Pumpkin French Toast Bake

Breakfast. French Toast. Pumpkin.

YUM.

So my grandmother always has these amazing tricks, treats, and traditions she’s putting together in the kitchen. (One of our super inspirations over here at RTO!) This ooey gooey baby of a cinnamon roll and french toast was inspired by a French Toast Bake she showed me one of the times my hubby and I went up for a visit. “French Toast in the oven?”  YES. As pumpkin season sneaks in I thought Pumpkin French Toast would be the perfect kick off.

This is best prepped the night before, letting it soak up all the goodness until morning. However, I have baked it non-soak and it was still pretty amazing.

Assemble tasty tid bits needed for the recipe…

Take a small dish and mix spices. (Or use all spice)

In one bowl heat butter for about thirty seconds until melted. (Check every 10 seconds or so.) Then Add in brown sugar and half the spice mix.

In the other bowl, combine Eggs, Milk, Pumpkin, Vanilla, and half the spice mix.

Mix up the ingredients in each bowl. Be sure to blend the Egg mix well to get all that pumpkin goodness combined.

Spread about a third of the brown sugar mix in the bottom of a greased 9×13 pan.

Then layer your Thick Texas Toast in the pan. (You can use two pieces of regular bread in place of one piece of the Texas Toast but it does change the consistency a bit.) Mine fit six perfectly but you can cut them down to fit if your pan is to small. (Example: If your doing a half batch in a smaller pan)

Then spread about a third of the brown sugar mix on the bread slices and pour on half the egg mixture.

Don’t be shy with the spatula! Give it a little love and help the toast soak up the egg mix. (This is also a great spot to sprinkle in some crushed pecans!)

Repeat! Put the next layer of bread on and spread the rest of the brown sugar and the other half of the egg mix!

Cover and put in the fridge overnight to soak.

Then bust that beautiful creation out in the morning and cover with foil, try to give it room so the foil doesn’t stick to the top. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Take the cover off for the last 10-15 minutes until the top is the consistency of regular french toast. (You can even throw under the broiler for a couple minutes to help get a nice crust, but watch it closely as the sugar caramelizes and can get really hard!) Take out of the oven.

After it cools a bit, sprinkle with powdered sugar if you so choose and ring that breakfast bell!

Mmmmm.

Pick your toppings.