Fresh out of the oven, these pumpkin French toast muffins are a fun new way to enjoy French toast, making for the ultimate cozy autumn breakfast. Prepared with tender brioche bread, pumpkin, brown sugar and lots of spice, this French toast muffins recipe has a twist that’s just perfect for pumpkin season, with lots of sweet and spicy flavor!
French Toast Muffins Fit for Pumpkin Season
There’s nothing quite like the smell of spices wafting through the house as something kissed with sugar and spice and everything nice gently bakes away in the oven…
Fall is a favorite time of year for me to whip up comfy-cozy goodies, from my moist pumpkin bread, my pumpkin oatmeal cream pies, to my pumpkin cake with toasted pecan cream cheese frosting. They’re so utterly delicious, and such a fun way to get into the spirit of pumpkin season!
My latest favorite pumpkin-inspired treat is my pumpkin French toast muffins with pecan streusel, which make for a comforting and sweet little breakfast or even afternoon snack, perfect for this magical, golden-hued time of year.
We thoroughly enjoy caramel apple French toast and brioche French toast casserole on a fall weekend morning, so these French toast muffins have become a tasty and unique new way for us to enjoy our French toast, baked all puffed up and golden in individual muffin cups, ready for a drizzle of warm maple syrup!
My Recipe for Pumpkin French Toast Muffins
What I love about preparing French toast muffins is they’re cute little individual servings, and they eat like a traditional muffin—also super easy and fun to make!
While we love to enjoy traditional French toast at home, the only thing that I’m not always keen on is having to dip, flip and fry individual pieces of bread, which can be quite time consuming, especially when preparing for a larger group.
What’s great about my French toast muffins recipe is everything is combined together, at once…
The bread (brioche in this case) is cubed up and combined with a sweet pumpkin and spice custard mixture, then spooned into buttered muffin tin cups, and baked off for a short time until fluffy, puffy, and golden-brown—no need to babysit and make individual pieces!
And to make these muffins extra tasty, I love to top each with a pecan streusel just before baking for a bit of sweet, crunchy nuttiness.
Once baked, I sprinkle over a touch of powdered sugar and serve warm with maple syrup, making these muffins the perfect autumn brekky!
Here’s a glance at my pumpkin French toast muffins recipe: (or just jump to the full recipe…)
- To get started, I prep my pecan streusel to have ready and chilling in the fridge while I prep my French toast muffins.
- Then, I add my cubed bread to a large bowl, and in a separate bowl, whisk up my wet ingredients (the pumpkin custard), and pour that over the cubed bread. I gently toss the bread with the custard to completely cover.
- Next, I spoon equal amounts of the brioche bread/custard mixture into each buttered muffin, top with equal portions of the pecan streusel, and bake for roughly 35 minutes, until puffed and golden, yet tender on the inside.
- I allow the French toast muffins to cool in the tin for 5 to 10 minutes, then place onto a serving platter or into a large bowl, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and serve with a side of warm maple syrup.
Recipe
Pumpkin French Toast Muffins
by Ingrid Beer
These cozy pumpkin French toast muffins with pecan streusel are a sweet and spicy fall-inspired twist on French toast!
Category: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Yield: 12 French toast muffins
Nutrition Info: 300 calories per French toast muffin
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 35 minutes
Total time: 55 minutes
Pumpkin French Toast Muffins Ingredients:
- 1 (16 ounce) brioche loaf, cut into ½ to ¾ inch cubes
- ¾ cup pure, organic pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 large eggs, room temp
- 1 cup half and half, room temp
- Powdered sugar, option topping
- Warm maple or pancake syrup, to serve alongside
Pecan Streusel Ingredients:
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- Pinch pumpkin pie spice
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup roughly chopped, raw pecans
Preparation:
- Begin by gathering and prepping all of your pecan streusel topping ingredients according to the ingredient list above to have ready and organized for use.
- Add the brown sugar to a small bowl, and drizzle in the melted butter. Using a fork, mix together until is resembles wet sand. Add in the flour and pecans, and mix those in with the fork until a sand-like crumble forms. Chill while you prep your muffins.
- Preheat your oven to 350°, and generously grease a 12 cup muffin tin with butter. (You can use cooking spray, but I found butter better releases the muffins once baked.)
- Next, gather and prep your French toast muffin ingredients according to the ingredient list above to have ready and organized for use.
- Add the cubed brioche bread to a large bowl. Then, to another medium size bowl add the pumpkin puree, the brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla and salt, and whisk to blend. Then, add in the eggs and whisk those in until blended.
- Add in the half and half, and whisk that in to create the custard base. Pour this custard base over the cubed bread, and using clean hands, gently toss the bread with the custard taking care not to break it up, as you just want to have the bread to be coated in and absorb most of the custard.
- Using a large spoon, mound equal portions of the French toast muffin mixture into each muffin tin, allowing some of the excess custard to drip off before adding into the tins. Each tin should be filled most of the way.
- Then, sprinkle over each equal portions of the pecan streusel topping, and bake the pumpkin French toast muffins for 33 to 35 minutes (mine took 35), rotating the muffin pan halfway through the baking for even browning.
- Once baked, allow the French toast muffins to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then gently remove each and place onto a platter. Sprinkle over a touch of powdered sugar, if desired, and serve warm with warm syrup to drizzle over top.
Tips & Tidbits for my Pumpkin French Toast Muffins recipe:
- Brioche bread for rich, tender French toast muffins: Brioche bread is my choice of bread for this indulgent recipe, because I love the slightly sweet flavor and tender consistency. You can substitute challah bread, or use French bread, if desired.
- Pure pumpkin puree for fall flavor and color: To create some fall flavor for these French toast muffins, I’m using some pure, organic pumpkin puree in the custard base, along with lots pumpkin pie spice for warm, spicy flavor. It brings a light orange hue to the muffins, with each bite tasting like autumn. Do be sure, however, that you are using pure pumpkin puree here, and not pumpkin pie filling, which has lots of additives, including sugar.
- How to make French toast muffins ahead: You can do some of the prep for these muffins the day before by cubing the bread and leaving it on a large baking sheet, lightly covered with plastic wrap or a tea towel. It’s actually perfectly fine if the bread gets slightly stale. You can also prep the pumpkin custard, and keep that covered and chilled in the fridge, as well as the pecan streusel. Then, when ready to bake, just combine the custard with the cubed bread, and proceed with filling the tins, topping with streusel, and baking as directed.
Hungry for more cozy breakfasts? Check out my recipe for Caramel Apple French Toast, Pumpkin Pancakes, Brioche French Toast Casserole, Crustless Quiche, Cinnamon Roll Casserole, Breakfast Potato Casserole, Breakfast Frittata, or even my recipe for Oatmeal Bake with Mixed Berries!
