French toast: breakfast of champions. This seemingly fancy breakfast is made by dipping a slice of bread into batter, then frying it. Top it with maple syrup, whipped cream, and fruit, and you’ve got quite a tasty start to your day. The batter component is typically made by mixing milk, egg, cinnamon and vanilla. In this post, we’ll discuss easy swaps to make and go over the best French toast recipes without milk.
Milk Swaps
To make traditional French toast recipes, dairy free, you’ll just need to find a replacement for the milk. It doesn’t matter what milk replacement you choose, whatever your preference is! You can choose lactose free milks like Lactaid, which are still technically real dairy products. Alternatively, choose from any plant based milk, like almond, oat, cashew, soy, hazelnut, hemp… the list goes on.
Without further ado, here are the 10 best recipes from around the web:
1. Simply Whisked – This is a dairy free take on traditional french toast. If you need an in depth guide, this is your recipe! It goes over how to choose the right bread and substitutions needed to make this recipe vegan or gluten free. In particular, this recipe suggests using Texas toast. Since it’s cut so thickly, you won’t have to worry about your French toast coming out as soggy, sad, or thin.
2. Minimalist Baker – If you don’t have eggs on hand or are in search of a dairy free and vegan recipe, this is a great option. In place of eggs, this recipe calls for chia seeds. It uses almond milk in place of the regular milk. The result is a delicious, filling, lightly sweet french toast.
3. Milk Free Mom – This recipe changes things up with dairy free french toast casserole. The recipe calls for French bread, eggs, almond milk, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and salt. Chop the bread, mix it all together, throw it in a dish, and bake it. With this recipe, there’s no stress about flipping the French toast, risking rippage, and no sweating over the stove. Win win!
4. Kitchen Treaty – This coconut milk French toast is a slightly different take. It’s similar to the other recipes, except this calls for stale, hearty bread which is traditional for French toast. Instead of dairy milk, use either lite or full fat coconut milk. Top your breakfast with shredded coconut, bananas, butter, and maple syrup. A tropical take on French toast – you can’t go wrong.
5. Averie Cooks – Imagine this: cinnamon sugar French toast sticks. Are you drooling yet? Us too. This recipe recommends using French bread or Texas toast, with almond milk and eggs as the main ingredients. Slice the bread, dunk it in the batter, fry them up, then cover them in cinnamon sugar. What’s not to love? They’re even freezer friendly!
6. Bianca Zapatka – This recipe is a little out there, but stay with us. It’s totally vegan and uses chickpea flour to replace the eggs. It allows you to use any dairy free milk you prefer. This recipe suggests stuffing dairy free cream cheese and jam between layers of french toast. This has a major cheesecake vibe and we’re not mad about it. If this recipe is too complicated for you, take any of the other simple French toast recipes we mention above, and try stuffing it with dairy free cream cheese and fruit. We dare you.
7. The Cookie Rookie – Crunch almond French toast with homemade strawberry syrup. That’s the title of this recipe. Imagine French toast with crushed almonds on the outside, layered with homemade strawberry syrup. This recipe sounds complicated but it’s actually quite simple and similar to the other recipes listed here – just a few extra ingredients that totally change the game.
8. Simple Veganista – Traditional French toast with an orange twist. Add a dash of orange juice into the batter to totally change your French toast flavor. Serve with orange slices on the side, or orange jam on top.
9. A Saucy Kitchen – Dairy free stuffed hot chocolate French toast. Did you have to read that twice? Us too. How does one stuff French toast with a beverage? Basically, you just add chocolate to every step. This recipe uses coconut milk to make the French toast extra rich, with cocoa powder in the base recipe. Then, it walks you through making your own hot fudge and coconut whipped cream. Layer your French toast to the heavens and prepare for the most worth-it stomach ache. This one is best saved for special occasions.
10. Peanut Butter Plus Chocolate – The name of this blog is a bit misleading, but the recipe is actually for blueberry baked French toast casserole. Mix chopped artisan bread with almond milk, eggs, and a few other ingredients and throw it in a casserole dish in the oven. While its baking, throw together a quick blueberry sauce to top the casserole with. Add more maple syrup or dairy free butter to serve – voila! All the flavors of a fancy French toast with half the effort.
There you have it – a complete guide for french toast recipes without milk. What recipe do you want to try first? Drop a comment below and let us know! If you’re looking to add chocolate to your french toast, but aren’t sure where to start, we have you covered. Read up on all the dairy free chocolate options in our blog post here.
