Bryanna Clark Grogan’s Vegan Feast Kitchen/ 23rd Century Table

My husband requested French toast for Sunday breakfast last weekend (I was out of ideas and asked him what would be a nice change from our usual tofu scramble).  Thinking on it, I decided to go with French Toast and make a simple, very low-sugar blueberry sauce to top it off, since I have a big bag of the berries in the freezer.

Now, lately I've been making French toast with Follow Your Heart/Earth Island VeganEgg, and, before that was available, I used TheVegg, which is no longer available in Canada.  The VeganEgg is good, but expensive in my area, so I decided to go back to my old tried-and-true French toast batter made with simple, inexpensive products that I always have in my house, and I'm pretty sure that most vegans have available.

Well, we enjoyed this just as well as the recipes using the more expensive options, so I think I'll stick with this easy and inexpensive recipe.


Printable Version

REVIVING MY OLD INEXPENSIVE VEGAN FRENCH TOAST RECIPE, WITH 3 COOKING METHODS AND VERY LOW-SUGAR BLUEBERRY SAUCE
Serves 2-3  

Ingredients:
6 slices slightly stale bread of choice (I use sprouted wheat or multi-grain bread, such as Silver Hills brand.)
BATTER:
1 cup non-dairy milk, such as soy, nut or oat milk
6 T. more vegan milk plus 2 T. lemon juice (OR 1/2 cup orange juice)
1 T. whole golden flax seeds
2 tsp. powdered egg replacer (Ener-G Egg Replacer or Orgran No Egg™ Egg Replacer are easy to find.)
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract or paste
1/4 tsp. salt OR kala namak (aka black salt) for a more eggy flavor and aroma
A few gratings of nutmeg
OPTIONAL: 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. grated orange or lemon zest
BLUEBERRY SAUCE:
3 cups frozen blueberries, thawed
1 1/2 T. vegan sugar
2 tsp. cornstarch dissolved in 1 T. water
OPTIONAL:
2-4 tsp. grated orange or lemon zest


METHOD:
Blend together the batter ingredients in a blender until smooth. Soak the bread slices in this mixture in a 9 x 13” shallow baking pan. Turn the slices over a few times to make sure they are evenly soaked.

Baking:
Preheat the oven to 500°F. Place the soaked slices on a nonstick or lightly-oiled DARK cookie sheet (dark pans brown better). Spray the tops with a little bit of oil from a pump sprayer, too. Bake 10 minutes in the bottom third of the oven (use convection, if you have it), then turn and bake about 5 minutes more, or until golden brown and a bit crispy on the underside.



Using an Electric Skillet:
This is my new favorite method, as it is an energy saver.  I have a rectangular electric skillet that I found in a second-hand shop-- similar to this one:  



It works wonderfully for pancakes and French Toast, and many other dishes, though I bought it originally to simmer batches seitan cutlets, etc.. Set the temperature of your skillet to High or 400°F.  Spray the pan with oil and carefully add all 6 of the soaked pieces of bread to the skillet, if it's a large one-- otherwise you will have to cook them in two batches.  When the undersides are nicely browned, turn the bread slices over and cook until that side is also browned.  Serve immediately with the Blueberry sauce (below) or your favorite toppings, such as maple syrup.

Using a Skillet on the Stovetop: This is basically the same as the Electric Skillet Method above, except that you will need a couple of stovetop skillets (well-seasoned cast iron, if possible, or whatever is your favorite), and you will have to adjust the heat as you go, so that the toast doesn't get browned too fast, without cooking the interior properly.

WHILE THE FRENCH TOAST IS BAKING OR PAN-FRYING, make the simple Blueberry Sauce. Mix all of the sauce ingredients in a saucepan and stir over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbly; OR microwave in a medium, deep microwave-safe bowl (deep in order to avoid splashes) for about 2 minutes, or until thickened and bubbly. Serve hot over the French Toast.

NOTE: I used to do my nutritional facts on Living Cookbook, but they just disappeared, with all my recipes on it (fortunately I keep copies in my  files online and off).  I have not found a satisfactory substitute yet, so I'm using https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076 for the time being.

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 3
Amount per serving
Calories	387
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 6.8g	9%
Saturated Fat 0.8g	4%
Cholesterol 0mg	0%
Sodium 564mg	25%
Total Carbohydrate 69.3g	25%
Dietary Fiber 13.2g	47%
Total Sugars 27g
Protein 14.4g
Vitamin D 0mcg	0%
Calcium 56mg	4%
Iron 3mg	18%
Potassium 448mg	10%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet.2,000 calorie a day is used for general nutrition advice.
Recipe analyzed by

Enjoy!

Aquafaba, in case you somehow haven't heard of it by now, is the viscous broth from canned or cooked chickpeas and it makes an excellent egg substitute in baking.  (It is so-named because the terms "bean juice" and "brine" just didn't sound appetizing to most of the posters on the facebook page mentioned in the next paragraph.) Use about 3 tablespoons per average egg, or 1/4 cup for a large egg (you don't have to whip it for this use-- just use in its liquid form).  This use for aquafaba as an egg replacer in baking was first posted by author/blogger, vegan cook extraordinaire Somer McCowan here. I've used it successfully in cornbread, too.

If you are unfamiliar with aquafaba egg or egg white replacer, see the Facebook page Vegan Meringue- Hits and Misses! There are about 8,000 enthusiastic members, eagerly discussing the applications, possibilities and  limitations of this seemingly magic liquid that can be whipped into a meringue. There you will find recipes files for meringues, macaroons, pavlovas, nougat, whipped toppings, etc., a;; made with this miraculous elixir! And you will be amazed!

My humble contribution to the files on that Facebook page is how to make your own aquafaba that is viscous enough to whip up nicely like egg whites, or to use in liquid form as a whole egg substitute in baking, and how to store it in usable portions for recipes.


I have not really explored the meringue much yet, since we are not eating many desserts of late-- I'll wait until the next birthday or holiday to experiment!  However, I made some muffins for company earlier this week and worked from an egg-based recipe to devise a low-fat, whole grain vegan muffin that was not only delicious, but moist and tender. They didn't last very long!


Printable Copy

BRYANNA'S MOIST & TENDER LOWFAT WHOLE GRAIN VEGAN MAPLE OATMEAL MUFFINS (WITH AQUAFABA EGG REPLACER)
Yield: 12

Only 2 tablespoons of oil in this recipe for 12 good-sized muffins!

COOKING TIP: Pastry flour makes a more tender muffin, especially in a recipe like this, using very little fat.  You can use white whole wheat pastry flour, if you like-- it's made from white wheat.  But the color of this muffin is brown due to the maple syrup, so ordinary whole wheat pastry flour is just fine.

Dry Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat *pastry* flour (see Cooking tip above)
1 cup quick oats
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp (rounded)  ground nutmeg
Wet Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups unsweetened smooth applesauce
2/3 cup maple syrup (preferably Grade B-- it has more maple flavor)
1/4 cup (4 Tbs)  aquafaba (the broth from cooking chickpeas or drained from canned chickpeas-- see text above) NOTE: No need to whip the aquafaba for this type of recipe-- use in liquid form.
2 Tbs oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Additional Ingredients:
2/3 cup raisins, dried cranberries OR dairy-free chocolate chips
2/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (Optional)
PS:  Feel free to add your own combinations of Additional Ingredients.

1. Set the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.  Oil  a 12-cup muffin pan (or use cake release-- here's my homemade palm oil-free, non-hydrogenated cake release recipe).

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the Dry Ingredients.

3. In a deep pitcher or bowl, mix together the Wet Ingredients and whisk by hand or blend with an immersion/stick blender for several minutes, or until bubbly.

4. Pour the Wet Ingredients into the Dry Ingredients and mix together just until the batter is moistened-- do not over-mix.  (A Danish dough whisk is excellent for this job and other batters which should not be stirred too much.)

5. Add any Additional Ingredients you are using and fold gently into the batter.

This batch was made with chocolate chips and walnuts

6. Divide the batter between the 12 muffin cups (using a gently rounded 1/3 cup measure).  Bake for 20 minutes.

7. Place the muffin pan on a cooling rack and loosen the muffins with a table knife, setting them gently on their sides in the pan to cool.


8. Serve warm.

NOTE: The nutrition facts for this recipe were calculated (with Living Cookbook recipe software) using raisins and walnuts. If you use chocolate chips or dried cranberries instead of raisins, the calories and fat will be a bit higher. If you omit the nuts, you will save almost 50 calories and several grams of fat.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per muffin): 244 calories, 63 calories from fat, 7.4g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 201.6mg sodium, 344.4mg potassium, 42.8g carbohydrates, 4.3g fiber, 16.5g sugar, 5.2g protein.

Orgran "No Egg" egg replacer meringues with melted vegan chocolate and pecans!

When I went to my local health food store, Edible Island, in Courtenay, BC last week, I spotted an item that was new to the store-- Orgran "No Egg", an Australian brand of egg replacer that I had heard of but never been able to try. I had read that it will whip up to an almost-stiff peak like beaten egg whites. Up until now, I had only been able to achieve that with Ener-G Egg Replacer, and I have been wanting to try Orgran because it is more readily available outside of North America. So I bought a box and I checked out their website.

One of their recipes caught my eye-- crunchy baked meringues. I decided to give it a try. Not that I ever indulged in them that much as a non-vegan, but many people love them. They are sort of a sweet, blank canvas for fruit, etc, as with the  Pavlova, beloved in New Zealand and Australia.

UPDATE: THIS RECIPE WORKS WITH ENER-G EGG REPLACER POWDER!

I wasn't quite sure about the "citrus pectin", but I went to our little local general store to see what they had. All the had was "light pectin" for canning, so I bought a little packet. (After further research, I see that you can buy "modified citrus pectin", but it is very expensive--it seems to be used for everything from the effects of radiation treatment to arthritis-- and the cheap the canning pectin seemed to work!)

It's a simple recipe and is baked pretty much the same way that egg white meringues are baked. The results in their photo looked great, but I wasn't sure what to expect. In any case, I followed their recipe, using my canning pectin. I also wasn't sure what they meant by "pure powdered sugar", but I just used organic powdered sugar.

Here were the results after beating for 10 minutes:


It fluffed up tremendously! It made ALOT of fluff!

After baking them as directed for 2 hours at 250 degrees F, and letting them try out in the turned-off oven with the door cracked open, I was rewarded with 2 trays of lovely, crunchy meringues!



They were airy and crunchy and slightly chewy in the middle, as they should be, but I didn't think they were quite sweet enough. I think I'll use more powdered sugar next time, although there might be a structural reason for using less sugar-- you never know until you try!

We ate them with strawberries on top:



And we ate them with chocolate and pecans:



They kept well and didn't get soft.  I'll experiment a bit more and post again. As I said before, it was not something I longed for, and it doesn't contribute anything in the way of nutrition (it is fat-free, though), but meringue is the basis of many beloved desserts, so, it's worth finding a vegan recipe that works even if you only use it on occasion! I want to see if this recipe will work with Ener-G Egg Replacer (UPDATE-- it does!), and I want to use it as the basis of some cookies with coconut, etc..

Al the best!