Make this Pumpkin French Toast for a special breakfast. You'll love the real pumpkin and fresh pumpkin spices used in this Fall version of the classic French toast recipe. Perfect for Thanksgiving breakfast or a special brunch during the Fall!
French toast breakfast
I love French toast for breakfast. It's delicious, budget-friendly, a great way to use up stale bread, and sooo easy to make with just a few ingredients. Anything from regular French toast to Peach French Toast or even Hasselback French Toast is up there on my list.
And ever since I discovered that you can simply add some pumpkin puree and a bit of pumpkin spice to your French toast mixture to make PUMPKIN FRENCH TOAST, we've been making this pumpkin French toast over and over!
It's just the perfect Fall breakfast with all the right warming Fall vibes. Oh, and adding pumpkin is like adding a secret hidden vegetable. So that's a win too!
I've tried other "pumpkin" French toast recipes, and many of them don't even include real pumpkin - just the pumpkin spice. Which is okay, I guess, but I believe this is truly the BEST pumpkin French toast recipe!
Related recipe: Pumpkin Hot Breakfast Cereal
Related recipe: Pumpkin Protein Pancakes
What you'll need to make pumpkin French toast:
You can follow your favorite French toast recipe but add a little pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice to the batter. Here's what I use to make this Pumpkin French Toast:
- Bread: I've used pretty much ANY kind of bread you can imagine for French toast. Whole wheat sandwich bread, old sourdough bread, sliced baguettes, challah, cinnamon swirl raisin bread. You name it, we've French toasted it. Use whatever kind of bread you have on hand! This recipe is enough to make 8 whole slices of French toast, so feel free to scale up or down as needed
- Milk: feel free to use a plant milk if you need to make dairy-free French toast. You'll about 1 cup of milk for 8 slices of French toast
- Eggs: 2 eggs for 8 slices of French toast. Need to make eggless French toast? Blend a banana with your milk and pumpkin mixture to make eggless French toast batter.
- Vanilla extract: a teaspoon really adds a nice flavor!
- Pumpkin puree: I use ½ cup of canned pumpkin puree
- Maple syrup: I like to add a little sweetener to my French toast liquid - about 2 tablespoons. Maple syrup works really well with the whole pumpkin theme, but feel free to use agave syrup, honey, or even brown sugar! If using sugar, make sure to really stir well between each bread dip, so it doesn't all get settled at the bottom.
- Spices: I used 1.5 teaspoons pumpkin spice, which makes a somewhat spiced French toast. Feel free to cut down the first time if you're not sure! You can also use a 1-1.5 teaspoons cinnamon in place of the pumpkin spice, or make your own pumpkin spice mixture, just enough for this recipe:
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger powder
- 1 pinch ground cloves
- 1 pinch ground allspice
And of course, you'll need:
- Oil for cooking: I love unrefined coconut oil amazing for cooking French toast and pancakes! It has a subtle coconut flavor and scent that does not overpower, and just adds to the coziness factor
- Maple syrup, powdered sugar, and/or butter for serving. Please use REAL maple syrup instead of the fake corn syrup stuff! It makes such a HUGE difference to the flavor!
Related recipe from my "sister site": French Toast Bread Pudding
Related recipe: Pumpkin Spice Whipped Cottage Cheese
How to make this pumpkin French toast healthy:
This French toast is already healthier relative to the classic French toast recipe because of the addition of pumpkin puree (helloooo vitamins and antioxidants!) and pumpkin spice (antioxidants!). However, there are a few things you can do to make this a healthy French toast recipe:
- Use whole wheat bread, or use low carb bread if needed
- Don't add maple syrup to the batter (or reduce down to 1 tablespoon)
- Use any kind of milk your diet needs - plant based (almond milk can be as long as 30 calories per cup!), skim milk, etc.
- Cook with coconut oil spray instead of oil or butter to cut own on the calories
Related recipe: 2 Ingredient Pumpkin Muffins
To make French toast:
Step 1: Simply combine all the ingredients (aside from bread) in a bowl or a deep plate or food storage container. You want to make sure that your bread slices fit into the plate or container easily so you can dip them into the pumpkin mixture.
Step 2: Heat your skillet, then add the coconut oil (or oil of your choice) to the preheated skillet.
Work quickly to dip your bread slices into the mixture on both sides, then gently shake off excess batter and place the dipped bread into the hot skillet.
Related recipe: Chocolate Pancakes
Cook for 2-3 minutes per side over medium heat, or until done as desired - longer for browned crispier French toast, less time for a softer French toast.
Step 3: Serve warm, topping with maple syrup or powdered sugar, and a of butter. You can also drizzle it with homemade honey ginger syrup instead of maple syrup for a nice gingery variation.
So easy and perfect for the whole family!!
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do, no matter how you decide to serve it!
If you end up making this pumpkin French toast or any other recipe on Babaganosh, please take a picture and tag @babaganoshblog on Facebook or Instagram! I LOVE seeing your creations!
Try this other amazing pumpkin breakfast recipe: Pumpkin Frittata
Looking for more breakfast recipes?
- Whole wheat carrot cake pancakes
- Pumpkin whipped cottage cheese - a high protein breakfast, snack, or dessert!
- Blueberry, oat, and Greek yogurt pancakes with blueberry sauce
- Pumpkin spice whipped coffee
- Mocha whipped coffee
- Bell pepper eggs in a hole
- No-bake frittata
- Mini quiches
Pumpkin French Toast
Ingredients
- 8 slices bread
- 1 cup milk - (any kind)
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup - or agave, honey, or brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1.5 teaspoons pumpkin spice seasoning - (see notes)
- 1 pinch salt
- Coconut oil, butter, or cooking spray - for cooking
- Maple syrup, honey, powdered sugar,¼ and/or butter for serving
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients from the milk to the salt in a bowl or container that is wide enough for your bread slices. Mix well with a whisk.
- Heat a non-stick skillet, then add your coconut oil or butter. Dip the bread into the pumpkin mixture until it's soaked on both sides, and gently shake off the excess batter.
- Cook the soaked bread on each side for 2-3 minutes over medium heat, or until as done as desired - longer for browned crispier French toast, less time for a softer French toast.
- Repeat step 3 with the remaining pieces of bread.
Notes
- Bread: You can use any kind of bread you prefer for French toast! I've used whole wheat, white sandwich bread, challah, cinnamon raisin bread, sliced baguettes, sourdough
- Spices: 1.5 teaspoons pumpkin spice makes a somewhat spiced French toast. Feel free to cut down the first time if you're not sure! You can also use a 1-1.5 teaspoons cinnamon in place of the pumpkin spice, or make your own pumpkin spice mixture, just enough for this recipe:
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger powder
- 1 pinch ground cloves
- 1 pinch ground allspice
- Cooking oil: I find unrefined coconut oil amazing for cooking French toast and pancakes! It has a subtle coconut flavor and scent that does not overpower, and just adds to the coziness factor
Nutrition
The nutritional information displayed is an estimate and not to be used as dietary or nutritional advice. Consult a nutritionist or dietician for nutritional info based on the exact ingredients you use.
CakeSpy
Wednesday 17th of December 2014
You've done it again. This is just brilliant! I can practically taste it.
Maureen | Orgasmic Chef
Monday 15th of December 2014
I really like French toast for a special breakfast and pumpkin sure says Merry Christmas to me.
Kate
Monday 15th of December 2014
French toast is so easy to make, I don't know why I save it for special breakfasts. Pancakes are the ones that are harder to make yet I make those all the time.
Pumpkin says "I WANT YOU TO PUT ME IN EVERYTHING THIS TIME OF YEAR" to me :)