Treat your overnight holiday guests to an impressive (yet oh-so-easy!) breakfast with this mouth-watering make ahead Pumpkin French Toast Casserole! Your whole house will smell divine when you make this for Thanksgiving breakfast or Christmas brunch.
Is there anything better than the feeling of waking up to a delicious breakfast already made for you? That's exactly how you'll feel when you make this Pumpkin French Toast Casserole.
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You can make this the night before in no time! Christmas morning is my absolute favorite morning of the year, but I just want to enjoy the morning, not spend all my time in the kitchen. That's why this is the perfect make ahead dish for your holiday morning.
And while it's great for holidays, you can really make this recipe any time of year. Grab your favorite fruit butter at the grocery store - strawberry butter and apple butter are two of my favorites. Plum, fig, and peach butter are delicious, too.
In my opinion, the pumpkin butter is what makes this recipe. The delicious pumpkin flavor comes from this creamy spiced concoction and you don't want to leave it out! Every pumpkin lover is going to want to try this yummy baked French toast recipe.
🧂 Ingredients
- raisin bread
- pumpkin butter or pumpkin pie filling
- eggs
- milk
- pumpkin pie spice
- ground cinnamon
- dried cranberries (optional)
- light brown sugar
- vanilla extract
- pumpkin seeds (optional)
- chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
This is meant to be a brief overview of the Pumpkin French Toast Casserole recipe. For step-by-step instructions and a full printable recipe card with ingredients, please scroll down to the teal box below or Jump to Recipe.
🔪Instructions
- Place ¾ of the stale bread into a greased, 13 x 9 baking pan or casserole dish.
- In a large bowl, combine milk, eggs, vanilla extract, pumpkin butter and spices.
- Sprinkle the cranberries over the dried bread.
- Pour the egg mixture over the bread and push the bread down into the mixture with a spoon. If you need the last ¼ of dried bread to absorb the excess egg mixture, add it now.
- Cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight.
- The next morning, preheat oven to 350-degrees F.
- Uncover the dish and sprinkle the nuts over top if you are using them.
- Sprinkle the brown sugar over the top of the bread.
- Bake for approximately 35 – 40 minutes.
- Let cool slightly after removing from the oven.
Equipment
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Here is what you will need to make this easy recipe:
- Cutting Board and Bread Knife
- 13 x 9 baking pan
- Liquid Measuring Cup and Dry Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Mixing Bowls
- Whisk
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💭 Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some questions (and answers!) readers often ask about this Pumpkin French Toast Casserole recipe.
You might have added too much egg into your mixture.
Soak and bake your French toast casserole in different dishes. Additionally, make sure you use thick-cut, hearty bread like Brioche or Challah.
You can. Dry bread is best. Leaving the bread bag open overnight will work just fine.
Store overnight in an air-tight container.
📖 Variations
We recommend that you try our recipe for the first time just as it is written for the best results, because that is how the recipe has been tested.
However, the next time you make it, you might consider one of these different ways of making this great recipe.
- Instead of raisin bread, try another store-bought bread such as cinnamon swirl. Just be sure that the bread you use is not too moist. For example, a pumpkin quick bread wouldn't be the right texture for this French toast bake recipe.
- The dried cranberries, walnuts or pecans and pumpkin seeds are all optional. While they add a lot of flavor, these are easy to substitute for other nuts, seeds or dried fruit. Of course, you can omit them altogether if you prefer.
- For an apple version of this French toast recipe, use apple butter to make this recipe instead of pumpkin butter. You could even serve it with fried apples on top!
Streusel Topping
You could also add a crunchy streusel topping using brown sugar and a few other ingredients. Here's what you'll need:
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (or pumpkin pie spice)
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- ¼ cup chopped pecans
- In a small bowl, use a pastry cutter to combine cold butter with the rest of the ingredients until they form a coarse crumb texture.
- Then, sprinkle the cinnamon streusel mixture on top of the casserole along with the chopped pecans.
If you like, substitute half of the flour for quick cooking oats.
🍴 Serving Suggestions
I serve this with maple syrup and pumpkin seeds on top. Sometimes I even include Maple Butter or Brown Sugar Butter also. My Dad says the best way to eat it is with maple butter, maple syrup and a side of crispy bacon. ☺️
Since this Pumpkin French Toast Casserole is a heavy dish, it's nice to serve with something light like Honey Lime Fruit Salad or Fruit Salad with Orange Juice Dressing. It also compliments a Holiday Ham well for brunch, or you can just serve it with crispy bacon.
😋 Similar Recipes
We have loads of great brunch and breakfast recipes that will feed a crowd (and impress them, too!) Check out this Cranberry Egg Nog French Toast Bake or one of these easy breakfast casseroles recipes:
- Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole - with ground sausage and bacon
- Bacon Puff Pastry Twists - super easy to make
- Breakfast Enchilada Casserole - another great make ahead meal
- Sheet Pan Eggs and Bacon - clean up is a breeze
And, if you love all things pumpkin spice, be sure to check out these other tasty pumpkin recipes:
📋 Pumpkin French Toast Casserole
Not ready to make this easy French toast casserole yet? Don’t forget to pin the easy and delicious recipe for later! When you do make it, please be sure to tag me on Instagram @jugglingactmama or #jugglingactmama – I’d love to see your pictures! And finally, if you get a chance, please comment and leave me a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below!
Pumpkin French Toast Casserole
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Equipment
- Bread Knife
- 13 x 9 baking pan
Ingredients
- 1 loaf Raisin Bread broken into chunks and dried
- ¼ cup Pumpkin Butter
- 7 Eggs
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups Milk
- ½ teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
- ½ teaspoon Cinnamon
- ½ cup Cranberries dried
- ½ cup Brown Sugar
- ¼ cup Pumpkin Seeds optional
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts or pecans optional
Instructions
- Place ¾ of the dried bread into a greased, 13 x 9 baking pan
- In another bowl, combine milk, eggs, vanilla extract, pumpkin butter and spices
- Sprinkle the cranberries over the dried bread
- Pour the egg mixture over the bread and push the bread down into the mixture with a spoon. If you need the last ¼ of dried bread to absorb the excess egg mixture, add it now.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight,
- Preheat oven to 350-degrees F.
- Uncover the dish and sprinkle the nuts over top if you are using them.
- Sprinkle the brown sugar over the top of the bread.
- Bake for approximately 35 – 40 minutes.
- Let cool slightly after removing from the oven. Serve with syrup and a sprinkle of nuts if you wish.
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Julie says
This looks so amazing!!