Nibbles with Nelly
Hello, and welcome to the Blue Barn Farm and Sanctuary. Here in the United States, we have successfully navigated through phase one of our annual holiday season. I don’t know about the rest of you out there, but virtual get-togethers are no substitute for the real deal. The feelings that this brought up for me left me wanting some serious comfort food. What’s better than breakfast for dinner? Nothing. Haha!
Once again, I am reminded of how awesome Nora is! Her vegan recipe blog is the bomb, and her Vegan French Toast Casserole is nothing short of amazing. The bread part is super rich, and exploding with the traditional flavors of french toast. The sweet streusel topping is a total game changer. Did I mention this is 100% plant-based? Yep! Let’s get in there and see what makes it so ridiculously yummy.
Make sure to use the soft silken tofu for the custard.
The one thing I adjusted from her list of ingredients was using pure maple syrup in place of the granulated sugar for the custard. Since I knew I’d be putting brown sugar into the streusel topping, I wanted to skip the granulated sugar here. It turned out pretty darn good. I like bread pudding, and because of the extra liquid, the casserole was super moist. If you prefer a dryer version, just stick to her recipe.
The bread is cubed and ready for the custard.
Once you put all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth, you can set that aside while you cut up your day-old bread. For me, I had a bunch of butts leftover from the loaves of bread we use to make sandwiches. I used coconut oil to lightly grease my casserole dish before putting my bread pieces in there. Then the next step is to pour the custard over the bread, and take a few minutes to really smoosh it down into the liquid. Nora suggests using your hands. I used a wooded spoon, and it worked just fine. I covered the dish, and put it in the fridge for about 5 hours until it was time to make dinner.
Soaking the bread in the custard.
While the oven was preheating, I made the streusel topping. Just brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and Miyoko’s vegan butter. You want to use a fork or pastry blender/cutter to get the nice consistency and texture of streusel.
Once you have it all crumbled and the ingredients are well-integrated, grab a spoon and sprinkle it on top of the custard-soaked bread.
Nora’s Vegan French Toast Casserole recipe calls for baking the dish at 350 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes. I found that after about 30 minutes my house started to smell like a bakery! It was wonderful. By the time It came out of the oven, the top was crunchy and nicely browned. I sprinkled a little organic powdered sugar on top, and served it up with some pure maple syrup. I meant to get some blueberries when I was at the store this afternoon, but I forgot. Tomorrow, though, I will stop and get some to accompany our second round of this decadent dish. As if anything could possibly make it any better!
This post is officially dedicated to finding true love. As some of you who follow the Blue Barn Farm and Sanctuary on Facebook and Instagram may know, Miss Nelly Rose has been living the single life since she came to us. That has recently changed, however. After some careful cohabitating with a divider, her new love has officially moved into her space. What a beautiful lesson in our ability to change. Just because something has “always” been one way, doesn’t mean it can’t change. Maybe it’s a bit challenging at first, handling the unknowns, and making adjustments to meet the need, but we all have the capacity to shift our experience. The best part is that when we make those changes, we are also supporting somebody else who is maybe working on making some changes, too. So maybe you never thought about making a Vegan French Toast Casserole. I would be willing to bet that change never tasted so good! We wish you the best holiday season yet, filled with kindness, compassion, and empathy. Now go make this and let us know in the comments how amazing it turns out!
Miss Nelly Rose and her new love.