Banana Love: Banana Coconut French Toast

Banana-stuffed Coconut-crusted French Toast with Chocolate Sauce

Guilty pleasures … we all have them. One of mine is Steven and Chris: a weekday tv show on CBC. Whenever I get the chance to steal an hour in the afternoon, I like to put my feet up and watch Steven Sabados and Chris Hyndman and their guests as they cover the latest in design, health, beauty, relationships, entertaining and, of course, cooking. It’s a light, fun show and I always learn something new. On one show a while back, their guest Chef Voula presented some recipes for weekend cooking and, because of my boundless love of bananas, I had to try making banana-stuffed French toast. It was so good I made it two weekends in a row. 

Here’s my version of Banana-Stuffed Coconut-Crusted French Toast with Chocolate Sauce. FYI - This is not the time to use those ugly, slightly squishy bananas in the freezer. Use them instead for Sweet-topped Banana Muffins or Good Ol' Banana Bread. For this delicious treat, use ripe bananas that are still nice and firm.

MA’s Banana-stuffed Coconut-crusted French Toast

Preheat oven to 350º F.

Lightly oil or butter a baking sheet.

1 loaf French bread, unsliced

3 bananas

1 – 398 ml tin coconut milk, well shaken, separated into ½ cup and 1 ¼ cup

5 eggs

½ tsp vanilla

1 ½ cups milk

2 cups desiccated, shredded or flaked coconut

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Banana slices stuffed into bread pocket

Cut bread into six slices, each about 1” thick. With a sharp knife, cut a slit into the middle of each slice to make a pocket.

Peel and slice bananas into rounds, each about ½ “ thick. Divide into six portions. Stuff the bananas into the bread pockets. Gently press down on filled bread. Place stuffed slices onto a large baking dish (use two dishes, if you need more room).

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, ½ cup of coconut milk, milk and vanilla. Pour mixture over stuffed slices, covering bread evenly. Let soak for 10 minutes, turn slices over gently and let soak for another 5 minutes.

Cover soaked slices with coconut

Spread coconut onto a large plate. One at a time, gently place slices into coconut, turning to coat each side evenly. 

Ready for the oven

Place each slice on prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes, then turn each piece over, and bake for another 15 minutes or until nicely golden.

Chocolate and coconut milk for the sauce

Chocolate Sauce: In the top of a double boiler or in a bowl fitted over a sauce pan, put the chocolate chips and the 1¼ cup coconut milk. Warm over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate melts and combines with the milk. The sauce will be smooth and shiny. 

Note: If you don’t use all the sauce on the French toast, put it in the fridge and melt it down to use it later. Keeps about a week.

Serve warm stuffed French toast topped with chocolate sauce. Garnish with more sliced bananas. Enjoy!

Makes six servings.

Printable Recipe for MA's Banana-stuffed Coconut-crusted French Toast