Easy Vegan French Toast with Caramelized Bananas and Walnuts
If you’re looking for a decadently healthy, easy vegan French toast recipe…look no further than this Caramelized Banana and Walnut French Toast! Just 11 ingredients and 30 minutes to make, it’s high in fibre and SO satisfying.
Sweet breakfasts and I have not always been an easy match. For one, I don’t like things too sweet. And secondly, I want to feel full and satisfied after a meal…and pancakes normally fill me up for like 30 minutes. So in order to create a vegan French toast I knew would satisfy myself AND my kids, I knew I would need to up my game.
I started with Sprouted Grain Squirrelly Bread from Silver Hills Bakery because sprouted grain breads are higher in filling plant-based protein and fibre than standard whole wheat breads. I’m excited to be partnering with Silver Hills Bakery (who sponsored this post) for a series of recipes this year as I’ve been eating their sprouted grain breads a decade now!
Then, I upped the ante by caramelizing bananas and walnuts in a quick maple syrup caramel to make a cozy weekend favourite feel more like a fancy brunch (even if you eat it in your pyjamas!).
What is sprouted grain bread?
Most breads start out with the same ingredient: flour. Whole grain flours contain plenty of nutrition but because of their particle size, tend to create a fluffy loaf that raises blood sugars pretty quickly. True sprouted grain breads, on the other hand, are made without flour. Instead, the whole grains (in this case, wheat berries) are sprouted for three days before being crushed into a bread dough.
The result is a bread that is heartier than typical whole wheat breads, usually with more plant-based protein and fibre. Squirrelly bread specifically contains a whopping 10g of fibre in just two slices…more than a third of a woman’s daily fibre needs! The same two slices also have 12 grams of plant-based protein, making this easy vegan French toast recipe more filling while slowing the rise of your blood sugars…unless you go hard on the maple syrup. Of course, this recipe is so healthy that if you want to put the -ish in healthy-ish, go for it like a brunch rockstar.
How to make vegan French toast
It’s so easy to make vegan French toast…perhaps even easier than the original!
- First up, you need bread. Typically, day old bread is used as the crumb firms up to soak up more custard. Not necessary in this recipe!
- Then you need to make the custard, without eggs. I find that using a creamy plant-based milk such as unsweetened soy milk or oat milk works best. Then, I add a little bit of ground flax just to help thicken up the mixture when it cooks, along with flavourings – vanilla, cinnamon, sugar and salt.
- The last step is simply to dip and fry! With thinner breads, it’s important not to overstay your welcome in the dipping pool. For this recipe, all you need is a 2 second dip on each side and then it goes into the frying pan with a bit of coconut oil. About two minutes a side will get it nice and golden. Just be sure to carefully slip the spatula around the entire slice before flipping so the delicious golden crust doesn’t get left in the pan!
- Once you’ve loaded up your plate with toasty goodness, just add your favourite toppings. It could be as simple as non-dairy butter and some maple syrup but it’s definitely worth the 7 minutes it takes to make a little maple caramel bananas and walnuts. It will make an easy meal feel extra special!
Easy Vegan French Toast with Caramelized Bananas and Walnuts
Ingredients
French Toast
- 6 slices Silver Hills Sprouted Power Squirrelly bread
- 1 ½ cups unsweetened soy or oat milk
- 2 tablespoons ground flax
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cane sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch salt
- refined coconut oil or avocado oil, for frying
Caramelized bananas and walnuts
- 2 ripe but firm bananas, sliced into 1 cm slices
- ½ cup walnut halves or pieces
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon refined coconut oil
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch salt
Instructions
- Choose a shallow baking dish or glass container large enough to accommodate a bread slice. In the dish, mix together the oat milk, flax, vanilla, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Let sit for ten minutes.
- Heat a nonstick frying pan over medium heat and add about a teaspoon of coconut oil. Working 1 or 2 at a time, dip the bread in the milk mixture for 2 seconds a side and add to the frying pan. Fry until golden, about 2 minutes. Don’t fuss with the toast, as bread is soft once soaked.
- Carefully slide spatula around bottom of toast to flip it and cook for another 2 minutes. If toast is getting too dark, turn down heat slightly. To keep warm, place toast on a parchment-lined baking sheet in a 200 degree (100 degree C) oven until everything is cooked.
- Once all the toast is cooked, make the banana walnut caramel. Add coconut oil and maple syrup to the same skillet over medium, until it is bubbly (about 30 seconds). Then add walnut and banana slices in a single layer. Let cook, for about 5 minutes, until mixture reduces and thickens, flipping bananas occasionally so they get even colour on both sides. Remove from heat.
- Serve 2-3 slices of toast per person, topped with bananas and walnuts and extra maple syrup on the side.
