Overnight French Toast

LOTS of maple syrup - I think I'm part elf!

Every year on Christmas morning, Brian and I make a special breakfast.  One year we made a French toast recipe* that you prepare the night before in a pan.  In the morning, you just pop it in the oven and bake.  It's so easy and incredibly delicious.  When I went vegan, I resigned myself to the idea that I would never eat my beloved overnight French toast again.  I just wasn't sure about veganizing it in a way that would work well and taste good.  

This year I figured I'd give it a try.  If it tasted awful we had a box of Cherrybrook Kitchen Gluten-Free Pancake and Waffle Mix in the cupboard as a back up.  While the French toast wouldn't win any beauty contests (and my photography leaves much to be desired), it actually tasted pretty darn good.  Quite delicious, actually!  I may make some adjustments next time and play around with using Ener-G egg replacer for some of the tofu.   Since it's just the two of us (and we had no idea if it would be edible), I halved the original recipe but it could easily be doubled and put into a 9x13 pan.

Overnight French Toast

(printable recipe)

Ingredients:

Non-stick cooking spray or 2 tbsp. melted margarine

1/4 cup brown sugar

cinnamon to taste

1 loaf raisin bread (I used Aunt Millie's)

1 block soft silken tofu, pureed in blender

2/3 cup vanilla soy milk (may sub regular and add 1/4-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract)

Directions:

1. Spray the bottom of an 8x8 metal or glass pan with non-stick spray or spread melted margarine over the bottom.  Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon.

2. Cut the crusts off the bread and fit into dish.  Cut some pieces in half to fill as much space as you can.  Make 2 layers.

3. Blend tofu and measure out 3/4 cup.  (Save the rest for another use.)  Mix in soy milk.  Add vanilla if using.  Pour mixture over bread.**  Cover and refrigerate overnight.

4. In the morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake covered for 25 minutes.  Remove cover and bake for 10 more minutes, until almost dry to the touch.  Serve with warm syrup.

Makes 2-3 servings.

NOTES:

*I first had the dish and got the recipe while on an overnight camping trip with Girl Scouts sometime in elementary school.  I don't know the original source to give proper credit.

**I used all but about 1/4 cup of mixture.  You can use any leftover liquid to make regular French toast the next day.