I’m not usually a sweet-breakfast type of person, but today I made something sweet and absolutely delicious for breakfast: Strawberry & Banana French Toast. This, my friends, is the best French toast that I’ve ever had.
If there is one thing that I have learned during last couple of years, is to love life and everything that’s it in. Life can be so fragile and I wish we all could truly enjoy all those “little” things in our life. All those things that we do everyday, things we don’t think twice about, things that some people don’t get a chance to do. Having your favorite cup of coffee, going for a brisk walk on a gloomy, chilly morning, reading your favorite book for the 5th time, watching your favorite movie, spending time with your loved ones, looking your partner in the eyes, holding his/her hand, playing with your child, meeting up with your friend for lunch, taking a walk on a sunny Autumn afternoon. Those all are things that many of us take for granted, things we don’t always appreciate. I’ve always said that I want to live my life to the fullest, try new things, do things that scare me, get more pleasure out of this precious life. So today, when I woke up, I thought “F*ck it, I’m having me some French toast for breakfast, YOLO!“.
At first, I thought of making a vegan version of this, but I wasn’t sure if it would come out any good if I were to skip the egg. Luckily, my husband knows someone at work who has his own chickens (how cool is that?) so I had some nice, fresh eggs from chickens that actually get to see the daylight. It’s about as organic as it gets! These eggs do not compare to the ones sold at the store (even those marked “organic” or “cage-free”), they’re so tiny, with a very hard shell and super-duper yellow yolks.
This French toast is full of flavor and would make a perfect, Sunday morning treat.
Strawberry & Banana French Toast1 egg
4 thick slices of sourdough bread
2 ripe bananas
handful of fresh strawberries
1 TBS of coconut palm sugar
1 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
pinch of salt
2 cups of unsweetened almond milk
Organic agave nectar and/or Vegan chocolate sauce (recipe follows)
fresh mint for garnish
1. Peel one banana, cut into four pieces, lengthwise. Heat up a frying pan with some butter or cooking spray on it (I like to use vegan, coconut butter). Place four pieces of banana on the pan, sprinkle some coconut palm sugar on top and fry for about two minutes on each side. Set aside.
2. Take the second banana and mash it with a fork in a bowl. Add the egg, cinnamon, vanilla extract, salt and almond milk. Mix everything together until well combined.
3. Dip a slice of bread in the banana-egg-milk mixture, let it soak for a few seconds and place on the heated frying pan. Fry on each side for 1-2 minutes. Once the toast is ready, place it on a plate, top off with few slices of strawberries and fried and/or fresh bananas.
4. Repeat the same process with each slice of bread, finishing it off with fried bananas and strawberries. Pour some agave syrup and/or chocolate sauce on top. Garnish with some fresh mint.
1 tsp of raw, organic cacao powder
1tsp of organic agave nectar
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
unsweetened almond milk
Mix cacao powder with the agave nectar until smooth and creamy consistency develops. Add vanilla extract and a few drops of almond milk and mix well. If you want your sauce to be thick, you can go ahead and skip the milk, I add just a few drops of almond milk so that the consistency is more liquid or syrup-like.
Chocolate sauce is completely optional, but it does add a nice, bitter-sweet touch to the whole thing. If you don’t have any agave syrup, you can also substitute it with maple syrup or some honey.
Who says you can’t have French toast on a Tuesday morning?
17 Comments
Jasmin Charlotte
October 7, 2014 at 1:53 pmAw I love this post! I often feel the same about french toast. This looks delicious! I’m really keen to find somewhere local to get my eggs from too x
Jasmin Charlotte | UK Lifestyle Blog
Paula
October 8, 2014 at 7:56 amThanks so much Jasmin!
BerryBloomXO
October 7, 2014 at 3:59 pmYummmm!!! Definitely a Breakfast I’d go out to have!! Yummy!!
It’s so cool that you got the fresh eggs! My grandparents neighbours have them too and they’re so loud! Cookoo-ing all day long!! haha but they’re cute!
Hope you had a lovely day, Paula <3
xoxo,
BerryBloomXO.com | Beauty & Lifestyle Blog
Paula
October 8, 2014 at 7:57 amHahaha that’s so funny! I really wish I get to live on a farm one day, I’m obsessed with farm animals from chickens to pigs :D:D
Thanks so much Love!!
Kara
October 7, 2014 at 6:35 pmThis looks divine and has tickled my taste buds, think it may have to be a weekend breakfast. Yet again, great food photography too
Paula
October 8, 2014 at 7:58 amThanks so much Kara!
Karen Rees
October 8, 2014 at 4:05 amOoooh this looks amazing… could be tempted to pass this off as a cheeky little dessert tonight! Nom!
Paula
October 8, 2014 at 7:58 amThanks Karen! ;)
Sophie Sierra
October 8, 2014 at 8:52 pmUsually I skip breakfast or just do a brunch-y kinda thang but if breakfast looks like this then I’ll be skipping to it all day, everyday! Oh my how gorgeous Paula?
I’m not a fan of sweet breakfasts either, but this could totally convince me otherwise ;) :P I love the idea of strawberry and banana with regular french toast, now these stunning shots are in front of me it totally makes sense, but I admit I would never be creative enough to ever even think of this idea! :D
That’s so cool about the chickens! You really can’t beat fresh eggs and the vegan chocolate sauce sounds so dreamily delicious, especially against the sweet fruit flavours. You never fail to come up with the most imaginative little touches that go so far and switch up a recipe so majorly Paula. Such reverent, emotive words about life and love doll, you are so very right, we all need to take time out to appreciate the little things. I felt very guilty today, I was feeling angry, when I stumbled on a story about a girl with cancer, who had just got married, only in her twenties I think she was. A real wake-up call right there.
My heart is so overloaded with admiration, awe and wonderstruck for you because you live life to the absolute fullest. You are brave, strong and take pride in evolving, grafting, learning and experiencing things and being open and honest in all you do. So, so proud of you as always gorgeous <3
Sophie xo
Paula
October 9, 2014 at 2:04 pmHehe I’m not much of a breakfast person myself, most of the time I force myself to eat something in the morning. If I don’t eat breakfast then I just lose my appetite and don’t each much for the rest of the day and we all know that that’s not very healthy hehe ;).
That is so sad :(.That’s exactly why I don’t watch news or read newspapers anymore. There’s hardly ever anything positive to read or watch and I always feel so paranoid afterwards. Some may say it’s being ignorant, but I just want love and happiness in my life so I try not to focus on the news too much.
Thank you so very much Sophie, being way too sweet as usual!! :) <3 <3
Kathryn
October 9, 2014 at 1:47 pmThis looks so incredibly delicious! I may have to try this for my Sunday morning breakfasts.
Paula
October 9, 2014 at 2:00 pmThanks so much Kathryn!
Christina
October 9, 2014 at 3:06 pmOh my gosh this looks soooo freaking delicious!!! YUM!! I love french toast, but this looks way better than any french toast I’ve ever eaten! :D I really like eating breakfast for dinner! And I think this would make a lovely dinner. <3
Christina
Paula
October 11, 2014 at 5:03 pmHeheh thanks so much Christina!
Lorietta
October 9, 2014 at 4:25 pmmmm the toast looks so delicious!♥ and the photos are amazing!:)
http://www.Lorietta.cz
Paula
October 11, 2014 at 5:01 pmThanks so much!
Gems
October 13, 2014 at 12:15 pmFrench toast is one of my all time fave breakfasts – I’ve always thought life was too short to each seeds and salads your whole life. A little bit of what is bad for you is good for you, so I am making this on the weekend for a lovely treat. I agree with you on the egg issue. Battery farming is illegal in the UK now, but caged hens are still allowed, so I make sure I buy free range eggs. Its worth the extra expense in my view. I always make sure I know where my meat has come from too – I watched the documentary ‘Food Inc’ and my whole attitue towards food changed.
Anyway, you are one of the best food bloggers Paula, I don’t need a cookbook, I can ust head on over to Thirteen Thoughts :) Another winning recipe, Yum Yum!!
Gems x