Soo who doesn’t LOVE french toast?!  Well I do – like i’m sure many of you out there also do!

French toast is soft, fluffy and SUPER TASTY….. BUT can be very rich and FULL of calories….. So I have come up with 2 D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S recipes that are less calories than traditional sugary and eggy french toast, healthier for you BUT NOT lacking in flavor! Plus they are vegan for all you health conscious or vegan lovers out their!

My first recipe is a crunchy pecan, sweet banana and oak-y maple syrup french toast, topped with some creamy and crunchy dollops of peanut butter. My second recipe is a slightly lighter ‘bursting with berries’ french toast with drizzles of honey, fresh berries of your choice (would even be amazing with some homemade coulis), and some smooth almond butter for extra flavor and protein.

So lets get started…………………….

The first thing that I would say is to make your bread ‘stale’. You can really use any bread of choice here, but in my recipe I simply used some sliced seeded bread, but this is amazing with thick crusty white bread or sourdough as well! (A thicker bit is better) To make your bread ‘stale’ and dry out, you just need to dehydrate it. To do this, I toasted my bread in the oven at 150 degrees for 30 minutes the night before. Once the bread was dry, I just put it in a bowl and kept it in the bread bin overnight to dry out even more – you could just keep yours in the oven (when its off of course). This procedure will make your toast nice and dry and perfect to soak up all the delicious french toast moisture without falling apart!

Pecan, Banana and Maple Syrup French Toast (serves 2)

• 1 1/2 cups of vanilla soya milk (or normal soya milk with a tbsp of vanilla extract)
• 1 tsp of cinnamon
• A pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp of pure maple syrup (or coconut sugar)
• 1/2 tsp of nutmeg 
• 1 flax egg (1 tbsp of flaxseed soaked in 5 tbsp of water for 30 minutes)
• 1/2 a mashed banana
• 3 pieces of stale bread per person (6 in total)

Toppings

• A whole banana sliced per person ( 2 in total)
  
• A handful of chopped pecans
• Pure maple syrup for serving 
• 1-2 tbsp of peanut butter per person (optional)

First you will need to make the flax egg and let it rest for a few minutes whilst you prepare the rest of the ingredients. Mix the banana and flax egg together. Add the milk, cinnamon, salt, maple syrup and nutmeg to a seal-able container that can be shaken, and shake up to mix the ingredients together. Once the flax egg is ready, add it to the mashed banana and mix; THEN add that to the container with the other ingredients, and SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE it all up until it is all mixed up.

Once it is mixed, add it to a tray, and place in your bread for soaking. I soaked mine for 2 minutes each side. Whilst the bread is soaking, add some butter (or vegan spread) to 2 frying pans, both on a medium to low heat, and let the pans heat up and melt the butter. Once the pans are nice and hot, add three pieces of soaked toast to each and cook slowly until each side looks golden brown (for around 5 minutes on each side) — this really depends on the heat of your stove – I have a induction hob and had my heat setting at 5/6.

-Note- If you only have 1 pan big enough, just cook one batch and when they are cooked, place them in a very low oven (100 degrees)

Once all the toast is cooked, you are ready to serve! Plate up 3 toasts per person, top with some freshly sliced banana, chopped pecans, and drizzle with a good serving of pure maple syrup (plus some peanut butter for serving if you like).

‘Bursting with Berries’ French Toast with Almond Butter (serves 2)

• 1 1/2 cups of almond milk 
• 1 tbsp of vanilla extract
• 1 heaped tsp of cinnamon 
• A pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp of nutmeg 
• 1 tbsp almond butter
• 1 chia egg (1 tbsp of chia seeds soaked in 5 tbsp of water for 30 minutes)
• 2-3 pieces of stale bread per person

Toppings

• A cup of fresh berries of your choice
  
• 2 tbsp of drizzled almond butter 
• Maple syrup for serving

First you will need to make ‘stale’ bread (See my instructions above). Then you will need to make the chia egg. You do this buy soaking a tbsp of the seeds in 5 tbsp of water and let is soak for 5-10 minutes until you have a gloopy thick mixture (similar to a gel). Once the chia seeds are soaking… add the milk, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, almond butter, and nutmeg to a blender and blend until it is all mixed together and smooth. Once ready, add the chia egg to a seal-able container (a tall one that can be shaken), add in the blended mixture, and shake it all up to mix in the chia egg. 

Once it is all mixed, add it to a tray and mix in some more fresh cinnamon (1 tsp), and place in your bread for soaking (similarly to the previous recipe, I soaked mine for 2 minutes on each side)

Whilst the bread is soaking, add some butter (or vegan spread) to 2 frying pans, both on a medium to low heat, and let the pans heat up and melt the butter. Once the pans are nice and hot, add three pieces of soaked toast to each and cook slowly until each side looks golden brown (for around 5 minutes on each side) — Again like the previous recipe states… this really depends on the heat of your stove – I have a induction hob and had my heat setting at 5/6.

Once all the toast is cooked, you are ready to serve!

Plate up 3 toasts per person, top with some fresh berries of your choice, some almond butter and maple syrup (You could even make some delicious fruit berry compote and top your toast with that). Now you are ready to dive in and enjoy!! 🙂

---

If you liked this recipe please don’t forget to subscribe to my blog to get updates on all my new posts, from delicious recipes like this, to food travel blogging and restaurant recommendations/critiques.

 Love Kitchen Olivia xx