Baked Pull-Apart Pumpkin French Toast (Overnight Recipe)

It’s a little difficult to focus on writing this post because all I want to do is head to the kitchen and mix up another batch of French toast for the morning.

I already know I have pumpkin puree in the refrigerator, and Danny sheepishly arrived home from work with two loaves of whole wheat miche under his arm “…in case you wanted to make more of that baked French toast.”

It’s official: we’re completely smitten with this pull-apart Pumpkin French Toast. It bakes up crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, serves up in slices just like pan-fried French Toast, and is marvelous with a homemade Molasses-Cinnamon Syrup.  You have to try it this weekend.

Baked-Overnight-Pull-Apart-Pumpkin-French-Toast. What on earth?

This weekend breakfast dish comes with a decidedly long handle. Allow me to explain each of the terms and why they matter – and then perhaps we can rename the dish in the comment section!

Baked

I’m a longtime fan of baking my french toast, especially when I have a crowd to feed. I’m a firm believer that the cook should be able to sit down at the table and enjoy a hot breakfast along with everyone else instead of standing over a skillet preparing the pan-fried version.

By baking the French toast (similarly to a bread pudding), it delivers the dish to the table all at once, while maintaining a consistent temperature and texture to the French toast.

Now you get to join the family for breakfast and perhaps have a shot at getting a piece of bacon before the kids eat it all.

Overnight

Mixing the French toast the night before and allowing it to chill overnight in the refrigerator serves two purposes: flavor and convenience. You’re giving the (often stale) bread a chance to really soak in the pumpkin spice milk mixture and letting the flavors meld together (similar to how a marinade works).

Also, how wonderful it is to wake up, pop breakfast in the oven, and then go back to bed or curl up with the newspaper for half an hour or so? The mixing, measuring and making of dishes is done the evening before, allowing for a simple morning.

Hmm, I’m already thinking about this French Toast for our Christmas morning brunch.

Pull-Apart

Admittedly, this one came about through a little pet peeve of mine where baked French toast actually looks more like bread pudding. Cubes of bread are  baked together and the dish is cut into wedges and served. Sure it tastes great, and there’s nothing wrong with this method, but I wanted something different.

When I created this recipe I was aiming for an overnight French toast that actually served up in slices, like the pan-fried version. Presentation was my main motivation, but after peeking around at various pull-apart cinnamon breads, I realized that layering the slices of bread with cinnamon sugar would add the perfect sweet touch as well.

How right I was! Since there is no sugar in the actual egg batter, the breakfast is sweetened by a sprinkling of brown sugar between each piece of bread. This also prevents the bread from ‘gluing’ together during the baking time and allows for individual servings of French Toast. It’s the little things.

Pumpkin

It’s the flavor of the month, er, the season. We’ve made cookies and bread, have a pie coming next week, and I couldn’t resist adding it to our breakfast as well. Here’s why the pumpkin really works, though: I’ve chosen to use a fairly hefty whole wheat loaf for this breakfast instead of the traditional French baguette or Italian-style all-white soft loaf, and the pumpkin keeps the bread soft and moist.

The pumpkin flavor comes though brilliantly, complemented by the molasses and blend of spices. I keep imagining just how delicious it would be when made with pumpkin challah. Perhaps for Christmas morning breakfast or New Year’s Day brunch.

Tip: If pumpkin isn’t your thing, see a variation for Apple Cinnamon Baked French Toast below.

Baked Pull-Apart Pumpkin French Toast

4.41 from 5 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Breakfast & Brunch
Servings: 6 people
Calories: 480kcal
Author: Aimee

Ingredients

  • 1 loaf hearty whole wheat bread sliced
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 cup milk or cream
  • 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1/4 cup salted butter melted
  • 2 Tablespoons molasses
  • 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice blend
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar

Instructions

The night before...

  • In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, pumpkin puree, 2 Tablespoons melted butter, molasses and 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice blend.
  • Dip each slice of bread into the mixture to coat well, then place, one layer thick, on a 13x17 baking sheet. Drizzle any remaining pumpkin mixture on top of the bread.
  • Place plastic wrap over the soaking bread slices and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

In the morning...

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously butter an 8 x 11 baking dish. Mix together brown sugar with remaining teaspoon of spice blend.
  • Remove plastic wrap from the soaked bread and brush tops lightly with remaining 2 Tablespoons of melted butter. Sprinkle French toast tops all over with cinnamon sugar mixture.
  • Starting with the smaller pieces, arrange the slices of bread in the buttered baking dish, propping them up on top of each other until the pan is full. Place on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes until the tops are crispy.
  • Serve at once with Molasses-Cinnamon Syrup or pure maple syrup, and whipped cream.

Notes

Variation: Apple Cinnamon French Toast. Prepare recipe as usual, replacing the pumpkin puree with equal amounts of apple sauce or apple butter.

Nutrition

Calories: 480kcal | Carbohydrates: 66g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 130mg | Sodium: 586mg | Potassium: 547mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin A: 5220IU | Vitamin C: 1.4mg | Calcium: 219mg | Iron: 4.2mg

So that’s my dish. Try it out and then come leave me a suggestion for a brilliant name for the recipe!

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Recipe Rating




55 Comments

  1. 3 stars
    I love the idea of being able to just put it in the oven in the morning. I hate missing the coffee chat, and everyone being done eating before I have a bite. This recipe is put genius!!!

  2. Wow, what a delicious-looking recipe! We’re oven-less in South Korea right now, but I’ll be bookmarking this for a day when I’m able to make it!

  3. Wow, this recipe looks delicious.
    I am not quite a fan of demanding recipes, to be precise, recipes that requires too much time.
    But, in fact this one isn’t difficult at all, we just need to prepare it in the evening and bake it in the morning. 🙂
    I like it!

  4. Mmmmm! Such a great seasonal flavor. I make an eggnog french toast every Christmas morning, which seems very similar (make-ahead, baked)! I L-O-V-E recipes like this that sit overnight. It is such a great convenience during the busy holiday season.

    And the name…I’d just call it Pull-Apart Pumpkin French Toast. I know, no frill or flair or imagination to the name but you’d know what to expect from the name alone. Delish!

      1. Aimee, if you ever make the eggnog version, could you update this post to let us know the correct variations to make? I know that eggnog is much less viscous than pumpkin puree or applesauce, but I wouldn’t have a clue how to adapt the recipe.

  5. This looks amazing! All of the pumpkin recipes lately have been hits, but this speaks to my love of french toast. I wish I had this for breakfast instead of toast and hot chocolate. I’m making it on Sunday. Mmm. I don’t know how to shorten the name, but instead of pull-apart, you could say layered?

  6. Wow! Sounds wonderful! I’d love to make it today but have no molasses. (For the first time ever i’ve prepared my own pumpkin purée!! It’s all frozen in little baggies for all these lovely pumpkin recipes! : ) ) Anything I could substitute until I can get some molasses in the house??

    1. Congratulations on your homemade pumpkin puree, Jacquie! The kids are going to love you for that.

      You can leave out the molasses, just add a little of our Quebec maple syrup instead! Honey would work too.

  7. 5 stars
    You’re some kind of scary genius, you know that? I love how you solved the slice vs. chunk problem. I love pumpkin, but James is never too thrilled to see it on his plate, so I *have* to try the apple cinnamon version. I think he and I would both be in love.

    1. I’m thinking about this, Rosemary. I’ve never experimented with freezing the recipe yet and I’d be concerned about soggy bread when everything thaws.

      The few leftover slices did re-heat nicely in the oven, covered with foil, so perhaps I would suggest freezing it once it had been baked.

      Hope that helps and let me know how it goes!

  8. Yum, yum and yum! I will be making this one on Sunday, for sure. Love the pull-apart idea — I do baked French toast a lot, but you’re right, it does all blend together like bread pudding. I don’t mind that — but it will be so nice to have it come out in individual slices! And we love all things pumpkin in our house. Thanks for sharing!

  9. Genius! I’ve been looking for the perfect recipe for our Thanksgiving morning brunch…and I think I just found it.

    As for names, what about French Monkey Toast? Well I don’t know, it sounds weird. But often those pull-apart breads are called monkey bread, so I was trying to play off that. Baked French Monkey Bread? Monkey French Toast? (shrug)

  10. Oh man, this looks AMAZING! I want to make it for breakfast tomorrow…couple questions though: I don’t buy molasses often; would honey or maple syrup work? And in the apple version, does it matter if the applesauce is unsweetened or sweetened? We buy cinnamon applesauce pretty regularly but most baking recipes using applesauce call for unsweetened.

    1. Maple syrup or honey would work just perfectly. The molasses is added to have a natural sweetener in the batter. Any applesauce is fine – it’s just to add moisture to the mix.

      Enjoy! We’re having it again tomorrow, too. 🙂

  11. 5 stars
    I made this last night/this morning… YUM! It was phenomenal! It got glowing Thumbs Up from everyone… M’honey, son, daughter, 2 neighbors & myself all.. Yep.. Its a keeper! Thanks!

  12. I will dream about this every night until the weekend, when I have time to make it. Thanks for sharing!

  13. This is awesome Aimee. I settled on a breakfast recipe for visiting family and you have rescued me with something more appropriate! I can’t wait to try this out on Friday. Thanks for sharing!

  14. I’m making this tomorrow morning for our “Thanksgiving” brunch! Normally, I make baked french toast. I’m super excited to try this with the pumpkin and the spices! Can’t wait!!!

  15. My pumpkiny bread slices are happily in the fridge right now – I’ve been thinking about this dish all night. Can’t wait to throw it in the oven and take my first big bite!

    I didn’t have molasses so I used packed organic brown sugar instead. And I’ll be serving it with homemade cinnamon sugar butter and organic pure maple syrup!

  16. 5 stars
    Love this French toast! It’s my go to brunch to serve guests in fall and winter. Warm, comforting, cozy and the wonderful smells it fills the house with. Love! I serve it with yogurt and berries for a more substantial brunch offering.