This Vegan Elvis French Toast is a tribute to Elvis Presley and his favorite food – a fried peanut butter, banana, and bacon sandwich. I Can’t Help Falling In Love with this surprisingly delicious breakfast recipe!
Vegan Elvis French Toast
The day I am sharing this recipe is January 8th, 2021. You know what that means? By the title of this blog post, you can probably guess that it is Elvis’s birthday today! Happy birthday to Elvis Presley! Elvis was born on January 8th 1935, which means he would have been turning 86 this year. Although Elvis unfortunately died in 1977, he was a huge influence in American pop culture and his legacy will live on forever.
To celebrate The King, I’m making a veganized french toast version of his favorite meal, which is a a fried peanut butter, banana, and bacon sandwich. At first I thought this combo might be weird, but it is surprisingly really good! It’s sweet, salty, crispy, nutty – everything. Don’t sleep on this Elvis French Toast recipe.
Ingredients
- Crusty bread: a thicker, crust bread works best for french toast. I used some fresh sourdough bread, but italian or challah bread would also work.
- Vegan bacon: I like the Lightlife Vegan Bacon. If you want to make your own, I have a recipe for Tempeh Bacon that would be delicious here.
- Peanut butter: a runny, natural peanut butter works best here
- Banana: chopped into coins
- Vegan butter or oil: for caramelizing the bananas and frying the french toast
- Cornstarch and baking powder: to coat the bread and help with browning
- Unsweetened non-dairy milk: I used almond milk
- Cinnamon: tastes amazing with the peanut butter, bacon, banana combo!
- Vanilla extract: for a hint of vanilla
- Maple syrup: for the french toast batter, plus more for serving
- Peanuts: optional, for a nice crunchy garnish
How to make Vegan Elvis French Toast
First, cook the vegan bacon according to package instructions. I used Lightlife vegan bacon and highly recommend it! It’s crispy and delicious. I also have a tempeh bacon recipe on my blog, if you’d like to make your own. It is not as crispy, but it is sweet, smoky, and would make the King proud.
Once the bacon is done cooking, remove from heat and set aside.
In the same pan, melt some vegan butter or oil. Cook the banana slices on each side until caramelized. Remove from heat and set aside. You’ll be using this same pan for cooking the french toast.
How to make Vegan French Toast
If you just wanted to make regular vegan french toast and not Elvis French Toast, you could just do these next few steps. In a wide, shallow bowl or dish large enough to hold a slice of bread, whisk together the milk, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, corn starch, and baking powder. Soak each side of the bread for 20-30 seconds, until evenly moistened. If your bread is thinner, you might not need to soak it as long. Once both sides of the bread are soaked, fry on each side for 2 minutes, or until golden brown.
To assemble the Elvis french toast, place a piece of french toast on a plate, top with some bacon slices, caramelized bananas, maple syrup, a drizzle of peanut butter, and peanuts. To make the peanut butter easier to drizzle, you can microwave it in 10 second intervals, stirring it until it’s smooth and runny.
I think my favorite Elvis song is Can’t Help Falling In Love. I’m a sucker for soft and sweet love ballads. I used to take voice lessons when I was younger, and my voice teacher first introduced me to the song. It was her idea to try it out, and it really suited me and my voice. It’ll always hold a special place in my heart.
My second favorite song is definitely Suspicious Minds, but I also love All Shook Up, In The Ghetto, Stuck On You… and most of his songs, actually.
What is your favorite Elvis song? Let me know in the comments below!
I hope you make this Elvis inspired recipe! This Elvis French Toast will be my annual Elvis birthday celebratory breakfast, but I may just have to whip it up more frequently throughout the year because this odd combo is actually quite delicious. I guess Elvis had good taste.
More vegan breakfast recipes
- Healthy Chocolate Zucchini Oatmeal
- Everyday Vegan Pancakes for One
- Breakfast Sandwich Vegan Egg
- Sweet and Smoky Tempeh Bacon
- Mini Vegan Frittatas
Vegan Elvis French Toast
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This Vegan Elvis French Toast is a tribute to Elvis Presley and his favorite food – a fried peanut butter, banana, and bacon sandwich. I Can’t Help Falling In Love with this surprisingly delicious breakfast recipe!
Ingredients
- 1–2 tablespoons oil or vegan butter, for frying
- 8 slices of vegan bacon
- 2 small bananas, sliced into coins
- 2–4 tablespoons runny peanut butter, for serving
- 1/4 cup maple syrup, for serving
- 2–4 tablespoons peanuts, optional for garnish
French Toast
- 1/2 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk (I used almond milk)
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 4 slices thick crusty bread, like sourdough or italian
- 1–2 tablespoons oil or vegan butter, for frying
Instructions
- Cook the vegan bacon. In a large frying pan, cook the bacon according to package instructions. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Caramelize the bananas. In the same pan, heat up the vegan butter or oil over medium high heat. Once hot, pan fry the banana slices for 3 minutes on each side, until browned. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Make the french toast.
- In the same pan, add some vegan butter or oil over medium high heat.
- In a wide, shallow bowl or dish large enough to hold a slice of bread, whisk together the milk, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, corn starch, and baking powder.
- Dip one slice of bread in the batter and let soak for 20-30 seconds on each side. If you are using a thinner bread, you may not need to soak it as long. The bread should be evenly moist but not soggy.
- Add the bread to the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, until golden brown.
- Repeat with all of your bread, adding more oil or butter to the pan as needed between cooking each slice of bread.
- Assemble the french toast. Place a piece of french toast on a plate, top with bacon slices, caramelized bananas, maple syrup, a drizzle of peanut butter, and peanuts. To make the peanut butter easier to drizzle, you can microwave it in 10 second intervals, stirring it until it’s smooth and runny. Enjoy fresh!
Notes
Inspired by Nora Cook’s Vegan French Toast
This recipe makes 4 normal servings, or 2 huge servings.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 383.2 kcal
- Sugar: 22.9 g
- Sodium: 723.6 mg
- Fat: 15.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 2.9 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 53.8 g
- Fiber: 3.2 g
- Protein: 11 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Keywords: elvis french toast, vegan french toast