Banana French Toast

[Avesha]

Amazing!
This made 6 thick slices of french toast off of a locally made loaf of french bread.
Super Yummy and a wonderful substitute for the eggy french toast of our youth!

I made some changes though in an effort to get rid of the oil & add some more flavors. Here's what I did:

1 ripe banana, mashed
2/3 c soymilk
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon

[IlansterMonster]

Really good rendition of french toast. I took avesha's advice to omit the oil (too heavy in the morning for me) and used 1/4C  unsweetened vanilla almond milk mixed with some cinnamon and ginger and half of a banana. I let the bread sit for about a minute each side and it still never really got "caramelized" completely, but it was yummy none the less. Plus it was probably my fault since I didnt use oil.
I think next time I will try to puree some almond milk with the banana in a blender or something and try it that way to see if the bread "hardens" up a bit more when its in the pan. Mushy bread or not, this was delicious and quick.

[QueenHoneyB]

I would suggest not trying this unless you have a good nonstick pan!  Banana sticks to cast iron

[veganveggiegirl]

This was sooo good!  It has become a favorite - almost my DH says, better than his favorite pancakes, which are a whole lot more work.  I ran the banana, some soymilk, vanilla & cinnamon in the blender for a few seconds, then dipped the bread in and let it soak 30 seconds or so, and cooked in some Earth Balance margarine.  Served with fresh sliced bananas and toasted chopped walnuts.  mmmmmmmmm!

[michelle1225]

I was very disappointed with this recipie, everything sticks to the pan and it was a nonstick teflon pan which I sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.  The batter was not good at all.

[SadieBeth]

I am kind of this huge grouch in the morning when it comes to frying things and them sticking, but I was really intrigued by the banana aspect so I looked up some other recipes and, along with these and that recipe's comments made this kind of chimera.  I based it off this recipe and http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baked-French-Toast-2/Detail.aspx:

I sliced some whole wheat bread 1"-1.5" thick then in half to make six total pieces and toasted them lightly.  After dipping the bread in the batter (I added a 1/2 t of freshly ground cardamom and a t of lemon juice), I placed it in a greased 9x13 Pyrex baking dish and put them in the fridge overnight (that's why the lemon juice, not sure if it did anything.)  Then in the morning I put them in for 20 minutes at 350.  I prepped a little syrup:

3T Earth Balance
1/2 cup sugar (I would reduce this significantly next time and bake longer)
2 T maple syrup
I heated this until the crystals dissolved, about 2 minutes before the 20 minutes was up.  Then I flipped over the bread and poured on the sauce, and baked another 10 minutes until a crunchy crust formed.

I really liked the batter for this particular use.  I think the banana was really pleasant, and worked very well "instead" of egg.  A lot of times we make recipes and act like what I call a "vegan apologist" and have to say "well, this is almost like the conventional kind...."  I think this is not the case here, Jenna, and you've actually come up with something that makes the recipe better than the conventional.  You made a significant improvement!

[SnowQueen690]

This was really good.  It did stick to the pan, the banana just carmalized.  I will difinately have this again.

[Emma Nicole]

This was a good starting point, but I made some variations and it turned out amazing:

banana, mashed
about 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla soymilk
2 tbsp. whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
whole wheat bread
tbsp. Earth Balance

I ended up using a lot of Earth Balance, so that may have been why it tasted so good.  However, it didn't stick to the pan (also used non-stick pan) and tasted great on its own or with Grade B Maple Syrup!