Edmonton Cooks: Coconut Banana French Toast (Padmanadi)

This post is part of the series: LET’S OM NOM Cooks Edmonton Cooks: Signature Recipes From the City’s Best Chefs. You can see the recipe list here or follow chronologically here.

Edmonton Cooks: Coconut Banana French Toast (Padmanadi)

The Banana Coconut French Toast by Padmanadi quickly crawled up my to-cook list since one of my many goals for 2017 is to consistently have brunch. I absolutely love brunch but rarely make it at home. Thank goodness Edmonton Cooks has a handful of recipes that are designed for that bright Saturday morning or that lazy Sunday funday.

Ingredients for Coconut Banana French Toast

Ingredients:

• Bananas
• Coconut Milk
• Cinnamon
• Brown Sugar
• Nutmeg
• Sourdough White Bread
• Vegan Sour Cream – substituted regular sour cream
• Fresh Lemon Juice
• Margarine – substituted butter
• Icing Sugar
• Shredded Coconut
• Seasonal Fruit

Prairie Loaf (Sourdough White Bread) From Brio Bakery

Sourcing Notes:

A fresh Prairie Loaf (White Sourdough) from Brio Bakery.

Recipe Notes:

There’s been too many times where I’ve ordered French toast at a restaurant only to be disappointed that it’s mushy and overwhelmingly egg-y. I never really understood the dish. My philosophy: if I want toast and eggs, I’ll get toast and eggs; if I want something sweet, I’ll get waffles. I came into this recipe slightly skeptical but since Padmanadi is a vegan restaurant, there’s no eggs! Well then, that’s a different story.

Cooking Notes:

Smushing Bananas

Whisking Together Spices

French Toast Mixture

In a bowl, I mashed the bananas and whisked in coconut milk, cinnamon, brown sugar, and nutmeg.

Soaking Sourdough

Soaking Sourdough

I placed my sliced sourdough bread into the coconut-banana mixture, making sure all sides were covered.

Creme Fraiche

While I waited for the bread to soak, I made the crème fraîche using sour cream, icing sugar, and lemon juice.

Crisping Up French Toast

In a frying pan, I heated butter and add soaked bread slices to pan, cooked each side until golden brown and set aside. Repeated with all remaining slices.

Coconut Banana French Toast (Padmanadi)

To serve, I arranged french toast on a plate with a dollop of crème fraîche. Dusted icing sugar, shredded coconut, and fresh fruit really pulled everything together.

Lessons:

I’ve gone through many dietary phases: vegetarian, vegan, paleo, etc etc. I think it’s fantastic that one of Edmonton’s most popular vegan restaurants is represented in Edmonton Cooks. The recipe does however say that you can substitute butter and regular sour cream if you choose to, which I happily did. Butter for the win.

Coconut Banana French Toast (Padmanadi)

The recipe is foolproof and quick to make. I love the abundance of coconut flavour and cannot believe how the coconut-banana mixture easily substituted for eggs. I might have left the bread slices soaking for longer than suggested as it took way longer to brown and crisp up. Or maybe I needed more butter. I also bought a loaf of sourdough bread from City Market Downtown versus traditional sliced toast. I think it gives the dish a more rustic feel, plus the crust makes for a great crunch. The recipe itself isn’t too sweet so I opted to add maple syrup to my bites. Glass of OJ and we have ourselves a meal!

Thanks Padmanadi for the recipe! Stay tuned for my next meal from Edmonton Cooks!

Coconut Banana French Toast (Padmanadi)

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