This decadent stuffed vegan French toast is cooked up in a light coconut milk cardamom batter, grilled until golden brown, and stuffed with a rich cranberry cheesecake and pistachio filling.
2015 has not been the year of breakfast on this blog. I’m kind of sorry about this, because, truth be told, I love posting breakfast recipes. Nothing makes me happier than cooking up some fun-filled vegan pancakes on a Sunday morning and snapping some photos before sitting down to enjoy them with the satisfaction of having some new killer breakfast blog material.
Alas, you guys aren’t breakfast peeps. I’m really not either though, which doesn’t really make sense, given what I just told you. I think during its early days I used this site as an excuse to cook up weekend breakfasts, thinking everyone would be all about it.
So here I am with my vegan dinner blog, which really does make sense, because vegan dinner is what I spend the most time cooking. But that doesn’t mean I won’t cook up some brekkie when I have a really good excuse, and today I’ve got two of ’em.
I created this recipe for the Vegan Mystery Box Challenge, which is a fun little blog event created by fellow vegan bloggers Sam from It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken and Andrew from One Ingredient Chef. A whole bunch of bloggers are in on this. Basically, we all chose to enter on the premise that we’d be given three ingredients to craft a vegan recipe around, and then we’d each come up with our own fun creation, and we’d all share links to each other’s recipes on our blogs. The three ingredients we were given were coconut milk, cranberries and pistachios, which of course were begging me to be transformed into some crazy delicious French toast.
Magic Fruit Cake Bars with White Chocolate Drizzle by One Ingredient Chef
Vegan Cranberry Pistachio Loaf by It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken
Pistachio Crusted Cranberry Cashew Coconut Cheese by Lemon and Coconut
Cranberry Pistachio and Mango Salad by Veggies Save the Day
Cranberry Cointreau Coconut Ice Cream with Candied Pistachios by Vegan Yak Attack
Cranberry Pistachio Donuts by Two City Vegans (Casey)
Cranberry Pistachio Gingersnap Truffles by Two City Vegans (Alix)
Warm Barley Bowl with Roasted Brussels, Sweet Potatoes and a Coconut Curry Dressing by Taste Space
Whole Wheat Cranberry Pistachio Vegan Biscotti by Veggie Inspired Journey
Coconut Pistachio Cashew Cheese Panini with Cranberry Jam by Peppers and Peaches
Toasted Pistachio Rice Pudding with Candied Cranberries by The Lazy Vegan Baker
Pistachio and Cranberry Cream Sandwich Cookies by Love Me Feed Me
Vegan Meringue Nests with Cranberry Coconut Whip and Crushed Pistachios by The Viet Vegan
Vegan Coconut Quinoa Salad by Beets Not Meats
Cranberry Orange & Pistachio Muffins With Vanilla Cream by A Virtual Vegan
Gourmet Lazy Cabbage Rolls by Choose to Cook
Sweet Potato Coconut Curry with Cranberries and Pistachios by The Tofu Diaries
Lebanese Semolina Pudding (Layali Lubnan) by Lands and Flavors
Vegan Chocolate Cranberry Cake by The Seasonal Diet
Jolly Bollywood Holiday Curry by Sexie Veggies
Cranberry Cheesecake & Pistachio Stuffed Vegan French Toast
Ingredients
For the Cranberry Cheesecake & Pistachio Stuffing
- 2 cups fresh cranberries
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water 4-8 hours, drained and rinsed
- 2 tbsp. maple syrup
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- pinch salt
- 2 tbsp. water
- 1 cup shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped
For the French Toast
- 1/2 cup full fat coconut milk
- 1/2 cup soy or almond milk
- 2 tbsp. cornstarch
- 1 tbsp. maple syrup
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp. cardamom, or more, to taste
- pinch salt
- 8 slices crusty bread
For Serving
- vegan margarine
- maple syrup
Instructions
Make the Cranberry Cheesecake & Pistachio Filling
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Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add cranberries and boil just until berries begin to split, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and drain into a colander.
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Place cashews, maple syrup, lemon juice, vanilla and salt into food processor bowl and blend to a thick paste, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl as needed. Add water and continue blending until smooth. Add cranberries and pulse a few times, just to chop and incorporate cranberries into the mixture.
Make the French Toast
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In a small bowl, whisk together coconut milk, soy or almond milk, cornstarch, maple syrup, vanilla, cardamom and salt until well blended.
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Lightly oil a nonstick skillet or frying pan and place over medium heat. Working in batches if needed, dip both sides of each bread slice into coconut milk batter. Place bread slices into pan or skillet and cook until lightly browned on bottoms, about 3-4 minutes. Flip and cook another 3-4 minutes on opposite sides. Repeat for all bread slices, adding oil to the pan as needed between batches.
Serve
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Spread cranberry cheesecake mixture over a slice of French toast and sprinkle with pistachios. Top with another French toast slice. Repeat until all French toast slices, cheesecake mixture and pistachios are used. Top each stack with vegan margarine and maple syrup.
Amazing! Heaven on a plate.
Nourishing Amelia | Food, Health & Lifestyle Blogger
Looks like a wonderful holiday breakfast. Great use of the ingredients, Alyssa.
I LOVE breakfast!!! It was my favorite meal of the day before going plant based and I still love it now just as much! Your recipes are always so creative and this French Toast is no exception. Love that filling!!! I might just eat that straight from the bowl! :) YUM!
You are INSANE… and AWESOME! This looks incredible. Alix and I were really excited to see this one and you didn’t let us down!
Um, your french toast looks insane!!!!!! The colour, the fluffiness, I want it now!
Thank you so much for being part of this challenge Alyssa!
Eeeee! This is such a beautiful creation! I need it in my life asap <3
YUM! Looks so delicious. I’m the same I never do breakfast specific recipes either, though I have been meaning to :)
I love breakfasts! I love all the breakfasts! Your stuffed French Toast looks like it should be on the cover of a magazine! How much will my family LOVE ME when I make this up over the holidays!
Oh wow!! I don’t think I have ever had a stuffed french toast since I went vegan 6.5 years ago!! I can’t wait to make this!! Thank you!!
Ohh my goodness, this looks insanely good! I could happily eat this for breakfast… or dessert ;) It’s so amazing seeing the creative recipes everyone has come up with for the challenge!
Girl, I totally feel you on breakfast; brunch recipes are my favorite by far! Even if ice cream recipes are catching up. This stuffed french toast is gorgeous!
Don’t be sorry about posting too many breakfast recipes, breakfast is the BEST meal of the day! And if I had this french toast for breakfast, I feel like I could conquer the world! It looks INCREDIBLE!