Make breakfast the night before with this simple, crowd-pleasing recipe for make ahead pumpkin french toast with pumpkin spice, challah and pumpkin puree.
A slow Saturday or Sunday morning, with copious cups of coffee, endless croissants, bagels, eggs and this recipe for make ahead pumpkin French toast is probably one of my absolute favourite things on the planet. The long awaited weekend breakfast, it’s a thing, get on board (if you aren’t already). Do you look forward to weekend breakfasts as much as I do? I think I’ve talked about my love for brunch and baked french toast before, but I was inspired by this month’s #WhatsCooking theme to experiment with new French toast recipes and this make ahead version caught my eye. Basically, you prep the French toast the night before, it soaks up all the pumpkin spice, eggy goodness and then you bake it in the oven for 15 minutes and you have a delicious, pumpkin spiced French toast. Seriously, it’s pretty genius how simple this technique is.
Let’s talk about something that’s been on my mind recently: slowing down the weekends. Like slowing them way down. Spending time with the people who matter, actually sitting around and enjoying each others company, talking, listening, laughing. You know, that usual conversation stuff that seems to be so elusive these days. And by that I mean, let’s all agree to put away our phones for a hot second (or more!).
I’m 100% guilty for being glued to my phone, and I think that most of us bloggers/regular people are. There are just so many distractions. By the time you’re done checking your Messages/Facebook/Instagram/Twitter/Email there’s a new notification somewhere else and the endless cycle repeats itself. I’ve started putting my phone on the “do not disturb” setting for a couple of hours a day so I’m not tempted to look at it every five seconds, or I’ll just leave it in another room on silent. It seems to do the trick. I had brunch with a friend the other day and didn’t look at my phone once. I think that’s all part of slowing down the weekends, unplugging and disconnecting a bit.
So, what’s the story with this make ahead pumpkin French toast recipe? Well, the flavour comes from everyone’s favourite fall fruit (yes, pumpkin is a fruit) and the combination of pumpkin spice, which is a blend that includes cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. It’s basically the flavours of fall in one, simple combination. A combination that the world (well, just North America really) seems to be obsessing over.
This recipe for make-ahead pumpkin French toast uses all your French toast must-have ingredients like eggs, milk and vanilla, but there is a secret ingredient, cream cheese. This gives the French toast a slight tang and richness you wouldn’t find otherwise. These ingredients, (along with the pumpkin) are all blended together in a blender, then thick egg bread is dipped in this mixture, and left to soak in the fridge overnight. The next morning, just drain off the excess and bake in the oven, and voila, you’ve got breakfast for six people.
Make Ahead Pumpkin French Toast
Pin PrintIngredients
- 6 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup canned pumpkin
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp. vanilla
- 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
- ½ cup Philadelphia Cream Cheese Product
- 12 slices challah, egg bread, ¾ inch thick
- ¾ cup maple syrup
Instructions
- Blend eggs, milk, pumpkin, sugar, vanilla and pumpkin pie spice in blender until well blended. Add cream cheese product; blend until smooth. Pour into 13x9-inch dish. Dip both sides of each bread slice in egg mixture, then arrange on bottom of same dish, stacking if necessary to fit; cover. Refrigerate overnight.
- Heat oven to 400°F. Place bread slices in single layer on baking sheets sprayed with cooking spray, letting excess egg mixture drip back into dish before placing bread on baking sheets. Discard any leftover egg mixture.
- Bake 12 to 15 min. or until bread is puffed and golden brown, turning after 8 min.
- Serve topped with syrup.
Notes
Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Kraft Canada – as always, all opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting my sponsors and allowing me to continue creating content like this make ahead pumpkin french toast recipe!
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