Casual Friday: Coconut-Banana French Toast Cups

Casual Friday: Coconut-Banana French Toast Cups

Author - Serena Wolf

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Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes

Ingredients

• Coconut oil or butter for greasing
• 6 large eggs
• 1 15- ounce can light coconut milk
• ¼ cup light brown sugar packed
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 good pinch kosher salt
• 12 cups cubed bread I recommend challah, brioche, or French bread
• 2 ripe bananas diced
• ¼ cup sliced almonds
• ¼ cup coconut flakes
• Pure maple syrup for serving

Instructions

• Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a standard muffin tin with coconut oil (or butter) and briefly set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, coconut milk, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract and salt until well combined. Fold the bread into the custard mixture until all the cubes are well saturated. Gently fold in the bananas.
• Divide the mixture among the wells of the muffin tin, gently packing it down. (The mixture will slightly overflow each well.)
• Bake for 22-24 minutes until the tops of each cup is golden brown and puffed slightly.
• Meanwhile, heat a medium skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the almonds and coconut flakes. Cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until lightly brown and fragrant. (Careful, these can go from perfectly toasted to burnt very quickly!) Transfer to a bowl and set aside until ready to serve.
• Serve cups warm topped with a sprinkling of almonds and coconut and a drizzle of maple syrup.

TGI(Casual)F, people. We’ve got Coconut-Banana French Toast Cups, random musings, and internet stuff to cover, so let’s get right to it.

First, these French toast cups are ridiculously awesome. A coconut milk-based custard dressed up with mashed bananas, brown sugar and a splash of vanilla gives these bad boys the perfect amount of sweetness and some serious tropical vibes. And the texture! Dear God, the texture. The cups are basically individual bread puddings—chewy and moist (eek) on the inside with a puffed, slightly crunchy top. You could definitely eat these sans accoutrements, and I do, but I’m partial to an added drizzle of maple syrup and some toasted almonds and coconut flakes for crunch. If you’re feeling super weird, get a little shaved dark chocolate and a dollop of whipped coconut cream involved. #treatyoself

In other exciting news, these cute little cups couldn’t be easier, and they’re actually pretty healthy. All you need to pull them off is a handful of basic ingredients, a mixing bowl, and a muffin tin. Prep shouldn’t take more than 20 minutes tops (just cube the bread and whisk the custard), then all you have to do is pop the cups in the oven and bask in their sweet, sweet smell. And despite its seemingly indulgent nature, this dairy-free recipe is made with a responsible amount of sugar and no oil or butter, meaning that you and your guests won’t require the traditional post-French toast dirt nap. This is especially good news re: Easter brunch, as I’m sure at least some of you have egg-hunting and/or other competitive activities on the afternoon agenda. You’re welcome.

For the full recipe hop on over to FromThePod.com.

Moving on!

We could all use some old school good vibrations on a Friday. Ya feel it, baby? I do too.

I’ve been putting kombucha in my smoothies lately, and it’s pretty awesome. I have a simple recipe for a kombucha smoothie bowl coming your way soon, but I thought I’d plant the seed now in case you want to conduct your own probiotic smoothie experiments.

Ice T voicing cartoons is something I didn’t even know I wanted.

I would hire DJ Khaled as my Snapchat coach. I need that fan love. And I too enjoy fruit snacks.

I’ve added several new cookbooks to my hoards over the past few weeks, but I’m really digging Cooking for Artists by Mina Stone, which my mother gifted me for my bday. The recipes are creative, but not fussy, and there are lots of huge, unbelievably beautiful photos. Highly recommend. (p.s. I tend to share ramblings about my favorite cookbooks on Snapchat, so feel free to come geek out with @serenagwolf if you’re into that.)

This is a shockingly accurate description of me every time I test a Dude Diet recipe on Logan…

As per usual, I’m fangirling over lots of delicious things on the web right now…

Angel Food French Toast. I can’t remember the last time I had angel food cake, but I love it, and I imagine it would make for some fluffy-ass French toast.

Chicken Minestrone. I’ve been fighting off a cold all week, and this Donna Hay recipe speaks to me. Also, whenever I say Donna, I think of this video and creepily giggle to myself.

Spicy Crab and Chili Noodles. I’m obsessed with Heather’s super simple, fresh recipes.

Miso Maple Sweet Potato Tacos. I’ve been looking for a token vegetarian recipe to add to my Taco Tuesday repertoire for a very long time. I’m thinking this is it. (Fingers crossed emoji.)

Cauliflower Cakes with Brown Rice and Cheddar. I’m picturing these topped with a runny fried egg and some kale pesto. Or an obscene amount of hot sauce.

Three Pepper Shakshuka Pita with Feta & Za’atar. Love me an overstuffed breakfast pita.

Sticky Apricot Basil Chicken Thighs. Apricot jam is having a moment right now, and you know I like trendy things…

Meyer Lemon Thyme Icebox Cake. After my recent icebox cake triumph, I now want to try every possible flavor combo. This lemon version looks particularly delightful, and I imagine it would be quite the showstopper at Easter brunch. Just throwing that out there.

Passion Fruit Meyer Lemonade. With vodka.

Happy Easter/spring, friends! May your weekend be filled with sunshine, cocktails, and appropriate amounts of themed candy. Don’t forget to stock up on Cadbury mini eggs for the off-season…