Wake up to this gluten free Vegan French Toast that is smothered in a Fresh Strawberry Sauce. The perfect healthy-ish 9 ingredient brunch recipe!
I am a true believer that the true secret to the best French toast is in the batter. Bread is important. Maple syrup is paramount, but without good batter, our French Toast will never reach stardom.
And we take our batter Verrrrrrrry seriously around here.
This Vegan French Toast batter is so delicious, I may, or may not, totally completely, all of the time, possibly lick it off the spoon. A good batter will soak into the french toast and give the inside a custard-y texture. It will caramelize the outside of the bread for those amazing crispy edges, because what is life even without those crispy bits.
So we call on some of our true favorite and time-tested ingredients to make the perfect Vegan French Toast batter:
First, we reach for a can of coconut milk. The full fat kind. The coconut milk gives the batter nice body and really soaks into the bread. Bananas and coconut sugar
help our Vegan French Toast to caramelize while it cooks for a golden brown crispy edge finish. Cinnamon
adds some gourmet flavor and sweetness.
One last tip for winning Vegan French Toast: Use stale bread.
Fact: If your bread is dry, it will soak in more of the batter. If you don't have stale bread, take your fresh slices straight into a 350 degree oven. No baking tray needed, just slip them right onto the rack. Then bake them for 10 minutes per side or until they are dry dry dry to the touch.
Then slide them into our velvety smooth batter and let them soak it in for 20 whole minutes. If you are tempted to skip this bathing step, I will let you decide. It is your Vegan French Toast on the line, not mine. But I will tell you that this long soak is 100% non optional in my brunching house. This is where the magic happens. The bread needs its sweet time to soak in our batter, and when give the time to soak, our Vegan French Toast is light, fluffy, and custard-y inside. It transforms from the kind of French Toast that tastes like sweet grilled bread to the kind of French Toast that tastes like grilled bread pudding. In the best of all ways.
A tower of flavor.
Vegan French Toast with Fresh Strawberry Sauce
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Cuisine: gluten-free, vegan
Description
Wake up to this gluten free Vegan French Toast that is smothered in a Fresh Strawberry Sauce. The perfect health-ish 9 ingredient brunch recipe!
Ingredients
- 1 can full fat coconut milk
- 1 ripe banana (, peeled)
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 8 slices bread ((gluten-free if needed))
- Coconut oil for cooking
For the berry sauce:
- 2 cups chopped strawberries
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- Pinch salt
For serving:
- Seasonal fruits
- Maple Syrup
Instructions
- Add the coconut milk, banana, coconut sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon into a blender. Blend until smooth. Pour into a 9x11 baking dish.
- Add in the bread slices and turn them to completely coat. Let sit for 20 minutes to let the bread absorb the batter.
- While the bread is soaking, add the strawberries, maple syrup, and salt into a bowl. Using a pastry cutter, mash the berries until they release their juices and are soft with chunks of strawberries still in tact. If you don't have a pastry cutter, pulse the berries in a food processor until you achieve the same texture.
- Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add in enough coconut oil to thinly cover the pan when melted. Add in as many bread slices as you can fit, without the French toast overlapping. Cook on each side until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. If you are cooking the French toast in batches, preheat the oven to its lowest setting. Place the finished French toast straight onto the oven racks until you are ready to serve. This keeps the French toast warm and keeps them from getting soggy.
- Serve the French toast topped with fresh strawberry sauce, maple syrup and seasonal fruit.
Notes
The Fresh Strawberry Sauce can be made using any soft seasonal fruit. Berries, cherries, peaches, or apricots would all work well!
This looks so beautiful and yummy and amazing!!! Great idea!
★★★★★
Thank you!!!
Yeah that batter does sound incredible! actually the whole concept of this dish sounds incredible. This is truly an impressive recipe, Kudos to you!
Thank you so much Albert!
Hi Laurel! Your french toast looks so yummy! Love the purple flowers in your photos, they make everything look so pretty!
Thank you Alia!
Do you have any recommendations for substituting bananas? I have an allergy. Thank you
Hi Sonja! I would substitute this banana-free recipe for the french toast, then keep the strawberry sauce as written. Happy French Toast-ing!