Just because she eats plant-based, that doesn’t mean hot for food blog's Lauren Toyota eschews comfort food. In fact, she couldn't live without it.
For Chatelaine's new video series, Vegan It! with Lauren Toyota, the former MuchMusic VJ and current YouTube star demonstrates how to create vegan versions of everyone's favourite comfort classics — like BLTs and caesar salad — without elaborate recipes or compromising on taste. Find more of Lauren's awesome recipes on her blog, her YouTube channel and her upcoming cookbook, Vegan Comfort Classics.
In this episode: Lauren makes sweet, eggy and crispy classic French toast.
Making it eggy: Vegan eggs sound like an oxymoron, but they exist (thanks to DIY faux egg mixtures), providing a substitute for people who eat plant-based when making baked goods and other sweet and savory dishes. Lauren says a mixture of ground flax seed and water is a common egg alternative, but for her French toast batter, she uses a mixture of chickpea flour, nutritional yeast and unsweetened nut milk. Not only does chickpea flour have a yellowish (yolky) hue, it's also packed with protein and coats the toast to crisp it up — just like an egg. The nutritional yeast also adds a bright yellow colour as well as a creamy flavour, which Lauren says is essential to her recipe.
Making it crispy: Butter is obviously a no-no for Lauren, so she cooks her French toast in vegan butter instead of oil. (If your grocery store doesn't carry vegan butter, margarine will do the trick.)
Making it sweet: While sweeteners like honey are off the table for vegans, maple syrup is the perfect option and Lauren loves this Canadian pantry staple. She not only drizzles it on top of her French toast, she also adds it directly into the batter.
Extras: Day-old challah and brioche make excellent French toast, but these loaves contain eggs and butter — two ingredients vegan diets prohibit. For this recipe, Lauren opts for thick-cut sour dough bread. Like challah and brioche, it brings additional flavour to the dish.
MAKES: 3 servings (6 slices)
PREP TIME: 10 minutes
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