Shockingly Delicious Vegan French Toast

French toast, with its egg- and milk-based batter, presents a challenge to vegan eaters. It’s that very batter, after all, that makes the brunch dish so darn delicious — transforming stale bread into velvety, caramelized slices of goodness. But as it turns out, there’s a plant-based alternative that makes for a shockingly delicious vegan French toast. It’s flaxseed meal!

If you’ve done any vegan baking, chances are you’ve used a “flax egg” as a binder. When you combine flaxseed meal with water, it takes on a thick, viscous texture, similar to a beaten egg. When mixed into a batter or dough, the “flax egg” acts as a binder and effectively replaces eggs in cookies, pancakes, muffins, and more.

When it comes to vegan French toast, flaxseed meal performs a similar function for the bread-soaking batter. It thickens non-dairy milk just like eggs do and gives you near-identical results: French toast that’s custardy on the inside and golden-brown on the outside.

1. Start with sourdough. This vegan French toast works best with thick slices of hearty, country-style bread, like a classic sourdough boule. The slight tang of sourdough tastes delicious when soaked with maple syrup, but if you can’t find it, use ciabatta instead.
2. Pay attention to the bread as it soaks.You want to bathe it long enough so that it’s fully saturated, but not so much that it falls apart. Also, since this batter is a little thinner than traditional batter, the bread needs a little longer to cook through — so be patient and try not to flip it before it’s ready.
3. Opt for organic sugar. Regular white table sugar is sometimes processed through bone animal char. USDA organic-labeled sugar (or turbinado sugar), doesn’t undergo this process, so it’s safe for vegans.