Call it bragging (and it is), but I've just got to say it: I'm a food rock star! Okay, now that I've written that sentence out and feel sufficiently obnoxious, I'd like to erase it. But I'll leave it there for you all to see and laugh at me. It's true though. Diane at The Whole Gang is featuring me today as part of her Food Rock Star series. Since her lineup includes some of the hottest names in gluten-free baking today, I'm feeling pretty special. I'm also feeling like I have a lot to live up to, so I'd better finish this post, get back in the kitchen, and work on my recipes! While I'm doing that, if you'd like to know what my wildest dream is, check out The Whole Gang for my answer to that and other questions. But wait! Come back, there's more. The point of this post was not just to tell you about my newfound rock star fame, but to share a recipe with you. A few weeks back, I saw that Hallie of Daily Bites was planning a post featuring healthy breakfast recipes. As the fates would have it, Maggie of She Let Them Eat Cake also decided that breakfast was on the menu this month. Or brunch actually. Maggie is hosting Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten-Free (the monthly series started by the original food rock star, Naomi Devlin), and the theme is Spring Brunches. Luckily for me, I happen to love brunch. Pancakes, crepes, quiche, french toast...I love it all! Of course, being a laid-back West Coast kind of gal (cough...liar...cough), I missed Hallie's breakfast deadline. I was sure I was going to miss Maggie's brunch deadline too, but when she called me out on Facebook with an "Iris, you can do it," I knew I had to finish this recipe in time to be included in the lineup. So I scrapped my attempt at being a relaxed Seattleite and made myself an hour-by-hour to-do list. Somehow, I could finish my case study, do an herb report, a recipe writing assignment, go to Toastmaster's, get in a good hour of yoga, trouble shoot this recipe and write up the post, and still be in bed by 10pm tonight. Ha. You're laughing, right? I know I am. Actually, I could probably have managed all of that if it wasn't so sunny out today. I had to take a break and go sit on my deck and soak up that rarest of Seattle phenomena: sunlight. So now I'm running late. But all that means is I'll get a little less sleep tonight, or do a little less yoga, or just put off the herb report until tomorrow (I didn't want to do that one anyway). You still get your french toast recipe. Maggie still gets brunch. And I'll even give you the link to Hallie's breakfast post because I'm feeling magnanimous. Mostly because I remembered how to spell magnanimous. But even more because Hallie is showcasing some amazing breakfast recipes, and I think you should check them out. So first, make this Sweet Potato French Toast with Coconut Quickbread recipe. (Do you think I could have picked a longer name?)Second, stop by The Whole Gang to see my answers to Diane's Rock Star questions.Third, go to Daily Bites for breakfast ideas. Fourth and finally, hop on over to She Let Them Eat Cake for a bevy of beautiful brunch recipes.
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Ingredients: Coconut Bread: 2/3 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/3 cup quinoa flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 cup Spectrum Organic Palm Shortening (sub: butter or Earth Balance)
3 Tbsp. flaxseed meal plus 2/3 cup water
3/4 cup unsweetened soy milk
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 tablespoon orange zest
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon liquid stevia
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves
"Egg" Wash:1 cup unsweetened soy milk (or your favorite alternative)
1 tablespoon flaxseed meal
1/4 - 1/2 cup pureed sweet potato
1 tablespoon orange zest
dash each of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves
10 drops liquid stevia (optional)
Directions:
To make the bread:Preheat Oven to 350 Degrees F. Grease bread pan.Whisk together flours, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum. Cut in shortening with a fork. In a small bowl, stir flaxseed meal and water. Whisk in milk, apple sauce, vanilla and stevia. Beat the wet mix into dry. Pour batter into greased pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean. Once the bread comes out of the oven, let it cool for a few minutes, then turn onto a cooling rack and let cool another ten minutes. Slice into approximately 10 slices.
To make the french toast: Whisk together the milk and flaxseed meal in a wide plate or pie pan. Whisk in the rest of the "egg" wash ingredients. Start with 1/4 cup of sweet potato, but you can add another 1/4 cup if you like a thicker coating on your french toast. Heat a skillet over medium-low heat with a teaspoon of your fat of choice (Earth Balance, coconut oil, etc.) to grease the pan. Dip a slice of bread in the wash, coating both sides. Cook the bread about 2-3 minutes on each side, allowing it to get golden brown before flipping.
Makes approximately 10 slices of french toast Note: The coconut quickbread also makes a delicious bread on its own, and is a great basic recipe to have on hand. You can easily add in whatever extras you want (coconut flakes, chocolate chips, fresh or dried fruit, etc.) like I did with my banana chocolate bread.
