Name: Vegan Blueberry-Banana and Praline French Toast Casserole
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Plant-based
Ingredients: ¼ cup vegan butter; 1 cup brown sugar, packed; ½ cup maple syrup; 1 cup finely chopped pecans; 1 large (14- to 16-ounce) French baguette, cut into ½-inch thick slices; 2 large, ripe bananas, peeled and sliced into ¼-inch thick rounds; 2 cups fresh or frozen and thawed blueberries; 2 cups unsweetened nondairy milk; ½ cup maple syrup; 1 tablespoon vanilla extract; 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

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Here’s a luscious vegan French toast casserole, bursting with the luscious flavors of blueberries, bananas, and pralines, that will delight your friends and family as a year-round weekend brunch treat.

I was delighted to learn that Catskill Animal Sanctuary, a place I’ve enjoyed visiting, had come out with a vegan cookbook all its own. If you’re an animal lover, a committed vegan, or someone who needs a push in the right direction, I highly recommend a visit if you live in or will be traveling to New York’s Hudson Valley.

A few words from founder Kathy Stevens and visitor information follow this yummy recipe for vegan French toast casserole from Compassionate Cuisine by chefs Linda Soper-Kolton and Sara Boan.

A note from Chef Linda: “There you are on a lazy Saturday morning, sitting curbside at an intimate French café. Nearby, steam swirls upward from rich mahogany coffee. A sweet scent ignites your appetite as you wait with anticipation for a forkful of decadent French toast. Wait—France is not in your future, you say?

Then let this buttery, praline-adorned breakfast delight take you there. Without relying on unkind standbys like eggs, cream, and butter, this French toast casserole, a Homestead specialty, gets its luscious custard filling from bananas and nondairy milk. A lovely addition to special brunches and holiday mornings, this simple dish will pamper your spirit.”

Explore lots more delicious vegan brunch recipes on this site.

Compassionate Cuisine is available wherever books are sold

Excerpted from Compassionate Cuisine: 125 Plant-Based Recipes from Our Vegan Kitchen by Linda Soper-Kolton and Sara Boan, with permission from Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. ©2019 by Catskill Animal Sanctuary. Photographs by Alexandra Shytsman.

Yield: 6 to 8

Vegan Blueberry-Banana and Praline French Toast Casserole

This vegan French toast casserole is delightfully fruity and nutty, and a lovely addition to special brunches and holiday mornings.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Ingredients

Praline topping

¼ cup vegan butter
1 cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup maple syrup
1 cup finely chopped pecans

French toast

1 large (14- to 16-ounce) French baguette, cut into ½-inch thick slices
2 large, ripe bananas, peeled and sliced into ¼-inch thick rounds
2 cups fresh or frozen and thawed blueberries
2 cups unsweetened nondairy milk
½ cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly oil a 9-inch square casserole dish.
To make the praline topping, melt the butter in a small pot over medium heat. Add brown sugar and syrup. Stir and bring to a simmer. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes or until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the pecans and turn off the heat.
Leave the pot on the stove to keep warm or else the mixture will harden. If the praline mixture hardens, reheat for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.
To assemble the French toast casserole, arrange one layer of baguette slices on the bottom of the casserole dish. Top the bread with a single layer of banana slices.
Sprinkle half of the blueberries over the bananas and drop spoonfuls of the praline topping over the blueberries, using about half of it.
Add another layer of bread and bananas, and top with remaining blueberries. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, syrup, vanilla, and cinnamon. Pour over the bread in the casserole, saturating the top pieces.
Spoon on the remaining half of the praline topping.
Cover the dish with foil and place on a baking tray. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Remove the foil for the last 10 minutes of baking. There should be liquid bubbling around the sides and corners when it’s done.
Remove from the oven and let sit for a few minutes before serving.

Notes

Make Ahead: Bake and cool the dish 1 or 2 days in advance, then cover with foil and refrigerate overnight. Reheat in the oven at 350°F for about 20 minutes while the coffee is brewing.