Breakfast Fridays! On the menu: Dairy-free, Egg-free Banana French Toast

At our house, we have a tradition we like to call "“Breakfast Fridays.”  That’s where we have breakfast food for dinner and my darling son gets to stay up late with daddy watching TV and eating snacks until they both fall asleep on the couch. LOL. He looks forward to this bonding time with his dad every week.  And it gives mommy some much needed “me time” on a Friday night to catch up on my Netflix, blog, or finish reading that novel on my nightstand that I keep telling myself I’m going to finish.

Well, this past Friday we had Dairy-free/ Egg-free Banana French toast. Wait? You can make French toast without eggs?  Yes!!!! You can!  And I’m gonna show you how.

Dairy-free/Egg-free Banana French Toast-makes about 4 slices

Ingredients:

• “safe” bread (I just used 4 slices of a "safe" whole wheat sandwich bread)
• ¼ cup of banana puree ( I mashed mine with a fork, but you can totally use a blender)
• ¼ cup non-dairy milk (we use Almond milk in our house)
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. cinnamon

Mix together the banana puree, non-dairy milk, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon in a dish flat and wide enough for dipping the bread. Coat each side of a piece of bread by dipping into the mixture.  Now, be careful with this process. Dip one side, then flip the bread immediately to dip the other side.  Don’t allow the bread to sit in the mixture.  If you do, it will be a soggy mess and just won’t cook up right.  Next, brown each side of the bread slices in a medium-high skillet. About 3 minutes per side.  Flip them over a few times while they're browning to prevent burning on either side.

Next transfer the slices to a 400 degree oven to finish cooking. Bake about 10 mins., flipping halfway through.

I topped ours with some powdered sugar, sliced strawberries and bananas, and warm maple syrup.

Enjoy!

Dairy-free, Egg-free Chocolate Cupcakes w/ Cookies & Cream Frosting

Chocolate should be a food group, don’t you think? I mean c’mon! Everything’s better with chocolate on it!  Okay, maybe not everything…but you’ve got to admit, a little chocolate does make things better.  At least for me it does.  I’m a bit of what some would call a choco-holic.  I admit…it’s a problem.  I love chocolate cake.  And I love chocolate cookies.  Seriously, I go through a package of Oreos in a few days! It’s my guilty pleasure.  At night I look forward to my crunchy, sweet 10 o’clock snack while hubby and I catch up on Netflix.

This recipe is the perfect marriage of chocolate cake and chocolate cookie.  The chocolate cake is just a boxed cake mix, but, it's allergy-friendly.  And the cookies are Oreos.  Which by the way are milk and egg-free!  Score!  And don’t fret…I realize I’ve got to balance out all that chocolate going on.  So, I do this with a dairy-free cream cheese frosting which adds just a hint of tang.  BTW, I really have to give props to Daiya for their cream "cheese"; it's allergy-friendly and actually tastes great.

Try this recipe!  These little gems are seriously good and you'll love them, whether you're a fellow choco-holic or not.

Dairy-free,Egg-free Chocolate Cupcakes w/ Cookies & Cream Frosting-makes about 15 cupcakes

Ingredients:

Chocolate Cake Batter:

• 1 box “allergy-friendly” Chocolate Cake Mix ( we use Cherrybrook Kitchen)

Cookies & Cream Frosting:

• 6oz. dairy-free “cream cheese”
• ½ cup vegan butter
• 3 cups of confectioner’s sugar
• ½ cup crushed Oreo cookies

Prepare cake mix according to package. I use Cherrybrook Kitchen cake mixes because they’re allergy friendly, and don’t contain milk or egg.  Pour batter into lined cupcake pan and bake according to instructions.  Let cool.

To make the frosting, simply beat the vegan butter and dairy-free cream cheese together. Add in sugar 1 cup at a time, and continue to beat until fully incorporated. Gently fold in crushed Oreos.

Top each cupcake with a generous amount of frosting and finish it off with a cookie.  Enjoy!

Dairy-free, Egg-free S'mores Sandwich Cookies

Do you love S’mores? I do. No, correction…I LOVE S’mores!  It’s that fluffy marshmallow melted onto that crunchy sweet graham cracker with just a hint of saltiness, all smothered in smooth, rich melted chocolate! OMG…all that ooey-gooey deliciousness, that’s what I love!

In fact, I love it so much that I have multiple S’mores recipes. And today, I want to share with you one of my favorites: S’mores Sandwich Cookies.  This yummy recipe is quick, easy, and best of all, it’s dairy and egg-free, which is a must in our house due to food allergies.  Now don’t panic! Just because there’s no dairy or eggs, doesn’t mean there’s no flavor. These cookies are fantastic! Trust me, you won’t be disappointed!

Dairy-free, Egg-free S’mores Sandwich Cookies-makes about 18 cookies, depending on size

Ingredients:

Cookie Dough:

2 ¼ cups of flour

1 cup crushed graham crackers

1 tsp. baking soda

Dash of salt

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup white sugar

1 tbsp. vanilla

1 cup vegan butter

¼ cup non-dairy milk

1 cup of miniature marshmallows (I chopped mine to make them even smaller)

Chocolate Filling:

1 cup dairy-free chocolate chips
1 tbsp. non-dairy milk

Let's get started!

Mix dry ingredients (first 4) together in a bowl. In a separate bowl mix wet ingredients (remaining 5), except for marshmallow.  Add dry ingredients, a little at a time, to bowl of wet ingredients.  Mix together. Gently fold in marshmallow.  Scoop cookie dough onto parchment paper lined baking sheet (may use a small ice cream scooper for small size). Flatten slightly. Bake at 350 degrees, for 15-18 mins. until golden brown.  Let cool.

To make the chocolate filling, mix together chocolate chips with non-dairy milk and microwave on high for 20 seconds to melt.  To make the sandwiches, flip one cookie over so the bottom side is up. Spread on some of the chocolate filling and top with another cookie to form a “sandwich”.  Enjoy!