Almond Crusted Coconut Milk French Toast

My love for Beth Le Manach's and Randy Sharp's dinner party videos will be put into action this summer - this summer, I plan on improving my cooking techniques by hosting a few dinner parties! 

To warm up, I cooked a simple brunch for my high school best friends last Friday. The menu included coffee from a French press, almond crusted coconut milk French toast (topped with a mixed berry compote and coconut cream), and a strawberry-pecan salad (Jersey grown red bibb lettuce, strawberries, toasted pecans, 12 minute hard boiled egg) with a mustard vinaigrette. We were fortunate enough that the rain held up and allowed us to sit on the patio as we ate and caught up. 

So much happens when we're apart, yet we're always able to pick up where we left off and enjoy both lighthearted and deep conversation topics. If you're lucky enough to have friends like that, go tell them how much you love them!

Recipe: Almond Crusted Coconut Milk French Toast
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Eight 1" thick slices of bread (day-old or stale works best; I used a whole grain/seeded variety from Wegman's)
1 cup of full fat coconut milk (reserve the solid cream on top)
1 egg, beaten*
1-1.5 cups of almond flour

butter/oil to cook with

reserved coconut cream 
2 cups of mixed berries (I used frozen that was defrosted overnight in the fridge)
maple syrup


Preheat the oven to 375*F. Mix the coconut milk and beaten egg in a shallow dish. Place the almond flour in a separate, shallow dish.


Add the berries to a saucepan. Cook the berries on medium heat, until the berries have released their juices and are soft, about 7-10 minutes.

Meanwhile, soak each slice of bread for 30 seconds on each side. Let the excess custard drip off and dredge both sides in the almond flour. Place the dredged bread on a cooling rack set above a baking sheet.

Heat a pan (or griddle) over medium-high heat with a little bit of butter/oil. Once the pan is hot enough (flick some water onto the pan - it should start "dancing" and sizzling), add the bread, making sure to not overcrowd the pan. Just cook to brown both sides. Once browned, remove the bread and place back onto the cooling rack contraption. Bake for 5 minutes.

To serve, top each serving with the berry compote, a dollop of the reserved coconut cream**, and maple syrup.

*To make this a vegan recipe, simply omit the egg! The coconut flour will be more pronounced, but the recipe still works!
**If the reserved coconut cream is too runny, place it in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to set up. 


Want another French toast recipe? Try this one:

Almond Crusted Milk Bread French Toast with Maple Caramelized Bananas