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
Excellent taste, but more like “apple pie: consistency”, its back in the oven right now to try to firm it up.
PS after 10 more minutes, it is still not firm. I used a whole grain bread & greek yogurt. Looks like the grandsons will be eating it with spoons!! 😉
Hi Katie, I’ve made this recipe many times, as I told a commenter above. I just wanted to leave my feedback in case it helps others.
When I make it with tofu, it is the texture of regular french toast, eggy and custardy while still being firm enough to cut into squares. When I make it with soy yogurt it is just a little softer, but I was still able to cut squares, yet it is a little more like a cross between bread pudding and french toast casserole. Both ways are delicious, and my boys can’t eat it fast enough!
I prepped this in the morning and just made it for breakfast for dinner tonight. It is awesome! So delicious and just sweet enough. I added dried cranberries instead of raisins, plain greek yogurt, and a mix of light vanilla soymilk and regular milk–everything set up perfectly in about 25 min (I have a hot oven). It’s slightly crisp on the edges and top and creamy in the center, with a drizzle of maple syrup it is perfect! I can’t wait to eat the leftovers for breakfast all week.
I think this is one of my favorite recipes of yours. I never was a breakfast person until I found your blog. Now it’s my favorite meal of the day :).
Yum! This was delicious! I might have had almost half the pan myself! 😉
I tell everyone about your blog, Katie. It is my absolute favorite. Keep doing what you’re doing! 🙂
If I wanted traditional french toast with cinnamon and rasins and omit the pumpkin, would the tofu cause problems to the flavor and/or texture??
I would love to know how a pumpkin version works, as I’ve gotten a bit tired of pumpkin lately. If you try it, do comment back for the rest of us who are also curious!
I just made this for tomorrow morning and I am so looking forward to it! It’s the perfect thanksgiving morning breakfast 🙂
I made this toast this morning, and it was delicious! Perfect for a rainy fall morning! And my favorite fall breakfast is a breakfast sandwhich, made with a tempeh sausage patty, sautéed mushrooms, toasted kale, and some pumpkin purée and maple syrup spread onto an English muffin. So good!
Does it have to be firm MoriNu? I only have soft, but I have all the other ingredients, and I’d like to make this for my mother’s birthday brunch.
Sorry for the delayed reply. I haven’t tried soft tofu… I don’t see why it wouldn’t work, but I really can’t say for sure.
Hey Katie, so I tried this recipe finally! I used the Ezekiel cinn., and raisin bread, tofu and then followed the rest exact. I had to double mine because we have a large family and it does come out a little soggy. So I improvised and cut it and then turned each square over and cooked it an additional 15 min. Perfect, and the taste was great. I think that next time I will add the bread into the bowl and mix it to see if I need extra bread to soak up the liquid. I will continue working on this and thank you for the amazing job you always do!
You use the Morinu Tofu in so many of your recipes but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t have any Kosher symbols unfortunately 🙁 Can you recommend something similar?
Is there anything I can substitute for the tofu?
Thanks!
mmmm. Just made a microwaved mug version of this. Delicious. Brilliant idea, Katie.
you look really really skinny 🙁 like…too skinny…are you alright?
1. How do you stay skinny! ?
2. Uh… what’s Ezekial bread?
Just found you on Pinterest, and boy am I in trouble! Craving pumpkin.
I think as long as you listen to your body and only eat when you’re really craving something, it all evens out. Then again, I have gained weight recently so I might not be one to talk (but I am happy about this weight gain, so it’s not a problem). 🙂
Do a google image search to see what Ezekiel bread looks like… it’s probably easier to explain that way.