{vegan} French Toast

With Sis in town for the holidays, it’s a good time to try out some new vegan recipes. She loved the Vegan Bolognese I made with mushrooms the other day, but over Christmas we didn’t have much of a chance to get in any new vegan recipes. Almost everything we ate was made with cheese. Post Christmas, after we had cleared out most of the leftovers, I was looking for something to make with some fancy maple syrup I had bought Dad for Christmas. I had some leftover Italian bread my grandma had made when she was in town. We had already used most of it for bread pudding and croutons, but I still had about 6 good-sized slices of bread begging to be used so I googled vegan + French + toast to see how in the heck you could make a vegan dish out of something that is primarily made of egg.

I found a r e c ip e at Love and Lemons that promised an authentic French toast taste made without eggs by using a small amount of flour and a tiny amount of nutritional yeast. I have to admit I was suspicious that nutritional yeast could transform non-dairy milk into an egg-like coating but I was definitely open to the idea of an authentic tasting vegan French toast so I decided to go with Love and Lemons r e c ip e over other more simple recipes I’d seen.

I was even more suspicious when I started grilling the bread that an eggless French toast base could turn out to be authentic tasting. Without egg in the mixture, the bread seemed more delicate; like it could rip more easily. It seemed to take longer to brown and I was suspicious that the middle of the bread wouldn’t be cooked.

After a few pics were taken, we sat around the table with some non-vegan butter (I don’t have any vegan butter in the house right now) and the fancy new maple syrup I bought Dad for Christmas and marveled at how amazing the vegan French toast tasted. There’s no way I would have eye-balled the dish as vegan if I hadn’t been the one to make it and know what ingredients were used. It simply tasted just like traditional French toast made with egg.

While I am not a strict vegan or even a part-time vegan, it’s nice to find vegan recipes I love. Especially because I recently did a food sensitivity test that advised me that I’m apparently highly sensitive to eggs! (And peanuts, soy, apples and Vodka…)

ingredients.

6 slices day-old bread, sliced about ¾-inch thick (you want bread that has structure and will hold up when soaked with liquid)
1 c. non-dairy milk (I used macadamia nut milk)
1 T. maple syrup (or agave)
2 T. millet flour (can sub whole wheat; I had millet on hand)
1 T. nutritional yeast
1 tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
tiny pinch of salt
coconut oil or vegan shortening, for the pan
vegan butter, powdered sugar, granulated sugar, maple syrup, fresh fruit, coconut whipping cream, etc., for serving

directions.

In a small bowl, whisk together the non-dairy milk, maple syrup, flour, nutritional yeast, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
Place the bread in a shallow dish or pan. Pour the mixture over the bread, then flip the bread over to make sure both sides are evenly coated.
Heat a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add some coconut oil or vegan shortening to the pan and swirl it around to coat the bottom of the pan. When the pan is hot, add the bread slices and cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side, until golden brown. Serve immediately with your favorite French toast accompaniments. (I grew up eating French toast with butter and granulated sugar.)