Easy Pumpkin French Toast Casserole

Enjoy the flavors of Fall in this easy make-ahead Pumpkin French Toast. French bread, pure pumpkin, pumpkin spice, eggs, and milk combine to make this easy breakfast treat. Sprinkle the cinnamon streusel topping on and put it into the oven the next day. It’s a delicious fall french toast to warm you up on a cool, crisp morning. 

HAPPY FALL, Y’ALL!
It’s finally here; the cooler weather, changing leaves, crisp breezes and tastes of the season.

Have you been inundated with pumpkin recipes? I’ve been seeing them ALL. OVER. the interweb. My blogger friends have been sharing them left and right and I have to say that I’ve shared a few as well. I’m here to give you one more today. Pumpkin Spice French Toast Bake! 

And can I be honest with you? Shhh…, don’t tell anyone. I really don’t like pumpkin.
Seriously. 

This might lose me big fall food blogging points but it’s just not my favorite. I don’t especially look forward to the onslaught of pumpkin flavored everything from September to January every year. 

Ok, well, it’s not like I can’t stand it, like shrimp or lobster.

I’ll eat something made with pumpkin, like my No Bake Pumpkin Dream Bars, and I especially like munching on pumpkin seeds, but it’s not one of the Fall flavors that I’m absolutely in love with. I really could take it or leave it.

You won’t see me eating a pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving. If anything, I’ll choose maybe the thinnest of all slices because it’s tradition and I feel like I have to have it, but I will ALWAYS go for this Apple Cream Pie before I opt for any Thanksgiving dessert.

But because I know there are plenty of pumpkin lovers out there, I made this easy pumpkin spice French toast, and it really did smell amazing as it baked. If you’ve read here for very long you know I enjoy a good french toast recipe any time of year. 

What do I need to make this pumpkin French toast casserole?

Your favorite kind of bread

Cream cheese – room temperature

Pumpkin purée NOT pumpkin pie filling

Granulated sugar (white sugar)

Homemade Pumpkin Spice

Eggs

Whole milk 

Heavy cream

Pure vanilla extract

Streusel Topping (can be used for any French toast casserole recipe, too!)

All-Purpose flour

Light brown sugar

Cinnamon

Nutmeg

Salt

Unsalted butter – chilled

Pecan pieces

How do I make this Pumpkin French Toast?

Place the bread cubes into a large bowl.

Mix the cream cheese and pumpkin together in a mixing bowl. Add the sugar and pumpkin spice, and combine. Add the eggs, two at a time, and mix well.

In a large measuring cup, whisk together the milk, heavy cream and vanilla. Gently pour into the mixing bowl while on low, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.

Pour the wet ingredients over the bread cubes and mix until completely covered. Put everything into the prepared baking dish, wrap tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

To make the crumb topping, mix the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a medium bowl. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut the cold butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles coarse meal. Mix in the pecan pieces.

Place topping into a Ziploc bag or airtight container and refrigerate overnight. This can also be made in the morning before placing the casserole dish into the oven.

When ready to bake, heat the oven to 350°F, and sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over the breakfast casserole.

Bake uncovered for 60-65 minutes.

Serve with maple syrup, and or dollops of fresh whipped cream and a sprinkling of some pumpkin pie spice.

Is a 9 X 13-inch dish the same as a 13 X 9-inch dish?

Absolutely it is!
They’re both the same exact size, but just different ways of referring to the same baking pan.
I highly recommend using a 9 X 13-inch baking dish for this recipe as well as for all of my other baked French toasts because it really is the perfect size.

Tips for making this pumpkin baked French toast casserole –

I think the best bread to use is either a loaf of French bread, Challah bread, brioche bread or Italian bread.

You want to make sure that it’s stale bread as opposed to fresh bread. Even day-old bread is better than fresh because a dry bread will absorb the pumpkin custard better.

I find it easiest to cut the bread into 1-inch cubes. Alternatively, you can enlist the kids to help and have them rip the bread into pieces.

Pumpkin Recipes

I used my Homemade Pumpkin Spice to make this recipe. 

With the amount of pumpkin spice recipes around this rime of year, I find it’s so much better having a jar of the homemade stuff on hand. It’s convenient AND I know exactly what’s in it!

While I’m not the biggest enthusiast about pumpkin flavor itself, I do enjoy the spices that go INTO pumpkin pie. All that nutmeg and cinnamon smells like autumn to me. 

Okay, okay, I might not be the world’s biggest pumpkin fan but I bake for pumpkin lovers all the time! Over the years I’ve found dozens of desserts and baked goods that the pumpkin people I love heartily recommend. 

Dairy-Free Pumpkin Muffins have been one of my most popular muffins since I first posted them. They’re full of pumpkin flavor, fall spices and, best of all, dairy free so that my non-dairy friends can enjoy them too! 

In my opinion, chocolate and pumpkin is a highly underrated flavor combo. I enjoy them together in Chocolate Chunk Pumpkin Bread and Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Cake.

Chai Spiced Pumpkin Cake might be the ultimate fall cake, especially if you like spice! 

For fun party ready desserts, check out Pumpkin Spice Meringue Pumpkins and my always popular No-Bake Pumpkin Nutella Cheesecake.

Breakfast Casseroles and French Toast Recipes

My daughter and I both agreed that this baked french toast recipe is ideal for a fall or winter brunch or breakfast, especially when you have guests visiting for the holidays. 

You can assemble the pumpkin french toast bake at night then just pop it in the oven the next morning and have a homemade breakfast that every pumpkin lover will go nuts over! 

I can never have enough overnight french toast casserole recipes. After you try this pumpkin french toast, also be sure to give Almond Berry French Toast Casserole and this Baked Blueberry Cream Cheese French Toast recipe a try. 

If you like peaches, you’ll love this Easy Peaches and Cream French Toast Bake Recipe. You can even substitute fresh peaches for canned so you can enjoy it all year long.

And who says you can’t have chocolate for breakfast? Certainly not me! My whole family loves this simple Chocolate Croissant Baked French Toast Recipe. It’s a keeper for sure, and has become a Christmas morning favorite! You could even serve it as a dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top and call it bread pudding.

This Mexican Breakfast Casserole is a delicious first meal of the day and a huge hit with everyone who loves a hearty, savory breakfast. With tortillas, chorizo, cheese, an egg mixture, and more, it’s another easy way to feed a hungry crowd. And the best part? It’s another great breakfast you make ahead of time!

This easy breakfast casserole with the addition of pumpkin puree, and a brown sugar pecan crumble topping is the perfect breakfast for Thanksgiving morning.

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Keep an eye out for more of my easy recipes each week!

I scooped a helping of this baked french toast onto my plate, tried it, took two bites and put the plate down.
I was done.
My daughter ate some at the same time and said she really liked it. I said I thought it was just blah and wasn’t blog worthy.
She said that it was for sure worthy of a post on the blog. 

“You don’t like it because you’re not a pumpkin lover. There are people out there who are nuts for pumpkin and would really like this.”
So, I hope my daughter is right and I hope you’re one of those pumpkin loving people.

This recipe has been edited in format and with pictures on 10/7/22. It was originally published 9/23/16.
And the first time I made it, someone wanted in on the action as you can see below.

The post Easy Pumpkin French Toast Casserole appeared first on 365 Days of Baking.