This grain free and Paleo Pumpkin French Toast Bake takes a simple Paleo pumpkin bread base and loads it with even more warm and sweet fall flavors! It’s baked to golden perfection and totally grain free, dairy free, refined sugar free, hearty and delicious!
Now that school is in full swing (yes, I’m still adjusting, but, getting there!) Saturday mornings have an extra special feeling. Especially because it’s almost fall! I’m a firm believer that at least ONE weekend morning needs an “all out” breakfast.
By “all out”, I’m talking pancakes or french toast, bacon, eggs, and everyone sitting together eating, still in PJs. Sounds nice, right? Coffee too. Unlimited coffee for the cook!
Of course, since I’m the one doing the cooking, it’s not exactly the relaxing scene you’re probably picturing, but still – if it makes the kids happy, it makes me happy.
French toast happens to be one of their favorites, and, up until now I never made it Paleo. I’d take store bought gluten free bread and make classic french toast in a pan. Which is really yummy, of course, but after I made my Paleo Pumpkin Bread (shown above, cubed) I knew some sort of french toast was the next step. Perfect fall Saturday mornings – we’re getting closer!
Ingredients in Paleo Pumpkin French Toast
- Pumpkin bread
- Eggs
- Maple syrup
- Vanilla extract
- Coconut oil
Tip: If you want a less-sweet breakfast, you can reduce the amount of maple syrup baked into the french toast and it will still turn out beautifully.
I also made a delicious raisin pecan topping for this easy pumpkin french toast that is a perfect compliment to its flavors. The topping is completely optional in this French toast recipe, but if you want to make it here’s what you’ll need.:
- Raw pecans
- Chopped raisins
- Coconut sugar
- Ground cinnamon
The reason this pumpkin french toast is easy peasy is that it does not require me to stand in front of the stove – YES!
Honestly, I love to make French toast – my Banana Bread French Toast recipe is out of this world! But I’ve decided that I do way too much cooking on my stove top and need to experiment with my oven more.
So, I cubed the pumpkin bread, oven-toasted it (you can totally do this the day before) drenched it in a sweet french toast “bath” loaded with fall spices and baked it. The results were even better than I imagined!
How to Make Paleo Pumpkin French Toast Bake
- Toast the Bread – Cut your pumpkin bread into 1-2 inch cubes and arrange them in a single layer on a prepared baking sheet. Cook the bread cubes in a 350 degree oven for 6-8 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and allow the bread to cool.
- Make the Liquid for the French Toast: Whisk together the wet ingredients and pumpkin pie spice together. You can do this in a bowl or a large measuring cup.
- Make the Pecan Raisin Topping: Combine the pecans, raisins, coconut sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl.
- Assemble the French Toast Casserole: Spread the toasted pumpkin bread cubes in the bottom of a greased baking dish. Pour the egg mixture overtop, making sure that all of the bread cubes are saturated. Sprinkle the topping over the bread and egg mixture, spreading evenly.
- Bake at 350 degrees until set, then serve and enjoy!
Can I make Paleo French Toast casserole in advance?
Here’s the short answer: Yes and no!
As I mentioned, it’s best to bake the bread, cube it and toast it the day before to avoid a crazy morning rush with lots of hungry people whining. You can also make the liquid mixture and pecan topping the day before as well and store them separately in the refrigerator overnight.
However, I would not coat the bread the night before as you would with a traditional baked French toast recipe – since it’s made with grain free pumpkin bread, the overnight soaking would be too much for the bread to withstand.
Easy Baked French Toast
With everything ready to go the night before, first thing in the morning you can simply pour, sprinkle and bake! I admittedly don’t always make things easy for myself, but, I want to make this recipe (and all recipes, really) easy for you.
How to Serve Paleo Pumpkin French Toast Bake
I highly recommend you add the chopped pecan/raisin topping, since even my kids had no complaints about it at all!
Not surprisingly, a little drizzle of pure maple syrup is the key to get my kids to eat anything – ever.
Let’s get started!
Paleo Pumpkin French Toast Bake
Paleo Pumpkin French Toast Bake
Ingredients
- 1 loaf Simple Paleo Pumpkin Bread completely cooled
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 3 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- coconut oil to grease baking dish
Optional topping
- 1/4 cup raw pecans roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup raisins roughly chopped
- 1 tsp organic coconut sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
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Make sure your loaf of pumpkin bread is cooled completely before slicing, then cut the loaf into 1-2 inch cubes. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and arrange the cubes in a single layer on a large baking sheet.
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Toast the bread cubes in the preheated oven for 6-8 minutes until just very lightly toasted.* Remove from oven and allow to cool while you prepare the liquid mixture.
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In a large bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, almond milk, maple syrup, vanilla, and pumpkin pie spice. Generously grease a square baking dish with coconut oil and add the toasted pumpkin bread cubes.
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Slowly pour the liquid mixture over the bread cubes**, then top with the optional pecans, raisins, coconut sugar and cinnamon if desired.
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Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes or until the egg mixture is set and the top is golden brown.
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Serve topped with additional maple syrup if desired. Enjoy!***
Recipe Notes
*This step can be done the day before if desired. Simply store the bread cubes covered in the refrigerator.
**You can gently toss the bread in the egg mixture to make sure it's completely coated.
***Prep and cook time does not include the time is takes to make the loaf of pumpkin bread.
Want more Paleo breakfasts for your sweet tooth? Try one of these!
Hearty Cinnamon Raisin Breakfast Bread
Simple Paleo Blueberry Muffins
So, Tell Me!
What’s your family’s weekend breakfast tradition?
Are you excited for cozy fall weekend mornings?
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I love French toast! my favorite was always challah French toast from the diner OR right after the holidays when the challah was in the house lol. My son likes to go out for bagels on the weekend but sometimes he lets me make pancakes or French toast
Didn’t I say this and the cinnamon raisin bread needed to become French toast? Totally taking credit!
Credit given!
I love this idea of baking French toast. This is one area of cooking where I really haven’t perfected so all the family enjoys it. But this recipe may be the key! Thanks!
Both of us had pumpkin on the brain today! This my friend is genius! I love repurposing foods for other meals.
I guess I’m making 2 next time, one to just eat and one for French toast. What a good idea!
This looks delicious! I made this pumpkin bread on Sunday and I really liked it. I brought what was left of it at work this morning, cubed it and ate it with greek yogurt (I needed extra protein after my run this morning!) and peaches. So good!… A mix of summer and fall I guess… 😉 My 6yo is not big on breakfast (except for bacon, he could eat it all day, every day haha) so our fall family week-end tradition is usually a big crock pot meal on Sunday nights.
I made this for breakfast this morning and it is fantastic! I made the bread the night before and toasted it, as suggested. I ended up tenting it with foil at the 30 minute mark and baked it for another 15 minutes until the eggs were set. I subbed a bit of chopped dark chocolate for the raisins, since my husband is one of those crazy people that doesn’t like raisins. lol This recipe is definitely a keeper. Thanks so much! I haven’t had baked French toast since I went paleo a few years ago. <3