Vegan French Toast with Date Compote

The past few weekends we've been having pumpkin waffles for our Sunday brunch, but this weekend I decided to mix it up. French toast time! This was actually my first-ever vegan batch of french toast, but it was a delicious snap. Made for a great Easter Sunday brunch!

Ingredients:
Serves 2

• 4 slices from french, sourdough, or other bread (loaf bought yesterday is best; NOT from pre-sliced loaf)
• 1 small banana
• 1/3 cup vanilla almond or soy milk
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp Earth Balance butter

For the compote:

• 2-3 Medjool dates, sliced and pitted
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

Slice your bread a little thick!

Steps:

1. Blend together the milk, banana, cinnamon & vanilla extract for the French toast batter until smooth. Pour into a shallow dish (such as a pie dish) and lay the slices of bread in (1-2 at a time, however many can fit). Allow the mix to soak in a little and flip over to coat the other side.
2. To prepare the compote, add the dates and water to a sauce pan and heat, stirring occasionally. Add cinnamon and continue to stir as the dates melt and form more of a syrup/paste. If too thick, you can add a little water; if too thin, just reduce down by continuing to heat. You can proceed with cooking the toast slices as the dates heat.
3. Heat the butter in a pan and add the slices. Cook until golden brown on each side.
4. Top the French toast with a dollop or two of the date compote and some agave or maple syrup. 

French Toast made without eggs? YUP! And it's still golden brown, moist, and with all the battered-to-deliciousness taste of regular French toast:

I love the hint of banana flavor, combined with the sweetness from the date compote, syrup, and cinnamon.

Our vegan brunch:

This was my Easter basket ;-)

In my pre-vegan days, Challah bread french toast was my favorite, but using a sour batard here worked really well- I think most breads would be good though. Hmm, Challah bread is pretty darn high on my to-do list of foods to veganize though.... mmm Challah.... I gotta do that soon...

Hope everyone had wonderful weekends!