Strawberry, Stuffed, Banana Bread French Toast

When my Nana (my mom's mom) was seventeen, she worked at Sears in the credit department in Corpus Christi, Texas. It was her first job. Sweet, little, bity thing that she was (she had a 19" waist), she looked so much like Audrey Hepburn at the time that her boss, Mr. Baldwin, brought his wife in just to see the resemblance. When Mrs. Baldwin showed up, she did not come empty handed. She brought the best banana bread my Nana had ever tasted and kindly passed on the recipe.

60 years later, my Nana was going through her cookbooks and recipes when she came across the little hand written note containing Mrs. Baldwin's banana bread recipe. Longing to taste a bit of history, I tried my hand at it. I must say it was delicious. And while it can certainly stand alone, I happened to use it as the base for my new Strawberry, Stuffed, Banana Bread French Toast recipe.

While this recipe does take some time to make, I promise it is worth it! Lightly sweet, full of flavor, and hearty enough to keep you full from brunch till dinner time, I think you're really going to like it. So here you have it, a modern spin on a 1950's classic recipe, I give you Strawberry, Stuffed, Banana Bread French Toast!

STRAWBERRY, STUFFED, BANANA BREAD FRENCH TOAST

Baldwin's Banana Bread:

Ingredients

2 cups sifted flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1 cup sugar

1 cup chopped nuts (I left this out)

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup salad oil (this means liquid oil, like vegtable oil. At this time, liquid oil was a new thing. Before that people used what we now call shortening or crisco.)

1 cup mashed bananas (3-4 bananas)

1 tbs lemon juice (I used 1/4 of a lime)

Instructions

1. Combine dry ingredients and nuts.

2. Combine remaining ingredients and stir only until flower is moistened.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

French Toast:

Ingredients

4 1" slices of banana bread, refridgerated over night

3/8 cup plain, unsweetened coconut milk (I used Trader Joe's Original Coconut Beverage)

2 eggs

1/4 - 1/2 tsp cinnamon

4 oz. cream cheese

1/2 tbs sugar

1/2 tsp tsp vanilla

1 16 oz carton of strawberries, washed and sliced

Instructions

1. Whisk coconut milk, eggs, and cinnamon.

2. Soak banana bread slices in mixture.

3. Mash cream cheese, vanilla, and sugar with a fork until thoroughly mixed.

4. Lay two slices of soaked bread in a small, greased pan. Place 1/4 of cream cheese on each slice. Layer in another slice onto of each. Top with remaining cream cheese mixture. Cover all with slices strawberries.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 min.

6. Remove from oven, top with glaze, and serve.

Glaze

Ingredients

1/8 cup sugar

1/2 tbs coconut milk

1/2 tbs butter

1/2 tbs maple syrup

1/2 tsp vanilla

Instructions

1.Place all ingredients in a microwavable container. Microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until melted together.

2. Pour over french toast.

Enjoy!