Vegan French Toast
This dairy free and egg free vegan french toast recipe is crisp on the outside, custardy on the inside, and totally delicious! Enjoy with your favorite toppings for the perfect breakfast. Gluten free, too!
Vegan french toast is one of my absolute favorite breakfasts (and breakfast for dinner) recipes. Thick bread like brioche or challah is soaked in a rich batter of plant milk, vanilla, and chickpea flour before being pan fried into pure deliciousness.
This recipe is dairy free, egg free, nut free, and is even gluten free friendly!
Ingredients
Here is a quick rundown of what you’ll need to make this vegan french toast. For the full list of ingredients, complete with measurements, please see the recipe card below.
- Bread: Day old vegan brioche, vegan challah, or vegan sandwich bread makes for the best french toast. Having it be a day old allows for the bread to really soak up the batter and make a custard like inside. You can use any homemade bread or store-bought bread that you love.
- Plant Milk: I typically have unsweetened and unflavored soy milk that I use in all my recipes, but your favorite plant based milk will also work here. Almond milk, rice milk, oat milk, or even coconut milk. Just keep it unflavored so that the added vanilla can shine through.
- Chickpea flour: No, this won’t make it taste like beans! The chickpea flour acts as the protein in this french toast and crisps up beautifully on the bread.
- Cornstarch: A bit of cornstarch helps to hold the batter together. You can substitute with tapioca starch.
- Vanilla Extract: I LOVE adding vanilla right to the batter. It gives the french toast a rich, decadent quality to it.
- Sugar: A touch of sugar helps the bread to get crispy on the outside and makes it a little sweet. You can use coconut sugar for a refined sugar free option.
- Salt: Just a pinch!
Substitutions & Variations
- Type of Bread: I love to use challah bread or brioche bread when making this because it is a rich, flavorful bread. Italian or French bread loaves also are great. And yes, you can totally use your favorite gluten free bread to make this a vegan and gluten free recipe!
- Plant Based Cream: To make this the ultimate in indulgence, replace half of the soy milk with an equal amount of your favorite plant based heavy cream. Coconut milk from the can in particular gives the french toast a rich and decadent texture. Just be aware that coconut milk will give the french toast a bit of a coconutty flavor!
- Chocolate French Toast: For my chocolate loving friends, try making this with some chocolate babka bread for breakfast that doubles as dessert!
- Stuffed French Toast: Taking a thick slice of bread, make a small slice on the side to create a pocket. Stuff it with your favorite jam, vegan cream cheese, peanut butter and banana slices, or some chocolate hazelnut spread (yum!).
Instructions
Make sure to check out the recipe card below for the full recipe and ingredient list.
Step One: Prepare the Batter
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the soy milk (or plant milk of choice) with the chickpea flour, cornstarch, vanilla, sugar, and a pinch of salt. I recommend a real whisk here as the ingredients don’t want to mix at first. Just keep whisking until they all combine.
Step Two: Dip the Bread
Grab a large flat bottomed baking sheet or baking pan and place the bread slices inside. You want to have nice, thick slices of bread so that they don’t get soggy in the milk mixture. Pour the batter over the slices of bread, allowing the bread to soak for a few minutes before flipping and soaking the other side. Keep the bread slices in a single layer so they have easy access to the batter for the best results.
Step Three: Cook
In a flat bottomed pan over medium heat, melt some vegan butter. Add the soaked bread slices one by one to the pan, allowing any extra batter to drip off. Don’t crowd the pan, give each slice some room.
Cook each side of the french toast until it is golden brown and crispy, about 3 to 5 minutes per side, depending on how thick the bread slices you have.
Flip the slices over and cook for another 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a serving plate, or a large plate covered with a clean kitchen towel as you repeat with more french toast slices until none remain.
Top with your favorite toppings and enjoy!!
FAQs about Vegan French Toast
What to Serve with French Toast
One of the best parts about french toast is that you can customize each slice in so many different ways! Here are some ideas on how to serve your french toast.
- Sweet Toppings: Classics like a drizzle of maple syrup, cinnamon sugar, a dusting of powdered sugar, or a heaping pile of whipped vegan cream with fresh berries.
- A Scoop of Ice Cream: To truly transform this into dessert, add a scoop of vegan vanilla ice cream. Drizzle chocolate sauce or vegan caramel sauce on top.
- Serve with Scrambled Tofu, a baked Vegan Quiche, or alongside Vegan Pancakes for a delicious brunch!
Top French Toast Tips
- Use stale bread. Using day old bread really does make a difference in the amount of batter that each slice is able to soak up. If you only have fresh bread available, you can toast it in the toaster on a low heat for about a minute to help dry out the bread. Alternatively, you can toast whole bread slices in a 300F/150C oven for about 15 minutes.
- Make sure the bread slices are not too thin. You want to have nice thick slices to soak up the batter and make the insides all custardy. If the slices are too thin, as they soak up the batter they can fall apart.
How to Store
Leftovers: Allow any leftovers to cool completely before placing in an airtight container and storing the french toast in the fridge. The cooked french toast will keep for up to 3 days.
Freezer: Allow the slices of french toast to cool completely. Take a freezer safe container and place a piece of parchment paper in between each slice of french toast. Store in the freezer for up to 1 month.
How to Reheat: You can reheat this french toast in the microwave, covered with a damp paper towel, in intervals of 30 seconds until warmed through. Additionally, you can reheat the french toast in the oven. Place the thawed or refrigerated slices of french toast on a parchment lined baking dish and bake at 375F/190C for 8 minutes or so.
Impressive Breakfast Recipes
I hope you love making this vegan french toast recipe! It has been my favorite breakfast and breakfast-for-dinner recipe for years and I’m so happy to be sharing it with you finally. I think it makes just the perfect french toast. Enjoy! 🙂
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Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- Whisk
- measuring cup
- Measuring spoons
- Cooking pan
- Spatula
Ingredients
- 8 slices bread ¾” thick 5 slices 1.5” thick bread
- 1 cup soy milk or other plant based milk
- ¼ cup chickpea flour
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- Pinch salt
Instructions
- Preheat the griddle or pan on the stove. Heat to medium heat.
- Make the batter. In a large bowl, whisk together the soy milk (or other plant based milk), with the chickpea flour, cornstarch, vanilla, sugar, and pinch of salt. It may not want to mix at first, but just keep whisking and it will combine.
- Soak the bread. Pour the batter over the slices of bread in either a large flat bottomed baking dish, or a sheet pan. Let the bread soak for 3 to 5 minutes per side. The longer it soaks, the more custardy the middles will become.
- Cook and serve. Shake off any extra batter and place the bread onto a lightly buttered pan and cook for 3 to 5 minutes per side. The thicker your bread the longer you will need for it to cook. You’ll know the french toast is done on one side when it is golden brown and easily can be flipped. Flip over and cook on the remaining side until browned, another 3 to 5 minutes. Repeat with the remaining bread until all the batter has been used. Depending on the size of your bread you can get anywhere from 5 to 10 slices of french toast. Serve with your choice of toppings and enjoy!
Notes
- How to Store
- Leftovers: Allow any leftovers to cool completely before placing in an airtight container and storing the french toast in the fridge. The cooked french toast will keep for up to 3 days.
- Freezer: Allow the slices of french toast to cool completely. Take a freezer safe container and place a piece of parchment paper in between each slice of french toast. Store in the freezer for up to 1 month.
- How to Reheat: You can reheat this french toast in the microwave, covered with a damp paper towel, in intervals of 30 seconds until warmed through. Additionally, you can reheat the french toast in the oven. Place the thawed or refrigerated slices of french toast on a parchment lined baking dish and bake at 375F/190C for 8 minutes or so.
- Substitutions & Variations
- Type of Bread: I love to use challah or brioche when making this because it is a rich, flavorful bread. Italian or French bread loaves also are great. And yes, you can totally use your favorite gluten free bread to make this a vegan and gluten free recipe!
- Plant Based Cream: To make this the ultimate in indulgence, replace half of the soy milk with an equal amount of your favorite plant based heavy cream. Coconut milk from the can in particular gives the french toast a rich and decadent texture. Just be aware that coconut milk will give the french toast a bit of a coconutty flavor!
- Chocolate French Toast: For my chocolate loving friends, try making this with some chocolate babka bread for breakfast that doubles as dessert!
- Stuffed French Toast: Taking a thick slice of bread, make a small slice on the side to create a pocket. Stuff it with your favorite jam, vegan cream cheese, peanut butter and banana slices, or some chocolate hazelnut spread (yum!).
Nutrition
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