Ingredients

• 1 large, ripe banana
• 1 cup milk
• 3 tbsp ground flax or chia
• 1-2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ⅛ tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 9–10 slices stale or lightly toasted bread

Instructions

1. Mash the banana and mix it together with all of the ingredients, except the bread slices.
2. Dip each slice of bread into the mixture and fill the bottom of an 8″ baking pan (a loaf pan, like shown above, also works well), pushing them to the edge of the pan as much as possible. Cut bread slices before dipping to make them fit the pan, if needed.
3. When the bottom of the pan is covered with the dipped bread slices, add a second and any additonal layers until the pan is full. Place the bread slices on each new layer in the opposite direction, so the bread overlaps the edges of the previous layer. 
4. Pour any leftover dipping mixture evenly over the top of the bread layers.
5. Sprinkle with cinnamon.
6. Bake for approximately 30 min until it is fluffy and browned.
7. Allow the pan to cool for several minutes and, after loosening the loaf from the edges of the pan with a knife or spatua, cut slices of the baked french toast and serve them with any toppings you’d like.
8. Enjoy!

Notes

• Stale bread always works best, because it is firmer, but you can also slightly toast it.
• You can use gluten-free or wheat bread, but gluten-free will tend to be a bit mushier and not hold together quite as well.
• The recipe can also be made eggs. To do so, just substitute 3 beaten eggs for the ground flax/chia. (In the above photo, the pan on the left is vegan and the one on the right is made with eggs.)