Overnight Pumpkin French Toast Casserole
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Prep the night before and serve for breakfast/brunch! So easy, so creamy, and so good for a crowd!
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reasons to make pumpkin french toast casserole
- It’s everything we love about fall (and winter)
- Has creamy pumpkin bread pudding custard vibes
- Includes a luxurious buttermilk glaze
- Can be completely prepped the night before
- Serves an army, great for big family gatherings (ex. holidays, baby showers, weekend company)
We all love a french toast casserole, especially one you can prep the night before like this strawberries and cream one. But I immediately switch to this fall, seasonal overnight goodness as soon as we hit October, continuing to whip this up well into November, December, and maybe sometimes into January. It’s simply perfect, and so stinking easy. You can prep all of this the night before – simply bake, drizzle and serve in the morning.
tips and tricks for success
- Use sturdy bread. Sturdy breads such as brioche, challah and sourdough are all great options, holding up very well in the egg mixture without becoming soggy.
- Pumpkin puree vs. pumpkin pie filling. Canned pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie filling are not the same, and are not interchangeable. Pumpkin pie filling comes pre-mixed with sweeteners and spices.
- Prep the night before. Baked french toast is one of those great dishes that you can prep ahead of time and is recommended to do so, assembling everything the night before and giving the bread plenty of time to soak the egg custard. This is key for that favorited bread-pudding texture.
- Mix it up. Skip the buttermilk glaze and top with maple syrup, confectioners’ sugar or a streusel crumb topping.
- Halve the recipe. Need a small-scale version? This recipe can easily be halved and baked in an 8×8 baking dish, reducing the bake time to about 35-40 minutes.
- Freeze before baking. This will preserve the texture and prevent sogginess. Always use a freezer-safe baking dish, label, date and freeze up to 3 months.
Tools For This Recipe
9×13 baking dish
Overnight Pumpkin French Toast Casserole: Frequently Asked Questions
A sturdy bread that can soak up the egg custard is ideal here. Try using brioche, challah or sourdough bread. Day-old, stale bread is even better.
You can quickly dry out the bread by baking the bread cubes in a single layer on a sheet pan at 275°F for about 10-15 minutes.
A little bit of both! The french toast will be covered for the first 30 minutes (to prevent the nuts from burning), and then uncovered the last 25-30 minutes for that favorited crunchy, caramelized topping!
There can be many reasons for this – too much dairy was used, the bread was soaked too long or the bread was too soft (ex. white bread). If your french toast is soggy, pop it back in the oven, increasing the baking time as needed until the desired consistency is reached.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Yes! Prior to baking, cover the french toast tightly with plastic wrap, then aluminum foil. Freeze up to 3 months. To reheat, thaw overnight in the fridge, sprinkle with pecans and bake as directed, adding a few more minutes to the bake time as needed.
For the best results, we recommend assembling, freezing, then baking to help preserve texture. But if you’ve already baked your french toast, no worries at all – it can still be frozen!
Overnight Pumpkin French Toast Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 (16-ounce) loaf brioche bread, cubed
- 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, cubed
- 10 large eggs, beaten
- 1 ½ cups whole milk
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Kosher salt
- ½ cup chopped pecans
for the buttermilk glaze
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 3 tablespoons buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Kosher salt
Instructions
- Lightly coat a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick spray. Place a layer of bread cubes evenly into the baking dish. Top with cream cheese in an even layer. Top with remaining bread cubes.
- In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, pumpkin puree, maple syrup, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Pour mixture evenly over the bread cubes. Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove baking dish from the refrigerator; let stand 30 minutes.
- Sprinkle with pecans; place into oven and bake, covered, for 30 minutes. Uncover; continue to bake for an additional 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown and center is firm.
- Serve immediately, drizzled with buttermilk glaze.
for the buttermilk glaze
- In a medium bowl, combine confectioners’ sugar, buttermilk, orange zest, vanilla and pinch of salt. Whisk until smooth. If the glaze is too thin, add more confectioners’ sugar as needed.
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everyone loved it!
Just made this for Thanksgiving morning. I used challah bread, and it came out wonderful..soft, light, and so delicious. I was nervous that it wouldn’t be moist enough but it was just right. Very easy to prep the night before! Thanks for such a yummy recipe!
Very good. I will leave out the cream cheese next time. I could see cream cheese in this if it was whipped with some sugar or even spread out some more-not cubed. I think I will also toast the nuts on their own. They didn’t quite get toasted enough to notice that they were put in for 30 minutes on top. Will make again.
I love breakfast recipes that call for making it the night before.
I made this ,but cut the recipe in half. I found it wonderful, but my partner found it a little bit too sweet for in the morning. I will make this again but use a pie plate and serve it as a dessert. AAA+++
Bob the American in Germany
Could you also serve it with maple syrup?
This is fabulous! Love the recipe.
WOW!!! i am not a pumpkin person, but this sounds fantastic!!!
Yet another recipe from this site that I KNEW I could make for a crowd (for the first time ever making it) and everyone, myself included, LOVED it. The only thing I had to do was cut the pecans because my kids have tree nut allergies. I love pecans, so I am sure they are fantastic with it. The orange zest… such a must. Be very generous with that measurement – like… double and then squeeze half of the orange and mix that juice into the icing. Amazing. Already emailed it out to three families who asked for the recipe.
Excellent! Perfect fall breakfast casserole! Delicious!
So satisfying! I made mine with double to pumpkin pie spice and I mixed in 2 tablespoons icing sugar with the cream cheese to make it a bit sweeter before adding it by the spoonful to make the middle layer. I’m not usually a cream cheese fan, but it went really well with the other flavours for a great experience.
What can i use in place of pecans? Not a fan of this nut. Can I leave out all together?
Made mine with french bread to reduce the sweetness a bit. It worked well. Next time I’ll beat the egg/pumpkin/milk mixture into the cream cheese because we were not fans of the cream cheese cubes. I’ll also increase the spice by at least half. It was very easy and filled everyone up.
excellent!!!!! best breakfast French toast recipe. thank you for all of your excellent recipes
Hi! Is there something I can substitute for the buttermilk? If not I will use it. Thank you!
Delish. Love the festive combination for fall. Cream cheese cubes were my family’s favorite.
How much pumpkin purée is required? A can size may vary. Here in Canada our cans of purée are rather large. Can you say how many cups?
Of course! The recipe calls for 1 cup canned pumpkin puree.