Vegan French Toast Casserole is a delightfully delicious, make-ahead breakfast dish that is perfect for busy occasions.  If you’ve had a traditional French toast casserole, you know it has a rich, toffee-like, bread pudding consistency.  What makes this recipe unique is the Persian flavors infused into each bite. Serve a piece with a fresh fruit salad for a complete brunch.

a warm piece of Vegan French toast served with coconut whipped cream and shelled pistachio nuts, plated with fresh blueberries and cherries

Vegan French toast is a tasty, crowd-pleasing casserole dish that can be prepared and assembled the night before baking.

The bulk of this dish is of course the bread. I recommend using a vegan brioche or a vegan challah bread.  It works perfectly for soaking up the mixture of silken tofu and light coconut milk.  Both options are light, fluffy, and suitable for this French toast casserole.

You can customize the flavors of the recipe to your liking. Stick to the basics and use vanilla and cinnamon, or add Persian flavors for a unique and elevated French toast.

Persian ingredients:

• ground cardamom
• pistachios
• tart dried cherries

Once the tofu-coconut milk mixture has soaked into the chunks of bread, fold in in fresh organic blueberries and dried tart cherries. The dried cherries puff up and rehydrate during baking resulting in plump tart cherries for a fun pop of flavor.  Sweeten this French toast with maple syrup.  Other Mediterranean natural sweetener options include date syrup or pomegranate molasses.

If you are new to baking with tofu, be sure to find the silken tofu variety.  Use a blender or food processor for the smoothest results.

The crumble topping is made with brown sugar, cold chunks of vegan butter, and chopped green pistachios. 

Two items I recommend (and this is without any paid endorsements by the way!) are Trader Joe’s Vegan Brioche bread and Myokos vegan butter.  Trader Joe’s vegan brioche bread lends well to this recipe as it’s slightly sweet, light, and fluffy and the tofu mixture soaks right in for a sticky, toffee-type French toast – yum!  

Myokos vegan butter is my favorite on the market for the following reasons:

• Creamy: is very creamy, even when it is cold. This is because it is made with cashews, which are naturally high in fat.
• Salty: has a slightly salty flavor. I love a salty-sweet combo so this works great in our French toast recipe
• Umami: has a savory, umami flavor. This is because it is made with nutritional yeast, a vegan source of B vitamins and umami.
• Nutty: has a nutty flavor thanks to the cashews.  I’m a nutty gal – the more the better in any recipe
• Fresh: has a fresh, clean flavor. It’s made with fresh ingredients and does not contain any artificial flavors or preservatives.

There are many ways to dress up a piece of vegan brioche French toast casserole.  It all comes down to what you are in the mood for and what you have on hand when you are plating the French toast casserole.

Garnish options:

• vegan coconut whipped cream
• chopped green pistachio nuts
• culinary dried rose petals

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Yield: 12

Vegan French Toast Casserole

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Vegan French Toast Casserole is a delightfully delicious, make-ahead breakfast dish that is perfect for busy occasions.  If you've had a traditional French toast casserole, you know it has a rich, toffee-like, bread pudding consistency.  What makes this recipe unique is the Persian flavors infused into each bite. Serve a piece with a fresh fruit salad for a complete brunch.

Ingredients

• 1 (14-ounce) block silken tofu, drained
• 1 (13.5-ounce) can light coconut milk
• 1/2 cup *maple syrup (see note for other options)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 loaves Trader Joe's vegan brioche, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1/2 cup organic blueberries
• 1/4 cup dried tart cherries
• Crumble topping:
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup vegan butter, cold
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon and/or cardamom

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
2. In a blender, combine the silken tofu, coconut milk, maple syrup, vanilla extract, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt. Blend until smooth.
3. Pour the tofu mixture over the bread cubes in a large bowl. Stir to coat. Fold in the blueberries and dried tart cherries.
4. Transfer to the prepared baking dish. Allow the mixture to soak into the bread for at least 2 hours, or up to overnight.
5. To make the crumble topping, combine the flour, brown sugar, vegan butter, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Mix until crumbly.
6. Sprinkle the crumble topping over the French toast mixture.
7. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the French toast is golden brown and cooked through.
8. Serve warm.

Notes

If making this dish the night before, follow all of the steps and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Then bake an additional 10 to 15 minutes before serving to serve it warm.

*Note on sweetener options - for other Mediterranean sweeteners, try date syrup or pomegranate molasses in equal proportions as the suggested maple syrup