Ingredients:

French Toast:

• 2 cups coconut milk, I used SoDelicious unsweetened
• 1 medium sized ripe banana, chopped
• 2 TBS cornstarch
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp salt, I used Pink Himalayan
• 1/16 tsp nutmeg, or a few pinches
• 8 large pieces of sourdough, sliced about 1/2" thick (or you could use whole grain, or another hearty bread)
• canola oil
• maple syrup
• Earth Balance butter

Caramelized Bananas:

• 3 large just ripe bananas, sliced 1/4" thick
• 3 TBS maple syrup
• 1 TBS Earth Balance butter
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts, optional

Directions:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Place a metal cookie rack onto a large sheet pan. Add the first 7 ingredients, coconut milk through nutmeg, to your blender. Blend on high speed until the bananas have liquefied. Pour this batter into a shallow dish large enough to dip at least 1 piece of bread flat at a time. Next, spray a non-stick skillet with cooking spray and add just a little bit of canola oil to coat. Heat the pan with oil over medium heat until hot. Dip a slice of bread into the batter. Let it soak for about 5-10 seconds and then flip over and let the other side soak for 5-10 seconds. the trick is that you don't want it to be completely saturated. If your bread is dryer it can soak longer, but if it's soft it should be in and out quickly or it will get mushy later. Let any excess batter drip back into the dish and place the wet bread onto the hot pan. Repeat with the next slice and add to the pan. If you have a large skillet you can keep going, if not, stick with 2 pieces so you don't overcrowd the pan. Let them cook for about 4 minutes on the first side. Using a thin spatula you can gently lift a corner to check doneness. When the French toast has some lovely browning on the outside it's time to flip it over. Gently flip and cook for another 3-4 minutes, again until it has some good browning.

Place the French toast onto the cookie rack and sheet pan combo, put into the oven to keep warm. Add a little oil between batches to keep bread from sticking. When all French toast slices are done and warming in the oven, it's time to make the caramelized bananas. Put the maple syrup, butter, and salt into a clean non-stick pan, cook over medium heat, stirring often until bubbling. Add the bananas and walnuts (if using), trying to keep them in a single layer in the pan. Let cook for 1 minute and quickly stir and flip. Continue to cook for 1-2 more minutes until the bananas just start to look soft. Remove from heat immediately.

To serve, plate 2 pieces of French toast then top with caramelized bananas, distributing evenly among the plates. Drizzle with more maple syrup and butter if desired. Serve Warm. Makes 4 servings, with 2 pieces of French toast each.

We stayed at a 200 year old restored cottage on the beautiful Slea Head loop. Out every window we could see the ocean slapping the high jagged black cliffs, the rolling lush green fields dotted with sheep, and the charming historic houses perched on the hills. W.O.W! It was truly one of those pinch me moments. Anyways, I knew that eating vegan in Ireland was going to be a struggle, and it was, but it wasn't impossible. It was hard though watching my Mom eating all those scones, especially because in Ireland they serve them with cream and jam, gulp. I swear the cream was some sort of whipped cream and more than once my stomach would release a jealous whine. Well as luck would have it (we were in Ireland after all), toward the end of our stay we found a small vegetarian juice cafe nestled in Dingle town. I enjoyed a huge bowl of vegetable soup served with homemade brown bread all the while eyeing a small basket of scones displayed on the counter. I couldn't get my hopes up, couldn't dream of actually sinking my teeth into a real Irish scone...but it doesn't hurt to ask. Turns out the scones are vegan. OMG! Trying to keep calm, I order one to go, knowing that I have both a toaster oven and vegan butter waiting back at the cottage. She packs it in an unassuming brown bag and I coddle it as we head back to the car... Finally back to the cottage, I inspect the scone more closely. It's clearly whole grain, spec'd with dried fruits, and covered in flaky oatmeal. Waiting an eternity for it to warm up, I slather it with vegan butter and take a bite. Wholly cow it's good. It's just barely sweet, properly balanced with salt, and the texture is slightly moist, more like a biscuit... it totally begs to be paired with a steaming mug of tea, and the dried fruits explode in my mouth, actually shouting with glee "see, we are sweet!". These are not the american scones that they serve at Starbucks. This is a scone you can actually enjoy for breakfast without the blood sugar spike and crash. So I made it my mission to recreate this healthy little gem. Again, this is a true breakfast scone. It's not meant to be sweet. It is healthy and satisfying and you can feel good about giving them to your family. I used banana and carrots for moisture, dried fruits for the touch of sweetness, and whole wheat flour and nuts to make it filling. These are best served warmed and topped with a little vegan butter or jam. If you have little ones who don't appreciate more healthy tasting things or you have a sweeter tooth, you could add some chocolate chips to the batter, but truly they are great as is. Get a pot of tea or coffee brewing and get ready to start your day with a little Irish luck on your side. You're welcome.

Ingredients:

• 8 pitted dates, chopped
• ½ cup coconut milk, I used SoDelicious unsweetened
• 1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour, plus extra for kneading
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 pinches nutmeg
• 3 TBS water
• 1 TBS flax meal
• 1 ripe banana, chopped
• ¼ cup coconut oil, melted (or canola oil)
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup of chopped walnuts
• ¼ cup of grated carrots, packed
• ¼ cup of dried apple rings, chopped (use unsulphured if you can find them) or raisins, dried apricots, currants, etc
• Extra oats and coconut sugar, optional

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a small bowl, pour coconut milk over dates. Let soak for 20 minutes. While dates are soaking, whisk the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg together in a large bowl. 2 minutes before the soaking period is over, combine the water and the flax meal and let sit for 2 minutes.

After the dates have soaked, remove about half of the chopped dates and set aside. These will get mixed in by hand to the batter later. In a high powered blender add the remaining dates and coconut milk mixture, flax mixture, banana, oil, and vanilla. Blend at high speed until the dates are fully liquefied and there are no chunks left. Pour this wet mixture into the dry. Using a spatula stir and fold in the liquid mixture gently until everything is moist and sticky. Then add the remaining dates, walnuts, carrots, and apples, mixing gently until well combined. Generously flour your countertop with whole wheat pastry flour and turn the dough out onto the surface. Knead the sticky dough for one minute, adding flour as needed. Gently roll and shape into a 10 inch log. Using a knife, slice into approx 1” pieces and place onto the prepared cookie sheet. Reshaping any misshapen scones back into a nice flat circular shape. Once all scones are on the sheet, sprinkle with oats and coconut sugar, if desired. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-18 minutes until the scones are slightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack. Warm them later in the toaster oven or microwave. Makes 10 scones.

Ingredients:

Dry Mix:

• 1 cup yellow corn meal
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt

Wet Mix:

• 1-1/2 cups coconut milk (I used SoDelicious unsweetened)
• 1/8 cup agave syrup
• 2 TBS canola oil
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 TBS warm water
• 1-1/2 tsp ener-g egg replacer

Blackberries:

• 1 pint of blackberries, halved
• 1 tsp all-purpose flour

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a muffin pan with non-stick spray, set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together all of the dry mix ingredients. In a separate medium bowl whisk the 2 TBS warm water and egg replacer together until there are no lumps. Then add remaining wet mix ingredients, whisking until the agave syrup is completely incorporated. Slowly pour wet ingredients into large bowl with dry ingredients. Use the whisk to stir and combine until there are no dry lumps left. In another small bowl gently toss blackberries in flour to coat. Using a spatula, gently fold blueberries into the cornbread mixture.

Carefully spoon the mixture into the wells of the prepared muffin pan, dividing evenly. I like to use an ice cream scoop for this part.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Let cool for a couple minutes in the pan and then remove and place on a wire rack to cool. Makes 12 tasty muffins. These are great served warm with a little vegan butter and drizzled with maple syrup.