When my family and I first headed down the plant-based trail, I would scour my local Natures Emporium for vegan finds, and one of my favourite discoveries was a French Toast mix. Like a pancake mix, all you had to do was add milk and voila, you had a batter to coat your bread in. It was such a good find that I would take it with me camping and on trips overseas, so I could enjoy egg-free French Toast anywhere. Then came the dreaded day when my store stopped carrying the mix and I was left to figure out how the heck I was going to make my delicious breakfast treat! I remembered that chickpea flour was the first ingredient, so I set out to make my own version that would be just as quick and easy as my trusty mix. After a few tries I got the milk, flour, spice ratio just right and I had quick, easy, perfect French Toast every time!
Chickpea Flour – This flour is a wonderful replacement for egg and it is easy to find in most supermarkets. It also goes by the name of garbanzo bean flour, gram flour and besan. Being a flour it will keep for a long time in the pantry, ready to use whenever you get that French Toast craving.
Plant milk – My go to milk for baking is soy because of its high protein content. I find that it behaves the most like dairy milk, but sometimes I like to switch it up and use Almond milk. Oat milk is also a good substitute, I have used all three of them with success.
Vanilla – My mother always told me, if you are going to splurge on one baking ingredient then it should be vanilla. There is really no comparison to the real stuff. You only need a little to get a great impact of flavour, so that tiny bottle does go a long way.
Pumpkin Spice – This spice adds a warm comforting flavour to the toast that no other spice on its own can, but if you don’t have any on hand, then a teaspoon of cinnamon is a good substitute.
Black Salt – Aka Kala Namak, Himalayan Black Salt or Indian Black Salt. It’s a vegan pantry must have if you want to make egg-free dishes that have that eggy flavour. It has traces of sulfates, sulfides, iron and magnesium, all of which contribute to the colour and taste of this originally pink Himalayan salt. This salt has a pungent sulfurous odor that gives the recipe that eggy smell and taste.
Turmeric – Adding this spice to the batter gives it a golden yellow colour just like eggs. It is also great as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, so adding it does the body good.
French Toast
Ingredients
batter
¼ cup chickpea flour
1 cup plant milk
1 tbsp vanilla
1 tsp pumpkin spice
¼ tsp black salt
¼ tsp turmeric
toast
6 slices of bread
6 tbsp non-dairy butter
Maple syrup
Fresh or frozen fruit
Instructions
1. Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until completely blended 30-60 seconds.
2. Pour into a shallow dish and dip bread until coated on each side
3. Melt 1 tsp of butter per piece of bread and cook each slice of bread in fry pan on medium heat until golden brown on both sides.
4. Serve with maple syrup and fresh fruit
Enjoy!
**Tips**
- French toast is a good way to use up stale bread, so don’t be afraid to cut up that day-old baguette or use the last slices in that loaf that has been sitting around for a couple days.
- If you don’t have fresh fruit on hand but have frozen berries, just warm a cup of them in a small sauce pan with a teaspoon of maple syrup and voila you have a simple berry compote.
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