This vegan baked french toast is made with bread slices slathered in banana batter and baked over a walnut crust.

It’s official: if you come to my house for brunch, this is what I’ll be serving you. I loosely decided that as soon as I popped this in the oven. I confirmed it as soon as I took a bite.

Brunch is tricky. See, in theory it’s great and all, and going out to brunch is always a good time, but serving brunch is deceptively tricky. I realized this recently after starting on a bit of a brunch phase. I decided that since I really love cooking dinner for friends and family, and since I really love brunch, perhaps more than dinner, it would be the best idea ever to start having people over for brunch. Now, it’s not so much that this isn’t true…it’s just complicated.

First, if you’re cooking vegan, you’ve got to consider how your guests will take that. The food may be absolutely delicious, but I’ve got at least a few loved ones who will turn their noses up at the mere mention of tofu, regardless of the fact that said tofu is smothered in savory beans, avocados and salsa (I’m talking about this post, in case you were wondering).

Second, getting your butt out of bed on a Sunday morning to prepare a feast is hard. I value my sleeping-in, reading in bed, lazily sipping coffee all morning time. Brunch can be a lot of work, therefore really cutting into those lazy, treasured Sunday mornings.

This recipe solves both of those problems. Yes, it’s vegan, but totally not scary to non-vegans, like tofu might be. (If you’ve got a non-vegan in your life that’s afraid of bananas…well let’s just say it’s time to reevaluate your decision to prepare any type of meal for that person.) As far as cutting into your sleep-in time, this recipe doesn’t do it! It’s so incredibly quick and easy. In fact, you can even get everything ready the night before. Roll out of bed, pop it in the oven…you can even go back to bed if you want to. Just be sure to get up and brush your hair before your guests arrive. They’re going to love you.

One last thing: this makes the equivalent of about six slices of French toast, which served four generously when I made it. If you’re a brunch party animal and have lots of guests, you could easily scale this up by multiplying the ingredients and using a larger baking dish.

5 from 2 votes Print Vegan Banana Walnut Baked French Toast Prep Time 10 minutes Cook Time 20 minutes Total Time 30 minutes Servings 4 -6 Author Alissa Ingredients 1 tbsp. vegan margarine melted

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

3 ripe bananas

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. unsweetened non-dairy milk of choice

6 slices of bread Instructions Preheat oven to 400. In medium bowl, mash bananas with a fork or potato masher. Add vanilla, cinnamon and milk. Brush the bottom of a 9 x 9 baking dish with margarine. Pour and spread about 1/2 cup of banana batter into bottom of dish and then sprinkle with walnuts. Brush both sides of bread slices with banana batter and arrange in dish. However you want to go about this if fine - you can stack your slices, tear them into bite-sided bits, or, do like I did and cut them in half and do a fancy little cascade arrangement with them. Just be sure to stick to brushing the slices, and not dipping like with traditional French toast, lest your slices fall apart. If you're starting the night ahead, cover your dish and stick it in the fridge. Uncover before baking in the morning. Oh, and hold off on that "preheat oven" step until the day of. Bake about 20 minutes. Cut into squares and top with vegan margarine and maple syrup.

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