high protein pumpkin french toast casserole without protein powder

A square slice of pumpkin french toast casserole sits on a speckled plate with syrup, bathed in sunlight on a wooden table. A patterned baking dish and yellow butter packets are in the background.

3 from 2 votes

high protein pumpkin french toast casserole without protein powder

Packed with protein this pumpkin french toast casserole boasts 30g of protein for just 400 calories without protein powder. And I know it's perfect for fall and winter gatherings because everyone always asks for the recipe and never asks "is this healthy?" (even though it is!). It's just dang good!! Plus, it super easy to whip up in one dish.

Prep Time5

Cook Time1 5

Total Time1 15

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cottage cheese

Servings:

Calories: 404kcal

Author: Mika Kinney

Ingredients

1.5 cups low fat cottage cheese any kind works (full-fat plain Greek or Skyr yogurt works too)
6 eggs
1 lb challah bread or hawaiian rolls any brioche bread works
2 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 c pumpkin puree
⅓ c maple syrup pure
1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
¼ teaspoon salt
10 maple breakfast sausage links precooked ones (we use the frozen ones from Applegate)
2 tablespoon cinnamon sugar 1:4 ratio of sugar to cinnamon
2 cups Greek yogurt plain (you can leave this off and the protein drops to 25g per serving)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a 9x13 baking dish by greasing it with oil or butter.
If your 10 maple breakfast sausage links are frozen, microwave all 10 for 3-4 minutes or until they are thawed just enough to chop. Thinly slice or chop them. Dice up the 1 lb challah bread or hawaiian rolls. Add both to the baking dish and toss to mix.
In a blender, blend together the 1.5 cups low fat cottage cheese, 6 eggs, 2 tablespoon vanilla extract, 1 c pumpkin puree, ⅓ c maple syrup, 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon, 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice, and ¼ teaspoon salt until totally smooth. Pour this over the bread mixture in the pan. Use a large spoon to toss it all together to make sure all the bread is evenly coated. Top with 2 tablespoon cinnamon sugar and bake for 1 hour and 5 minutes.
Check on it the last 10-15 minutes to see if it's browning too much. If it is, tent with foil.
Slice into 9 pieces and top each piece with Greek yogurt and maple syrup as desired.

Video

Notes

Spray your pan! With the custard filling, things can get a little sticky. To avoid this, grease the pan with butter or spray it with oil.

Making this an overnight casserole is possible, but you have to use stale bread. If you don't have stale bread, I'd recommend chopping and mixing the bread and sausage and blending the custard pumpkin filling. Just wait to combine them until you're ready to bake.

The best baking pan to use is a deep 9x13 casserole dish. The bread is quite fluffy, so a large dish is a must.

Storage
Keep this in the fridge for up to 6 days or freeze for 3 months.

Nutrition