Pumpkin French Toast Bake. An easy and delicious brunch recipe loved by kids and adults of all ages, this Baked Pumpkin French Toast is topped with a sweet cinnamon streusel topping and whole, buttery pecans. Enjoy this French Toast Bake with family for the holidays or as a special weekend breakfast.
Pumpkin French Toast Bake
Some of my favorite childhood memories include being woken by the smell of my dad’s french toast. Made with a mixture of cinnamon and vanilla, I could smell them cooking all the way upstairs. These slow-moving and delicious smelling mornings of my childhood were never for any specific reason or occasion. They were just my dad’s thing.
All grown up, french toast still remains my favorite weekend breakfast.
Unlike my dad’s French Toast, however, when I’m cooking you’ll find me throwing together some version of this Pumpkin French Toast Bake. The perfect brunch recipe for a random weekend in October, or served to guests and visitors for the holidays, this delicious and easy French Toast Bake Recipe guarantees that everyone will eat together.
Made with plant-based ingredients, this fantastic french toast bake may be prepared just before, or the night before, you plan to enjoy.
Ingredients in this Pumpkin French Toast Bake
The ingredients needed to make this delicious french toast bake include:
- day-old bread
- vanilla soy milk
- pumpkin spice creamer
- pumpkin puree
- granulated sugar
- vanilla extract
- pumpkin pie spice
- all-purpose flour
- brown sugar
- ground cinnamon
- pecans
- vegan butter or coconut oil
How to make Pumpkin French Toast
To make this Pumpkin French Toast Bake start with the bread.
Depending on when you plan to bake and serve your pumpkin french toast casserole, I highly recommend chopping your bread into 3/4 – 1-inch cubes one to two days before assembly and allowing the bread to dry out.
You guys, you want your bread to be dry before you soak it. Otherwise, it will end up a soggy mess.
If you don’t have time to let the bread sit a chill for a couple of days, you may also slice your bread into 1-inch slices and bake on wire racks for eight minutes on each side at 300°F.
Once you’re ready to get started, Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Transfer your chopped bread to the prepared baking pan and set aside.
Next, Whisk together egg mixture. In a large mixing bowl whisk together the eggs, soymilk, creamer, pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, and pumpkin pie spice. Much of the flavor in this baked French toast comes from the addition of pumpkin pie spice. I added two tablespoons to the egg mixture and it worked really well.
Once everything has been mixed, simply pour it directly over the top of the bread cubes, trying to cover as much of the bread as possible.
Depending on your plans, you may bake this pumpkin French toast bake right away, or cover it with foil and pop it in the refrigerator overnight. Personally, I think it tastes wonderful either way, but then again, it is bread soaked in a delicious dairy-free pumpkin-spice custard and baked with a cinnamon streusel topping. What’s not to love?
Just before baking, don’t forget to prepare the streusel. Fortunately, the cinnamon streusel takes just a few minutes and requires just a few simple ingredients. In order to keep the streusel dairy-free, instead of using butter, I recommend using either cold coconut oil or vegan butter. In either case, make sure that the vegan butter or coconut oil is cold, preferably just out of the refrigerator.
Sprinkle the streusel over the top of your pumpkin French toast casserole and transfer to your preheated oven to bake for approximately 40-50 minutes, or until the top is crispy and the center is no longer wet. If the top starts to brown, carefully tent with a large piece of foil.
Serve. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy with a light sprinkling of powdered sugar or maple syrup, if desired. Enjoy!
The best bread for Pumpkin French Toast Bake
When making French toast and French toast casserole, there are a few key things to consider when deciding which bread to use.
- Does it come by the loaf, or is it pre-sliced? Ideally, you want to pick a bread that is by the loaf. This allows you to slice and cube your bread pieces to be the exact size and shape you want. Often times, when a loaf is pre-sliced it will be sliced too thin which may not hold up as well when it soaks up the egg mixture.
- Does it taste good? Although the flavor comes from the seasoning in the custard mixture, the doesn’t mean crummy bread is a good idea. Which brings me to my next point…
- Is the bread strong? Although the bread is not being mixed rigorously in the egg mixture, it will be soaked for some period of time. A bread that is too thin or crumbly will have trouble baking into beautiful bites of pumpkin-spice filled cubes of French toast.
The best bread for French toast casseroles like this one is, hands down, brioche bread, challah bread, pan bread, or French bread.
Why you’ll love this pumpkin french toast bake
- It’s enough to feed a small army. Personally, I love leftovers, so even if I prepare this for just me and my small family, the leftovers taste great for breakfast the following morning, or warmed up with ice cream for dessert at night.
- Prep time is minimal. Unlike traditional French toast, this French toast casserole requires no skillets or batch cooking. Everything is baked all-together in one dish and preparation time is just 10 minutes.
- The ingredients are few and easy to find. Every ingredient for this pumpkin French toast bake can be found at nearly every big supermarket.
- This French toast bake is dairy-free and vegetarian. Rather than using heavy cream, milk, and butter, I opted to use plant-based products like soy milk and almond creamer and a vegan butter made from vegetable oil. Of course, feel free to use dairy products if that’s what you prefer.
More breakfast recipes,
- Vanilla Overnight Oats Breakfast Bowl
- DIY Healthy Instant Oatmeal Recipe (Breakfast Meal Prep)
- Breakfast Naan Pizza with Sautéed Mushrooms and Shallots
- Egg Frittata Recipe- How to Make a Frittata
- Sweet Pepper and Sausage Breakfast Hash
- Freezer-Friendly Croissant Breakfast Sandwichs
If you make this Pumpkin French Toast Bake Recipe, please leave me a comment and let me know! I always love to hear your thoughts.
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Pumpkin French Toast Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 loaves (approximately 32 ounces) (day old) French Bread (Challah, Brioche, etc) - Chopped into 3/4 - 1 inch cubes
- 8 eggs
- 2 cups Vanilla Soymilk - (or regular milk)
- ¾ cup Soy Creamer - (or regular creamer)
- 1 cup Pumpkin Puree - (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
For the Streusel Topping
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup brown sugar - packed
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ cup chopped pecans - optional
- ½ cup cold plant-based butter or coconut oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Transfer the chopped bread to the prepared baking pan and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together the eggs, Soymilk, Creamer, pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, and pumpkin pie spice.
- Carefully pour the prepared egg mixture into the prepared baking pan, trying to cover as much of the bread as possible as you pour.
- Optional- cover the prepared baking dish with foil and refrigerate overnight or move onto the next step and bake immediately.
- Prepare the streusel- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Mix in the pecans, if using. Add the cold plant-based vegetable butter or coconut oil and gently use your fingertips to break apart into smaller pieces until a course, mealy mixture forms. Sprinkle over the top of the casserole.
- Bake the prepared pumpkin french toast bake in the center rack of your oven at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes, or until the top is crispy and the center is no longer wet. If the top starts to brown, carefully tent with a large piece of foil.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy with a light sprinkling of powdered sugar or maple syrup, if desired. Enjoy!
Jessica's Notes
Nutritional Information
(Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and specific brands of ingredients used.)
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