When Ethan and I lived in New Jersey, we would occasionally treat ourselves to breakfast at Rutherford Pancake House. While not a vegan restaurant, Spiro, the owner of the restaurant, created a sizable, and delicious vegan menu. One of the items we would get to share was the Stuffed French Toast: two thick slices of vegan challah filled with a vegan sweet cream mixture, coated in a vegan French toast batter and cooked. That recipe inspired our Strawberry French Toast Roll Ups. I’ve kicked it up a bit by adding strawberries to the filling. Also, rather than having to find (or make) vegan challah, I use good old bread. These Strawberry French Toast Roll Ups are easy to make, a great change from ordinary French Toast, and are sure to get you a “WOW!” when you bring them to the table.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 6 minutes
Yield: 12 rolls
Ingredients:
12 slices sandwich bread
1/2 pint fresh strawberries
4 oz vegan cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup vanilla-flavored soymilk
1 Tablespoon flour
3 teaspoons sugar, divided
1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
Directions:
1. Rinse, hull and roughly chop the strawberries. Put into a small bowl and add 1 teaspoon sugar. Toss to coat. Set aside.
2. In another bowl, mix together the cream cheese and powdered sugar until there are no lumps. Add the vanilla extract and mix to thoroughly combine.
3. Cut the crusts off the bread and using a rolling pin, flatten the bread slices. Spread about a teaspoon of the cream cheese mixture along one edge of the bread. Top with about a Tablespoonful of strawberries. Gently but tightly roll up the bread around the strawberries and cream cheese mixture. Continue with the remaining bread.
4. In a shallow bowl, whisk the soy milk, flour, nutritional yeast, and remaining 2 teaspoons of sugar. Pour mixture into a shallow dish (I like to use a pie pan).
5. Preheat your griddle, nonstick pan or electric griddle over medium heat. Add a bit of oil.
6. Coat the rolls in the egg mixture and place seam side down in the pan. When browned, turn a quarter turn and continue until all sides are cooked and browned nicely.
7. Remove to a plate, dust with more powdered sugar, if desired, and top with remaining strawberries.
