camera to parties, which was why the post was made up of recycled photos. In retrospect, I probably should’ve skipped posting on Thursday altogether. But one’s mind doesn’t always think straight on two hours of sleep. (Side note: I borrowed the Chanel bag from a friend, and it’s actually a knock-off from Canal Street in NYC. I’m thinking Serena would not approve. Other side note: I wanted to be Blair, but they said I was too blonde. Yet another side note: …I think I’ve written enough side notes. I’ll stop now.)
Link of the Day: Healthy Pumpkin Recipes
Do leftovers of this casserole reheat well? Wanted to make it and portion is off to take the work during the week. Figured I’d just pop it in the microwave then pour on some maple syrup. Do you think reheating in the microwave will make it too dry?
Hi, Katie!!
Just wanted to say how much I adore your website and what an inspiration you are to all girls out there trying to live a healthier lifestyle (you probably here that a lot, but it’s true!!). I just have one question: since I can’t have dairy or soy, could I maybe sub the tofu/yogurt with an egg? Or should I sub something else?
Thanks SO MUCH! ;-D
My whole family will LOVE this! Thank you so much for these wonderful recipes!
Hi! Discovering all your wonderful pumpkin recipes while planning Thxgiving 2016. This one particularly appeals as a morning-after breakfast. However, I’m making and hosting the holiday and know that I’ll be too tired that night and will not want to face the kitchen again. How many days in advance can I assemble this? Or even if I can just assemble the wet ingredients and keep the bread separate, please comment on that timing, Thank you!
You can easily do the dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately a few days in advance!
We used the lower amount of Sucanat suggested for people who would use maple syrup. We found it a little tart. I’m not sure if this is because of the yogurt (I used Nancy’s plain nonfat) or because I added a couple of extra tablespoons of pumpkin so I would use up the can. We think if we had added some raisins it would have counteracted the tartness plus added an interesting flavor. I used up a lot of various kinds of bread heels I had been in the freezer as well as added fresh whole wheat and whole grain spelt breads, too. It was pretty easy to assemble and definitely easy to bake in the morning. It would be great if you have overnight guests as it would be ready quickly without too much work or mess.
Love your photo!
Hi there! Any recommendations for making this without the pumpkin (or substituting it with something else)? Would love to make for Easter next weekend… I was thinking of subbing applesauce for the pumpkin puree perhaps? Thank you!
I’ve not tried it with applesauce. I know it works with banana though!
I wanted to give some redemption to the “soggy” French toast bake problems. I made this to enjoy this morning. It didn’t work out. After baking for 1.5 hours, I scooped the soupy mess into a muffin tin, thinking it might firm up a little better. After baking 40 more minutes, I gave up and just made regular French toast. However, in my laziness, I didn’t clean out the muffin tin immediately. I noticed, once it cooled, it firmed up to a nice consistency. I decided to try it and it was delicious! I popped it out of the muffin tin and froze it to eat on a later day. So, if the recipe doesn’t work out well for you, try to let it sit awhile and eat it at a later date. Bonus: I don’t need to cook breakfast tomorrow and I have grab and go baked French toast cups to go!
Notes on what I used: reduced milk a tad, honey for sweetner and cinnamon raisin bread. I followed the rest of the recipe exactly.