A make-ahead French toast casserole for fall, infused with pumpkin flavor with a sweet streusel topping. Ideal for Thanksgiving with family in town.
Overnight Pumpkin French Toast with Streusel Topping is a perfect recipe for Thanksgiving and with guests in town! It can be made ahead, refrigerated overnight and pulled out to bake the next morning. The result is a baked French toast casserole that’s a close cousin to bread pudding that smells heavenly baking. The streusel topping adds a sweet layer of flavor and crunch that makes it company-worthy and that your family or tree trimmers will enjoy this weekend.
We enjoyed this French toast a couple of weeks ago when my sister was in town. I tweaked the recipe since, adjusting the amount of eggs and milk in the recipe, using evaporated milk for convenience since I rarely have milk in the fridge. This is also a delicious way to use that extra can of pumpkin and evaporated milk in the pantry that you picked up when you were grocery shopping for your Thanksgiving feast.
Overnight Pumpkin French Toast Casserole Recipe
Makes 10 – 12 Servings
Ingredients
1 (12 – 16 oz) loaf of French bread or similar style crusty loaf bread, (day old or stale works best to soak up the custard)
6 large eggs
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk (2% or skim)
1/2 cup half and half
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (like Libby’s)
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
Streusel Topping
Streusel Topping Ingredients
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 stick butter, cubed
1 cup chopped pecans
Directions
Cube bread and place in a greased 13×9 baking dish. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, evaporated milk, pumpkin, brown sugar, half and half, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Pour over bread and refrigerate covered overnight.
Remove casserole from refrigerator and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Add streusel topping to casserole. Bake, covered 40 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned and a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
For streusel topping: Mix flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Add butter and work it into a flour mix with pastry cutter or fork until crumbly with pea-sized bits of butter. Stir in chopped nuts. Topping can be made ahead and refrigerated separately.
Let stand 5 – 10 minutes before serving. If desired, dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve with warm maple syrup.
Baking time may vary depending on your oven. Recover the streusel topping with foil during last few minutes of baking time to prevent overbrowning if necessary.
Overnight Pumpkin French Toast with Streusel Topping
Ingredients
- 1 12 - 16 oz. loaf of French bread or similar style crusty loaf bread (day old or slightly stale works best to soak up custard)
- 6 large eggs
- 1 12 oz can evaporated milk
- 1/2 cup half and half
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree like Libby’s
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Streusel Topping
Streusel Topping Ingredients
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup unsalted cold butter, cubed (1 stick)
- 1 cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- Cube bread and place in a greased 13x9 baking dish.
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, evaporated milk,pumpkin, brown sugar, half and half, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Pour over bread. Refrigerate covered overnight.
- Remove casserole from refrigerator and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Add streusel topping to casserole. Bake, covered 40 minutes.
- Uncover and bake an additional 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned and a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
- Let stand 5 - 10 minutes before serving.
- Dust with confectioners' sugar and /or serve with warm maple syrup, if desired.
For streusel topping:
- Mix flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Add butter and work it into a flour mix with with pastry cutter or fork until crumbly with pea-sized bits of butter.
- Stir in chopped nuts.
- Topping can be made ahead and refrigerated separately.
Notes
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Oh. My. Goodness! I hope I have room in my fridge for this. What a nice breakfast surprise for my daughters! Thank you for another scrumptious recipe.
Sounds yummy. Will make this Friday morning.
Looks so decadent! Love the composition of the 1st photo on the tea towel taken from above. Happy Thanksgiving. Grateful for all the inspiration you bring to others.
Thanks so much for the recipe Mary. My brother and his family are coming for a weekend stay in December and I am always looking for a good morning treat!!! Happy Thanksgiving to you and all your family!! xoxo
I make that when I have company ! It is the greatest and everyone likes it. Enjoy! Have a great Thanksgiving and enjoy the great food!🌴😎🦃🦃
Looks like dessert to me!!! Delicious!!! But, I will try maybe not for breakfast but for something!!! 😋😋😋
OK, I just put all the ingredients out on the counter (since I just happened to have some stale artisan bread!) and I’m not sure I can wait overnight for this to soak!!!
OK, now I am dying for some of this! Going to print out the recipe now! Wishing you and your family a VERY happy and blessed Thanksgiving, Mary. I am thankful for you and your beautiful blog that inspires me all year. XO
You had me at streusel Mary! Yum! Make ahead casseroles are my “go to”s, and this one is perfect for the winter holidays! Have fun at your family feast!
Jenna
We’d make great neighbors, Mary…I always have milk on hand, for my tea but I never have any bread, being gluten free these days. LOL
I am saving this recipe for future reference when the next round of company arrives. It looks & sounds scrumptious & anything I can do ahead of time works for me. THANKS!!
Oh my goodness, Mary, thank you for this recipe! It sounds absolutely wonderful and is similar to a bread pudding, which I truly love. I’ll be making this soon!
Mary, at Thanksgiving time, I want to let you know how much I enjoy and appreciate your ideas, recipes, etc. NO OTHER BLOG COMPARES TO IT – none even comes close! It is always uplifting and inspiring. You’re the one that introduced me to the “Katy Alice” dishes and I enjoy them every day! I can’t quite comprehend how you “do it all” – but I’m glad that you do. I hope you have a very happy Thanksgiving!!!
Sounds absolutely delicious and decadent…I always have pumpkin purée and evaporated milk in the pantry…and just happen to have everything on hand except the half & half…which I will get today with the rest of what I need to pick up for the long weekend…
Happy Thanksgiving to you, your handsome husband and the two adorable fur babies!
This sounds like a perfect “tweener”… A great meal between Thanksgiving and Christmas:@)
Mary,
This sounds scrumptious!! May you, your husband and the girls have a very Happy Thanksgiving!!
Thank you Melodie! Happy Thanksgiving :)
~Mary~
Oh my gosh , looks yummy!! I really would love to make this , I baked 4 pumpkins for pies and I have so much pumpkin left over. So I am going to use in it in this delightful looking breakfast French toast , hope it will still taste as wonderful ?!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family ! Thank you for all you share with us Mary, I know a lot of planning and doing goes into each one of you posts !! Hugs :)
Paula
IN
Thanks Paula, I think you’ll enjoy it! I let Libby’s cook my pumpkins, you’re much more industrious than I am :) Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving! ♥
Dropping by to wish you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving! This looks absolutely delicious!
so many recipes, such big thighs :-(
Is there anyway to just put recipe together and not have to print all the photos. I don’t have space for extra paper so need just recipe please next time somewhere on page..
Look for the printable recipe link in red, it’s near the bottom of the post and doesn’t have photos. You can find the printable recipe here: https://sites.google.com/site/homeiswheretheboatisrecipes/overnight-pumpkin-french-toast-casserole-with-streusel-topping
We made this for Thanksgiving morning, it was delicious. I found it required more cooking time then the directions noted. We divided the dish up in two containers, had one for Thanksgiving morning and the second container for “Black” Friday! make sure the dishes are sprayed with a non stick spray. Next time I might even try mixing in cranberries or blueberries.
Glad you enjoyed it Deborah! I love the idea of adding some cranberries or cranberry-maple syrup :)