So I don't usually bake a big giant dish of anything sweet if there is no sharing involved. This is because I will eat all of it. I tried it once - baking a french toast casserole and I ate the whole thing in two days. It was supposed to serve 8. Lesson learned.
In the morning, I usually eat some sort of french toast bake along with an omelette. I've been making plain baked french toast with my base recipe and sometimes add in some fruit, but I recently started using pumpkin instead since I was having trouble getting enough fiber. Pumpkin is really a miracle food to me - it has so much fiber and creates such great texture in smoothies and custards while maintaining a low calorie count. I love using pumpkin in my smoothies to create a smoother and creamier texture.
The pumpkin creates a custard texture for the french toast bake without adding too much milk (which can make it soggy) or egg (which can make it too egg-y). Adding pumpkin to my custard mixture has been my favorite variation of my base recipe so far. I add a lot of pumpkin for a single serve dish as a filler but also for its fiber content and to make the dish more bread pudding-like. Eating this in the morning reminds of winter and the Christmas spirit. It's Christmas in July!
First, cube your bread and mix the egg whites/egg, milk, pumpkin, pumpkin spice, vanilla, and sweetener.
Spray your dish with nonstick spray and add 1/3 of the cubed bread. Pour 1/3 of the custard mixture evenly over the bread.
Repeat for the remaining 2/3.
Sprinkle the top with remaining sweetener and cinnamon. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight. Baked in a preheated 350 degree F oven the next morning and serve warm.
Now you can eat this as a dessert too with some ice cream or switch up the ingredients to more indulgent ones.
Single-Serve Baked Pumpkin French Toast Recipe
- 2 slices of bread, cubed (I usually use sprouted grain breads since they are often drier)
- 3 tbsp liquid egg whites, one whole egg, or two egg whites
- 1/4 cup/2 oz milk of choice
- 1/3 cup pumpkin puree (I like using Libby's brand)
- 1/4 tsp pumpkin spice
- 1/8 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon
- 2 packets stevia or 3 tsp sugar (brown sugar would work nicely here) or other sweetener
In a small bowl, mix together the egg whites/egg, milk, pumpkin, vanilla, pumpkin spice, and 1 packet stevia or 2 tsp of other sweetener. Spray an oven safe 2-cup capacity dish or soufflé dish with nonstick spray. Add in 1/3 of the cubed bread and pour 1/3 of the custard mixture over the bread. Repeat this pattern for the remaining bread and custard mixture. Sprinkle 1 packet of stevia or 1 tsp of sugar/sweetener and 1/8 tsp cinnamon over the top of the french toast mixture. Refrigerate overnight or at least 2 hours. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 30 minutes the next morning. Serve warm.
You can turn this into a bread pudding for dessert by using whole egg and half and half or cream in the custard mixture. Serving it with a nice dollop of creme anglaise, whiskey cream sauce, whipped cream, or ice cream wouldn't be a bad idea either.
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