Pumpkin French Toast Bake

Pumpkin French Toast Bake

    recipe taken from: Six Sisters Stuff

Ingredients:

1/2 loaf of French bread cut into 1 inch bread cubes (or about 4 cups crusty bread cut into bite-size pieces) *I used an entire small loaf of french bread, and would have like to have had more, there seemed to be far more gooey than bread! 
8 large eggs *I only had 7, tasted just fine.
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp brown sugar
3/4 c pumpkin puree
3-4 tbsp brown sugar for topping
nuts like pecan or walnuts (optional) *I didn't have nuts on hand (unless you count chocolate covered almonds), but I think the crunch would really complement these.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (unless you're preparing it the night before).
2. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and place bread cubes in dish (dish should be almost full)
3. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla, syrup, 1 tbsp brown sugar, and pumpkin until well combined. 
4. Pour over bread mixture and mix well (large spoon or hands!)
5. Cover with plastic wrap or lid if you're going to refrigerate it overnight, or just pop it in the oven!
6. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until golden brown and no longer wet. *I baked mine for 50 minutes and it was still wet in the middle, we ate around the edges (yum!), but next time I'll add more bread or bake longer.
7. Serve with warm syrup! Yum!