You Must Add Banana to French Toast Dough
In an age of viral and often antagonistic TikTok recipes, it’s nice to see something vintage grab attention. Grab this “secret banana” French toast. Known on Reddit, the recipe is quite simple: mash half a banana with an egg and a little cinnamon, dip whole-grain bread into the dough and fry in butter. It’s like two-ingredient banana fritters , only with real bread and gluten (thankfully).
You may have noticed that the French toast pictured above is not made with whole grain bread. That’s because I didn’t have them at home, but I did have some challah, which I prefer for making French toast. (If you want to see the recipe review exactly as written, head to The Kitchn .)
Whatever your bread preference, I’m sure you’ll love Invisible Banana French Toast if you like the taste of bananas. The dough is sweet and the sugar caramelizes beautifully in the pan, giving the dish a nice but not overpowering banana flavor. When cooked with challah, it tastes like a banana flavored doughnut. When cooked with challah and topped with raspberry jam or strawberry sauce, it tastes like a banana-flavoured jelly donut. If you fry it in vegetable oil instead of butter, it is dairy-free, which is good for people with lactose intolerance.
As with any French toast, you can use simple toppings (butter and maple syrup), but I highly recommend slicing the other half of the banana and fanning it out on top, perhaps on top of the Nutella. Banana and Nutella work wonders together.
Invisible Banana French Toast (Slightly adapted from Reddit )
Ingredients:
- 1 banana, cut in half
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 slices of your favorite bread (I recommend challah)
- 2 tablespoons butter, divided
Add half a banana, egg, vanilla and cinnamon to a blender or a cup suitable for an immersion blender. Mix to combine. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Pour the batter into a shallow bowl and dip both sides of the bread slice into the batter. Let the excess drain.
As soon as the butter begins to foam, but before it turns brown, add the battered bread to the pan. Fry on both sides for a few minutes until golden brown and crispy. Repeat the same with the second piece of bread, adding a second tablespoon of oil to the pan if needed. Slice remaining banana diagonally and fan with French toast. Serve with your favorite French toast.