Vegan French Toast (Using Aquafaba)
I should really be studying for my exams on Monday and Tuesday, but this is more fun. My summer classes will come to an end on Tuesday, August 4th and I will get to have almost 3 whole weeks of summer vacation! Hopefully I can get out and do everything that I had planned on this summer in the span of 3 weeks. There’s this place called Cloud 9 around here that is basically a giant trampoline playground type thing and I’ve been dying to go for over a year, but haven’t been, so that’s on my summer list. Taking Rory camping, going to the beach, traveling, all kinds of things I want to do! Get ready for the adventures.
This week’s adventures included peach picking with a few pounds of blueberries thrown in because, why not? We ended up picking 101.5 pounds of peaches and 3 pounds of blueberries, which is the most amount of peaches we’ve ever picked at one time. We managed to pick them in about 15 minutes, which is about the time it took us to pick 63 pounds last year. This year was a little different though because we were constantly being attacked by flies and we were picking as fast as we could, running between trees. Oh, and if you’re wondering, yes we managed to fit all of this in my little tiny smart car.
We (actually just my mom because she started without me) are in the process of freezing all of the peaches now and I’m pretty sure we are just going to need another freezer. Last year we just froze all the peaches in mason jars and that turned out being a pain in the butt. While it is much easier to just slice the peaches and throw them into jars, then into the freezer, it’s also a lot harder to get the peaches out of the jars. This year I told her we are just going to have to suck it up and freeze the peaches on trays and then put them in freezer bags for easier access in the future.
Also another thing that happened this week: I turned in my letter and am now officially employed as the Nutrition Education Assistant in Student Health Services Health Promotion at my new school, which I am actually so excited about I haven’t stopped talking about it.
Anyway, onto the reason you’re probably reading this post- the french toast recipe. I actually made this for the first time over a month ago, but I decided it needed another trial before actually publishing the recipe. Unfortunately, that second trial didn’t happen until now. Oops!
The first time I made this, we all sat down for dinner, took a bite, and our eyes lit up. It was honestly the best vegan french toast I’ve ever had, and I’ve tried a number of different vegan french toast’s. Even from restaurants! While it does seem a little odd to use bean brine for french toast, you really can’t even taste it at all. It’s also a little less weird if you use homemade aquafaba by cooking your own chickpeas and reserving the water because then you know there aren’t any funky ingredients that may have slipped in. Plus, would you rather eat bread soaked in eggs or pretty much just water? That’s all aquafaba really is after all- the water the chickpeas sat in. Nothing more.
I always make my own bread for french toast because it just tastes so much better, but you don’t have to. Any store-bought loaf of bread should work as long as it is cut into thick slices. We used to buy a loaf of french bread or Italian bread. Serve it with some vegan butter, fresh fruit, and pure maple syrup and it is heavenly!
Vegan French Toast
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
- 1 Loaf French Bread (or another bread) cut into 1/2 inch thick slices (about 18-19 slices not including the ends)
- 1 Cup + 2 Tablespoons Aquafaba
- 1/2 Cup + 1 Tablespoon Non-Dairy Milk (preferably a thick one like soy milk)
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1/8 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- Up to 1 Tablespoon Sugar (optional)
- Maple Syrup for topping
- Fresh Fruit
- Vegan Butter and/or Oil for cooking and serving*
Directions
Preheat your skillet over medium-low heat while you prepare the ingredients. In a small bowl, combine the aquafaba, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and optional sugar. Once the pan is hot, dip a piece of the bread into the batter, coating it on all sides, and let it sit for just a few seconds. Remove the bread from the batter and allow excess batter to drip off before placing it into the pan. Depending on how big your pan is, you can cook multiple pieces at the same time. Cook each piece for 1-2 minutes on each side until lightly browned. Repeat with the rest of the slices of bread. To keep the french toast warm while I continue cooking, I put all the slices on one plate and cover them with foil. You could also keep them warm in the oven, just like you would pancakes.
Notes
*When I make this in a non-stick skillet, I don’t usually use any butter or oil, but it definitely helps prevent sticking (even though it’s a not stick pan, it does stick a little bit). If you’re using a regular pan, you will definitely need some form of vegan butter or oil.
Enjoy!
-Hunter