Feeding Friends: Girl's Night and Gluten Free

No breakfast is complete without coffee.

Food speaks to me. Not in a crazy, voices in my head, kind of way (Well, only sometimes). Most of the time it is inspiring. While at work I noticed Mango Butter and for some reason I needed to buy it. I had no idea what I was going to do with it besides put it on toast and that seemed way too boring, so I googled some ideas and came across a vegan and gluten free recipe for french toast with mango butter spread on top. I love food, but there are only rare circumstances when I taste food and it is so perfect that I feel at ease and let out a sigh of relief. That happened with this dish. The star ingredient of this meal is the coconut oil that it is cooked in. It was my first time using it and I am now obsessed and will find any reason to use coconut oil. It leaves a subtle beachy, exotic, lay on the beach drinking pina coladas, after taste. I was so enamored by it that I told my best friend, who is gluten free, that I would make it for her. Only, this meant that I had to lug all of my ingredients onto the LIRR, into a taxi and up to her apartment to cook it in her closet sized kitchen. But it was worth it. After being up for over 24 hours due to work at 5 a.m. and a night out with my two very best friends in New York City, being our crazy selves and meeting one of my favorite bands ever (thanks Melissa and Sam), we all woke up with headaches and slight hangovers. After a trek to Starbucks to obtain caffeine and some mango juice, I focused as much as I could on cooking, because no hang over could have stopped me! As an extra treat I sliced some of the gluten free and vegan banana and chocolate chip bread and added it to our plates. There is nothing better than making your friend's belly's happy after a great night together. So, without further ado, here is the recipe for this haunting dish, as well as the banana bread. I hope it brings you as much joy as it has me!

Gluten-Free and Vegan French Toast with Mango Butter
Recipe from Sweatpants and Superfoods (Amazing blog title and I am jealous that I didn't come up with it)

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: Approximately 2 minutes per slice
Total Time: 20-30 minutes, depending on size of batch

Ingredients:

- 1 cup soy milk (I used Almond Milk)

- 4 Tbs oat flour

- 2 Tbs flax meal

- 1 Tbs coconut oil (for cooking)

- 4-6 slices of gluten-free bread

Preparation:

1. Heat a tablespoon of coconut oil in a skillet. Whisk the batter ingredients together in a shallow dish with a whisk or fork. Let it sit for a minute so the flax meal has time to soak up the milk; this will help mixture will become more batter-like and almost frothy.

2. Dip each piece of bread in the ‘batter’ and cook each side in the heated skillet for a few minutes or until the edges start to brown.

** The blog also includes a recipe for fresh mango butter, but since I had already bought mine, I use that. I guarantee the fresh one is better though!

Gluten Free and Vegan Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Recipe from Whipped

I somehow did not take a picture of this. Silly me. Just trust me, it looked and tasted amazing.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: Approximately 55 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 5 minutes

Ingredients:

- 2 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free All-Purpose Baking Flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon xantham gum
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 2/3 cup agave nectar
- 2/3 cup rice milk (I used Almond Milk)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 3)
- 2 cups chocolate chips

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and lightly grease a 7 x 4x 3 inch-loaf pan.

2. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, xantham gum, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Add 1/2 cup oil and agave nectar, rice milk, and vanilla to dry ingredients and stir until smooth.

3. Using a plastic spatula gently fold in bananas and chocolate chips.

4. Fill prepared pan halfway with batter.

5. Bake on the center rack for 35 minutes, rotating 180 degrees after 20 minutes. Cook until when you press on the loaf is bounces back slightly and a toothpick comes out clean.

6. Let banana bread sit for 20 minutes before inverting onto a cutting board to cut.