This healthy vegan churro French toast puts a delicious twist on this breakfast favourite. This recipe is also packed with protein and fibre, and is the perfect excuse to have dessert for breakfast!
There are very few brunch recipes that beat a classic French toast – its easier to prepare than pancakes or waffles, and is a tasty way to satisfy a morning sweet tooth.
But what if I told you that French toast is also the perfect vehicle to enjoy a churro for breakfast? Yep. You heard that right.
With a little bit of this and a little bit of that, we’ve transformed the unbeatable French toast into churro French toast. *hold for applause*.
Table of contents
Why This Recipe Works
If you are sold at the churro and French toast combination alone, I don’t blame you. Its friggen genius (If I do say so myself)! But if you needed even more convincing that this healthy sweet breakfast is a must for your brunch spread, here are more reasons why we are loving this recipe right now!
- It only takes 30 minutes to prepare
- Its egg-free and dairy-free
- High in protein (8g per 2 slices)
- High in fibre (6g per 2 slices)
- It’s the perfect excuse to eat chocolate for breakfast!
Key Ingredients
Chocolate Sauce – We are not kidding around with this chocolate sauce, my friends! While you can certainly combine a simple mixture of melted chocolate and coconut oil, we are taking things up a notch by using almond creamer for a creamier and thicker texture. The addition of cinnamon, salt, maple syrup and ancho chili powder also take things to a whole other level. You’ll thank me later!
French Toast – To make this recipe vegan, we are using a flavoured flax egg instead of regular eggs by combining flax meal with maple, almond creamer, vanilla, cinnamon and salt. I love my eggs, but this combo definitely gives eggs a run for its money!
Churro Crust – to make this churro French toast, we make a churro crust using three simple ingredients – granulated sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Easy peasy!
How to Make This Recipe
Step 1: In a pie plate or baking dish, mix together flax meal, maple, almond creamer, vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Set in fridge for 20 minutes.
Step 2-3: While the flax egg mixture is thickening in the refrigerator, make the chocolate sauce. Heat the almond creamer in the microwave in 30 second intervals or in a small saucepan until simmering. Add the chocolate chips, cinnamon, maple, chili powder (if using) and salt and stir until the chocolate is melted. Set aside and keep warm.
Step 4-5: In another plate or dish, combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon. Submerge the bread into the flax egg mixture on both sides for 10 seconds per side. Heat a griddle or large nonstick pan with the oil or butter over medium heat. Add the bread and cook on each side for about 3-4 minutes. Immediately coat in the cinnamon sugar.
Expert Tips
If you are skeptical about making French toast without eggs, I don’t blame you! I was too. The most important step to making a flax or chia egg is to give it time to firm up and set in the fridge. There is a bit of a sweet spot though because if you set it too long (especially if you are using chia seeds), it can turn into a pudding consistency and we certainly don’t want that. As a general rule of thumb aim to let the flax egg set for no longer than 20 mins, and the chia egg no longer than 15 mins.
Recipe FAQs
If you don’t want to serve this with the chocolate sauce, you can always go for a generous drizzle of classic maple syrup and topped with some fruit. I also love to serve French toast with my homemade easy chia jam alongside a brunch salad or my vegan maple sausages.
Definitely! To make this gluten free you can use a gluten free bread instead.
Oh yes definitely! My kid loves this recipe (almost a little too much lol). But I would say if you are feeding this to your kiddo, to omit the ancho chili from the chocolate sauce as it might be a bit too spicy for them.
Honestly, it really comes down to preference and what you have on hand! But from a nutrition perspective, chia seeds provide more protein and fibre while flax seeds provide more omega 3 fats. The chia seed egg will also provide a slightly more grainy texture than the flax seed egg but its barely noticeable when combined with a seedy bread and the churro crust.
More Recipes You Might Like
I wasn’t kidding when I said I LOVE French toast. So you best believe we have tons more french toast recipes where that came from! Here are some of our favs:
- Healthy French Toast Casserole
- Tofu French Toast (Vegan + Gluten Free)
- Healthy French Toast Wraps
- Cheesecake Stuffed French Toast Crepes
Do you love having French toast for breakfast? Would you try this churro version?
Churro French Toast (Vegan + Healthy)
Ingredients
Chocolate Sauce:
- ½ cup vanilla unsweetened almond creamer
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- ¼ – ½ tsp ancho chili powder optional, to taste
- ¼ tsp sea salt
French Toast:
- 2 tbsp ground white chia seeds or flax meal
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 cup vanilla unsweetened almond creamer
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp salt
- 8 slices Stonemill Sprouted Rye & 12 Grains
Crust:
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- Oil or butter of your choice for pan-frying
Instructions
- In a pie plate or baking dish, mix together flax meal, maple, almond creamer, vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Set in fridge for 20 minutes.
- While the flax egg mixture is thickening in the refrigerator, make the chocolate sauce. Heat the almond creamer in the microwave in 30 second intervals or in a small saucepan until simmering. Add the chocolate chips, cinnamon, maple, chili powder (if using) and salt and stir until the chocolate is melted. Set aside and keep warm.
- In another plate or dish, combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon. Submerge the bread into the flax egg mixture on both sides for 10 seconds per side
- Heat a griddle or large nonstick pan with the oil or butter over medium heat. Add the bread and cook on each side for about 3-4 minutes. Immediately coat in the cinnamon sugar.
- Serve warm with a drizzle of the chocolate sauce.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
If you tried this churro French toast, let me know your thoughts down in the comments below!
Updated on May 10th, 2021
Abbey Sharp is a Registered Dietitian (RD), regulated by the Ontario College of Dietitians. She is a mom, YouTuber, Blogger, award winning cookbook author, media coach specializing in food and nutrition influencers, and a frequent contributor to national publications like Healthline and on national broadcast TV shows.
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