Coconut French Toast with Caramelized Bananas

Kitchen Fail Ends in Sweet Success

   

    After spending a lovely evening last night with my cousin Erika and her wonderful family, I woke up at 5:43 this morning to run my first race in over three months. From Sausilito to San Francisco, the course featured hills, flat, and spectacular views. While I was pleased with my effort and performance for the time being, I can't wait to train hard and improve more. After collecting a hodgepodge of free post race goodies made by Emerald, I thought I would be really creative and make something from it. What to do with an FRS drink, overly sweet trailmix granola, and milk chocolate pieces? I tried making a bowl of oatmeal cooked in FRS instead of water, and a blended trail mix topping. Probably the 2nd worst culinary fail in my personal history (2nd only to the time I accidentally used garlic olive oil in a brownie mix in high school). I felt more nausiated when the FRS oatmeal came out of the microwave than I did on the last uphill before the finish. 

     In my defeat, I had to make up for it with something exceptionally good. This french toast definitely did the trick. I attribute this idea to the coffee I had before the race. It stimulated my brain to a whole new level. Don't be intimidated my the long list of directions, it doesn't take longer than 20 minutes all together. The coconut crust adds a unique crunch, and the carmelized bananas make it a special treat. It makes for an ideal weekend breakfast.

 Ingredients

 

French Toast

• 3-5 slices of bread
• I used GF rice bread.
• 1/2c milk 
• 1 egg
• 1t  cinnamon
• 1t vanilla
• 1 t egg
• 1 T Butter for the pan

Coconut Crust

• 1/3c unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1T flax seed meal (opt)

 caramelized bananas

• 1.5T coconut palm sugar (or brown sugar)
• 1 medium banana sliced
• 1 T butter

Directions 

1. Liquid mix Combine milk, egg, cinnamon, and vanilla in a bowl. Whisk with a fork. Dunk bread into the mixture until soaked.
2. Crust-pour coconut and flaxmeal onto a plate and lightly hand mix. Press bread into coconut mixture until a decent amount is stuck on the toast.
3. Cook on a skillet with melted butter on medium heat for a couple minutes on each side.
4. Toss the banana slices in the sugar and add on to the pan. Cook until soft and lightly browned on both sides
5. Add any additional toppings- I personally don't think this needs syrup because of the sweet bananas. I added salted almond butter. Roasted pecans or a dollop of yogurt could also compliment this nicely.