Vegan Banana French Toast with Blueberry Topping

It's freezing again in NY. Last Saturday, the weather was in the mid-70's and we were riding bikes in short sleeves and no jackets. This morning, however, when we got up to take Bella to the park, it was only 29 degrees out. So after freezing ourselves to death so that our dog could run and play freely, we were ready for a hearty, warm breakfast. We were ready for Banana French Toast!

I used the recipe for "Banana Rabanada" or Brazilian French Toast, from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Vegan Brunch. Isa never ceases to amaze me with her vegan recipe brilliance. Instead of soaking the bread in an egg mixture, this recipe calls for you to blend two ripe bananas with 1 1/2 cups of almond milk, 2 Tbsp. cornstarch, and 1 tsp. vanilla extract, then pour that mixture over one baguette cut into inch-thick slices, and soak about 10 minutes on each side. Regular French toast always kind of freaked me out, soaking your bread in that raw egg goop. You can enjoy the wonderful smell of this banana batter as much as you can enjoy the fact that it is salmonella-free.

After the bread had finished soaking, I fried it up in a pan with just a little Earth Balance until it was golden brown on both sides. I can't tell you how good and banana-y this smells when it's cooking.

Strange light happening in my kitchen this morning.

To go with the Banana French Toast, I made a simple blueberry topping by mixing a 16 oz. package of organic frozen blueberries (any type of berry, or mixture of berries would work) with 1/2 cup sugar, 1 Tbsp. arrowroot powder and 2 Tbsp. cold water. You just bring the mixture to a boil and cook it several minutes until it gets thick and the berries start to break down a bit. The recipe for this Whole Berry Sauce can also be found in Vegan Brunch.

To serve, I buttered the toast with some Earth Balance, spooned the blueberry sauce over the top, then sprinkled with a dusting of powdered sugar mixed with cinnamon. Ok, and then I topped it with some maple syrup too. And I also had some vegan sausage on the side, but I was going to leave that part out so I wouldn't sound like such a pig. Anyway, this French toast recipe was truly amazing. The appearance and texture was exactly like "real" or non-vegan French toast, except better! It got nice and golden-crisped on the outside, and the inside was still soft, almost custardy, but not in that eggy (i.e. salmonella-ridden) way. It actually brought to mind a really good banana bread pudding I once had, which made me think that this could easily be served as a dessert with a dollop of non-dairy whipped cream on top. Now I know what to do with those leftover slices!