Vegan French Toast
I sometimes find myself with leftover bread - especially if it is some kind of sweet bread, like this one I made for Easter. Yes, let’s be honest, this recipe is here because I was thinking what to do with that bread I baked because it was getting a bit too hard to eat just like that. And you know what? I love recipes that you create because you want to use everything up. I am really trying not to waste any food because wasting food is a huge problem.
This recipe could not be easier. In my opinion it tastes even better than non vegan French toast - it is not as heavy in your stomach afterwards. Or maybe it’s because I didn’t overdo it and made only small portions, not those big portions that you get for your brunch.
What kind of ingredients to use?
You will only need 7 ingredients for this amazingly tasty breakfast. I really recommend serving it with some yogurt - its sour taste nicely contrasts with the sweetness; some fruit - I actually made caramelized bananas but any kind of fresh fruit is great and some maple syrup on top! That maple syrup is the reason why there isn’t almost any added sugar in the mixture - it will be sweet enough.
Sweet bread - like I said, use either leftover from this one, or some brioche or just a simple white sliced bread (sliced quite thickly if possible). It is best if the bread is few days old - a bit too hard too eat - otherwise it will get too messy once its soaked and you want to move it to the frying pan.
Non dairy milk - my all time favourite for anything is oat milk. But it doesn’t really matter here - use whatever milk you have on your hand. Just maybe be a bit careful with some milks that are a bit too thin - use slightly less.
Cornstarch & gram flour - work here as a substitute for eggs. Don’t worry - you won’t be able to taste gram flour at all.
Vanilla extract - I like to add vanilla extract into almost baked stuff. It enhances the flavour and just makes it better.
Five spice - it makes such a unique flavour, I love it! Five spice is a mixture of cinnamon, star anise, fennel seeds, cloves and Szechuan peppercorns. If you don’t have five spice at home, replace it with just cinnamon or cardamom.
Salt - deepens the sweet flavour. Add pinch of salt into any baking or anything sweet and it will only make it better.
Tips
There are few things that will make this easier for you:
Slowly heat up your frying pan on a medium heat and leave it on medium heat for the whole time - that way you won’t burn your French toast.
Use non stick frying pan.
Check your toast few times during frying - I have one frying pan that heats up better than the rest, therefore everything is quicker.
This step is optional - after you fried French toast on both sides, sprinkle a bit of caster sugar on one side and fry it on that side for one to two minutes - this way the toast will get even crunchier.
Serves 2 (4 slices of toast)
Ingredients
100ml non dairy milk
1tsp cornstarch
1tbsp gram flour
1/4tsp vanilla extract
pinch of five spice
tiny pinch of salt
4 slices of sweet easter bread or brioche or bread (ideally a bit older)
vegetable oil
1tsp caster sugar
maple syrup, fruit, non dairy yogurt to serve
Method
Whisk together non dairy milk, cornstarch, gram flour, vanilla extract, caster sugar and five spice.
Put two sweet bread slices into a shallow dish and pour the milk mixture over them. Leave it to soak for about 1 min, turn the slices around and leave it for another 1 min. Repeat with the other two slices of bread.
Heat up 1/2tsp vegetable oil in a medium frying pan. Carefully lift two slices of sweet bread, add them to the pan and fry for 3-4mins on each side on medium heat (until they are golden brown). Sprinkle 1/2tsp caster sugar over one side and fry for another 1-2mins - it will make it even crunchier. Move them to a cooling rack and put them into a warm oven (around 50C if that your oven allows is perfect). Repeat with the remaining slices.
Serve with non dairy yogurt, fruit and some maple syrup.