Basic French Toast

French toast was always a treat growing up, mostly because who had time to make it?  Plus, we had to walk to school.  Uphill, in a snowstorm, carrying 100lbs of books, with no shoes, and a furry hat my mother made me wear with furry tassel balls on the ends of the ties. It was a look.

On the occasions I got a ride from my mom when I was in high school, we still ran out the door at the last minute, jumped in the car, closed our eyes and hoped for the best.  My mom, to put it mildly, was a fast driver, and believed in sleeping till the last second.  Timing was everything.

One day, we picked up a kid (hitch-hiking, which was pretty safe in those days in a smallish town) who was a year or two ahead of me to give him a ride.  After we ran the third red light and went airborne from a pothole, his color went from ghost white to sickly  green.  As we roared up to the school, he bolted from the car like he was being chased by an axe murderer.  The rest of us shrugged and noted the time door to door to see if she had actually beaten her best time.  Not even close.

About a week later, we saw this boy again with his thumb out.  As soon as he saw who it was slowing down, he literally jumped into the bushes to hide so that my mom wouldn’t see him and stop.

Honestly, some people just have no sense of adventure.

Ingredients:

• 1 small baguette (I used a half-size multi-grain one)
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 6 Tablespoons of aquafaba (liquid from a can of chickpeas–this equals 1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons)
• 1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill Paleo Blend Flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• maple syrup (optional)for sweetness, which I personally don’t find  necessary

Directions:

1. Cut the baguette into slices and let it sit out overnight to get stale.  Alternatively, you can put it on a baking sheet and put it in a 250 oven for 10 minutes on each side.  You don’t want it to brown on the outside and still be soft on the inside; you want it to be stale all the way through.  In a pinch, you can make this with fresh bread, but it will absorb the batter much more and will be softer.
2. Whisk together the milk, aquafaba, flour and extract and place it in a shallow dish.
3. Place the bread slices in the mixture, coating both sides and let it sit there for about 20 seconds to absorb it.  If you are using fresh bread instead of stale, just dip, don’t soak.
4. Cook the slices in a pan over medium heat.  You may need to add a bit of vegan butter or oil to the pan to keep it from sticking, but just the thinest coating.  You don’t need the toast to float.  Cook till golden, flip over and cook on the second side till golden.
5. Serve immediately or keep warm in a 200 degree oven for up to half an hour.

Enjoy!