By Yossy Arefi
- Total Time
- 40 minutes, plus overnight chilling
- Rating
- 4(395)
- Notes
- Read community notes
You only need a few everyday ingredients like milk, bread and eggs — plus a heavy dose of your favorite pumpkin spice blend — to make this warming breakfast for a crowd. The whole thing is assembled the night before, so all you need to do when you wake up is a few finishing touches before you pop it in the oven. If you don’t have a favorite pumpkin spice blend, there is one at the bottom of this recipe for you to try. Don’t forget the maple syrup — and potentially some toasted nuts or fruit — to serve.
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Ingredients
Yield:6 to 8 servings
- 3tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes, plus more for greasing the pan
- 2cups/480 milliliters whole milk
- 4large eggs
- ¼(packed) cup/50 grams light brown sugar
- 4teaspoons store-bought or homemade pumpkin spice blend (see Tip)
- 1teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½teaspoon fine salt
- 1pound enriched bread loaf, like challah or brioche, cut into ¾-inch-thick slices
- Maple syrup
- Chopped toasted walnuts or pecans or fresh berries (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Preparation
Step
1
Butter a 9-by-13-inch metal, glass or ceramic baking dish.
Step
2
In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, sugar, pumpkin spice blend, vanilla and salt.
Step
3
Dip each piece of bread in the milk mixture, then lay it in the prepared pan in slightly overlapping layers. Pour the remaining milk mixture over the top. Gently press the bread into the custard, then cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
Step
4
When you are ready to bake, heat the oven to 350 degrees, uncover the dish, and gently flip each piece of bread, one at a time, so the side that is more saturated with custard is on the top. Rearrange the slices decoratively, as needed, so the rounded edges of the slices are exposed. Dot the top with the 3 tablespoons butter and cover with foil.
Step
5
Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the foil and bake until lightly browned, slightly puffy in the center, and cooked through, 15 to 20 more minutes. Tent with foil if the top is browning too quickly.
Step
6
Let cool slightly before serving with maple syrup, and nuts or fruit, if desired.
Tip
- Make your own pumpkin spice blend by combining 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon, 1 tablespoon ground ginger, 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, 1 teaspoon ground cardamom, ½ teaspoon ground allspice and ¼ teaspoon ground cloves. Makes about ¼ cup.
Ratings
4
out of 5
395
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Cooking Notes
Chelsea
As with most of these overnight soaking French toasts, I was worried about the cooking time because it's starting so cold. I baked it for the first 20 minutes at 375 degrees with the foil on, then removed the foil and dropped the temperature to 350 degrees for the second 20 minutes, and it came out perfectly. Enjoy!
MMM
I saw this recipe after I had shopped, so I the only bread I had was a croissant loaf, and it tasted great, and I tore it up to have more edges to get crisped in the oven, but I am certain a denser loaf like challah would have been better. I also finely diced a pear I had and added before baking, and chopped some candied pecans and added along with the syrup. I really liked this, simple and the aroma from the oven made my whole apartment smell wonderful.
Court
Could one make this more of a bread pudding by upping the egg mixture and using cubed stale bread?
rah321
I halved the recipe. Placed the bread in 8” square pan and just poured the custard mix on top, ensuring every bit of the surface was wet. Didn’t bother to flip the bread in the morning. Baked as directed. It was delicious.
Jaime V
I just take mine out and let it come closer to room temp first.
RU Kidding
I am a huge fan of overnight French toast casseroles. I'm going to try this one for our anniversary breakfast. I made the first few casseroles using crusty bread. Once I tried brioche, I never looked back. Not only does it have a vaguely donut-like aroma, but it puffs up magnificently during baking, so that it eats light and fluffy. Can't wait!
LK
Not as good as I thought it would be. Soggy, uneven, and too heavy on the pumpkin spice blend (not the flavor, but the texture)...but hey, nothing some maple and xtra cook time couldn't address. I won't make this again, hoping that another overnight French toast recipe will yield more satisfying results. Good luck!
Sarah K.
I made this as written, but this was a big soggy mess. Maybe my expectations about a “French toast bake” were too high — are they always soggy to some degree? I prefer freshly-made, crispy French toast.
Marianne Rutter
My family immediately pronounced this recipe a "keeper," and asked for an encore for Christmas breakfast. So easy!Challah was not to be had at the market, so I substituted 5 large croissants. torn into chunks, and made my own pumpkin spice (per the recipe). The resulting breakfast bread pudding was moist and flavorful, with a slight crunch to the upper crust.
Dede
I took the toast out after the first 15 minutes and laid it in two pans- no overlapping. The toast cooked perfectly and evenly. There was Nothing left!!
apowers119
I didn't flip it all over before putting it in the oven and it was great. Not flipping meant that the top three or four inches of each slice had a crispier texture. This blended well with the more egg-y texture of the lower portion of each piece.
GardynGnome
Substituted vegan butter, almond milk and GF challah to make this DF/GF, and it was fabulous - made 2 and used regular challah for the second one, both were devoured leaving not even crumbs (even though the almond milk does turn the custard an odd color, no-one cared perhaps due to the liberal application of brown sugar and nuts!). I don't usually fuss with presentation, but overlapping the slices as suggested (although ignoring the "turn the slices" suggestion) did result in a lovely dish.
Madge
Used pumpkin spiced creamer instead of whole milk and adjusted seasonings.
Vallgrlx2
May this recipe be made gluten free and dairy free?
GardynGnome
Absolutely - I made it with GF challah, vegan butter and almond milk with fabulous results. Probably depends on the bread you use - we are lucky to have a great local baker who does decent GF bread including challah. I made my GF one in a 8x4 loaf pan instead of the pan size suggested because my GF loaf was closer to that shape.
Janelle
This was fantastic! We used cinnamon bread which made it extra delicious.
rah321
I halved the recipe. Placed the bread in 8” square pan and just poured the custard mix on top, ensuring every bit of the surface was wet. Didn’t bother to flip the bread in the morning. Baked as directed. It was delicious.
took forever to brown
Note sure if it’s my oven or if I did something wrong but it’s taking a really long time to start browning - must be due to how cold it gets from the fridge
Poppy
This is a delicious dish. I made it for a brunch and friends raved about it. Served with fresh fruit salad and maple bacon.
Nancy
No pumpkin in a pumpkin spice recipe? I added a 15 oz can of pumpkin and 2 extra eggs to the liquid mixture. Family loved it.
RU Kidding
I am a huge fan of overnight French toast casseroles. I'm going to try this one for our anniversary breakfast. I made the first few casseroles using crusty bread. Once I tried brioche, I never looked back. Not only does it have a vaguely donut-like aroma, but it puffs up magnificently during baking, so that it eats light and fluffy. Can't wait!
Paul
Tasted like French Toast. Little soggy even with 375 oven. No leftovers.
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