I asked my husband what he wanted for dinner the other night, and he replied, "Anything but pumpkin"
Whaaaat?
He's quitting on me and we're only 10 days into the most pumpkiny, appley, squashey, harvesty time of the year!
To say the least, I was truly disappointed. Especially since I had this idea of a beautiful french toast casserole drenched in pumpkin, brown sugar and cinnamon.
So when he came home the other night, I just told him we were having french toast.
But then I added pumpkin. And I didn't tell him. And he liked it.
This casserole is easy and simply to make up in the morning. It needs a good four to eight hours to soak in all that good egg mixture. When you get home from work, you can just throw it in the oven.
Note to self: Before photographing, make sure you open the right side of the pumpkin. 🙂
The kids will love watching all the egg mixture get "sucked" up by the bread. Or maybe mature adults will too. 
The results are a delicious French Toast Casserole sandwich. With pumpkin.
Mmm. Open up! Pumpkin, brown sugar, and spices ahead!
Don't forget the syrup!
Pumpkin French Toast Casserole
12 slices bread (gluten free, whole wheat, or white is just fine)
½ cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
½ cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie puree)
½ tsp vanilla extract
5 eggs
1 ½ cup milk (almond milk can also be used)
2 tbsp butter, cold and cut into small pieces
Lightly grease a 9x13 inch pan.
In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.
In a separate, larger bowl whisk the eggs, milk and vanilla. Set aside.
In your casserole dish, place 6 pieces of bread flat side down.
Spread a thin layer of pumpkin over the top of each piece of bread. Sprinkle about half of the brown sugar/pumpkin pie spice mixture over top.
Repeat the bread and pumpkin mixture again, making sure to layer the bread over the top of the previous slices of bread.
Pour the egg mix mixture evenly over the top of the french toast. Wait until the bread has soaked up the majority of the egg mixture before sprinkling the remaining brown sugar and spice mixture on top. Dot the top of the casserole evenly with the cut up butter.
Cover and refrigerate for at least four hours. Eight hours to overnight is most recommended.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover mixture with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes covered. Remove cover and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes uncovered. Casserole is done when it becomes golden and set.
Remove from the oven and serve the casserole hot. Serve sprinkled with powdered sugar, maple syrup, or with whipped coconut milk and cream.
Makes 6 servings (1 sandwich each)
Related Links:
French Toast Casserole by Burnt Apple
Pumpkin Breakfast Quinoa by PB Fingers
Pumpkin Spice Breakfast Shake by Oh My Veggies!
Pumpkin Swirl Breakfast Cake by Burnt Apple
I just wanted to tell you that this recipe has become one of our favorites!! We had it for Christmas breakfast this year and because we have seven kids in our family I have to make two batches. My husband asked if I could do one without pumpkin. So to make him happy I spread some of the creamy cream cheese on the bread and added cinnamon to the brown sugar and egg mixture. It turned out super delish. I also have a sinful buttermilk syrup recipe that turns out like a caramel syrup that I serve with it. Definitely a keeper and thank you so much for sharing. I look forward to all of your emails!!
I'm so glad that you and your family loved it! I LOVE emails like this! 🙂
Mmm, looks so yummy 🙂 ...I have never tried much of anything with pumpkin, this is tempting 🙂