Pumpkin French Toast
Pumpkin French toast is a wonderful breakfast or brunch dish during the fall. Soft slices of pumpkin bread are dipped in custard and cooked in butter until browned. Top it with maple syrup for a decadent fall treat.
Not long ago I made a super soft pumpkin yeast bread and I discovered it’s perfect for pumpkin French toast. I’d saved a whole loaf only to use it to make French toast and it came out even better than I had hoped. The bread was so soft and full of spices after being heated on the pan and the taste was absolutely heavenly encrusted in the custard base. Drizzle it with some pure maple syrup … and sigh.
Did you like French toast growing up? As a kid I didn’t love it. My mom made it with sliced store-bought sandwich bread and some beaten eggs, with some sugar. I didn’t hate it, but I preferred pancakes and omelets instead.
It wasn’t until I started ordering French toast at restaurants that discovered all the richer versions, like using thick slices of brioche. Now that I know this, we actually make French toast a lot at home when we have leftover stale bread.
Ingredients
I used a loaf of Double Braided Pumpkin Bread for this French toast. It’s a yeast bread so you will have to make it in advance in order to use it for this French Toast.
- Half and half
- Eggs
- Warm honey
- Salt
- Sliced pumpkin bread
- Unsalted butter
How to Make It
Whisk the half-and-half, eggs, honey, and salt in a shallow bowl.
Dip the slices of bread in the egg mixture. It should be coating both sides but the bread shouldn’t be soaking wet.
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the French toast for about two to three minutes on each side or until it has a nice golden crust.
We topped ours with a drizzle of maple syrup, which is so delicious with the pumpkin flavor from the bread. You could also add some whipped cream and chopped nuts like walnuts, almonds, or pecans if you want to make a fancier version.
Variations
You can make easy changes to the recipe for different flavors. Here are some ideas:
Add a splash of vanilla to the custard mixture. A sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon would work well, too.
Instead honey, whisk some brown sugar into the egg mixture.
Can you use pumpkin quick bread to make French toast?
I haven’t tried it myself, but I’ve seen recipes for pumpkin French toast that use regular pumpkin bread that’s not made with yeast.
If you want to try it, I recommend letting the pumpkin bread dry out a bit before you use it to make it French toast. Typically, pumpkin quick bread is very moist so drying it out will help it absorb more of the custard when you dip it. If you try it let us know in the comments how it went!
This Pumpkin French Toast is perfect for a fall breakfast or brunch. FH took one bite and really, really loved it and he finished off most of the plate.
More French Toast Recipes
Pumpkin Spice French Toast
Ingredients
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tbsp honey, warmed
- ¼ tsp salt
- sliced pumpkin bread, (see notes for recipe link)
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
Instructions
- In a shallow baking dish, whisk the half-and-half, eggs, honey, and salt until well combined.
- Dip the pumpkin bread slices in the custard, coating both sides.
- Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the French toast for about two to three minutes on each side. Serve with maple syrup.
Notes
- Double Braided Pumpkin Bread
- French toast custard recipe from Alton Brown.
It must be delicious, and it has so nice colour!!!
It is pretty good. You should try it out!
This look so delicious! Great way to start the Halloween festivities!
This is my new favorite breakfast. Of course now I need to always have pumpkin spice bread on hand to make it.
That is my kind of breakfast, I wouldn’t be able to share!
Haha, I used up an entire loaf so I would have enough to share.
That looks amazing
It tasted pretty amazing!