This recipe is inspired by a french toast dish we tried last summer when my family went to Niagara-on-the-Lake to celebrate my Mom’s birthday. On our last morning there we had breakfast at the Prince of Wales Hotel. Mr. Pea and I both ordered the stuffed french toast which although to die for, was also most definitely not-vegan. The first weekend we were back home we tried to re-create (or “veganize”) it and it’s now in our weekend breakfast treat rotation. Our version uses chia seeds instead of eggs and is stuffed with bosc pears caramelized in maple syrup and a three fruit marmalade.
There may be some super advanced way to stuff french toast, but the Mr. Pea method is just to use two small slices of bread, dig out a little pocket in each for the filling and then sandwich the two pieces together before you coat in the whole thing in the chia-egg mixture. I guess it may be more of a french toast sandwich? Whatever, it works and I love it.
Consistent with the Niagara-on-the-Lake restaurant version we used Greaves Orange-Grapefruit-Lemon Marmalade). However any other marmalade would work – try using something a little fancy for a treat! We always go overboard buying jams at Greaves when we go to Niagara-on-the-Lake, then get home and proceed to NEVER eat jam. It’s like something comes over me in that store where I think I’m going to all of a sudden eat jam for every meal, 365 days a year. I think the last time we were there we bought something like 10 jars! 10 jars of jam for people who maybe have peanut butter and jam sandwiches for breakfast one a month! So needless to say, this is a good use of our marmalade supply. We also bought just pure lemon marmalade from there which is amazing with cinnamon-chia seed donuts from the Oh She Glows Cookbook (which you should definitely try). Anyway, enough about my irrational jam shopping spree and on to the recipe!
Pear & Citrus Stuffed French Toast
Ingredients
for the filling
- 1 bosc pear, finely chopped
- 3 tbsp water
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- Marmalade (we used Greaves Orange-Grapefruit-Lemon Marmalade)
for the chia egg-wash
- 1 tbsp chia seeds, ground and mixed with 5 tbsp water
- 2 tbsp non-dairy milk
- 1 tbsp reserved liquid from pear mixture
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp lemon zest
Instructions
for the caramelized pears
- Combine 3 tbsp water and 3 tbsp maple syrup in a small saucepan and bring to a low simmer.
- Add thinly sliced bosc pears, stir so pears are covered in maple syrup mixture, cover and let simmer until pears are softened.
for the chia egg-wash
- Grind 1 tbsp chia seeds and combine with 5 tbsp water, let sit for 2-3minutes.
- Add remaining ingredients (spices, lemon zest, liquid from pear mixture and non-dairy milk) and stir.
for the french toast
- Slightly hollow out two pieces of bread (see pictures in post). Add marmalade to one piece and caramelized pears to the other. Combine the two pieces into a ‘sandwich’.
- Heat a small amount of coconut oil in a pan (low-med heat).
- Generously coat the french toast ‘sandwich’ in the chia egg-wash. We recommend dipping it first, then uses a spoon to make sure it’s fully coated including sides.
- Place the french toast in the heated pan. The chia egg-wash will spread out a little on the bottom and start to caramelize. When this happens flip the french toast and continue to cook until golden on both sides.
- Top with caramelized pears, lemon zest and maple syrup and enjoy 🙂
Writing about stuffed french toast is making me so so excited for the weekend! I LOVE lazy weekend breakfasts with fresh coffee and the morning paper. Enjoy!
