Whole Wheat Coconut French Toast with Banana Pecan Caramel Sauce

This whole wheat coconut french toast is already plenty delicious, but drizzle on that banana pecan caramel sauce and omg, it's the most heavenly brunch!

(This recipe for Whole Wheat Coconut French Toast was originally published in August 2012, but was updated with new photos in 2020).

On Monday, I was sitting at my desk minding my own business when the strongest eggs benedict craving hit me. Now, I love eggs benedict with all my heart so this isn't really such an odd thing. And by the time I got home that night, it was far too late to whip any up.

But then yesterday, I was sitting at my desk, again minding my own business completely immersed in my social media report, when the strongest french toast craving hit me. It's pretty much all I thought about all afternoon until 6:30 when I hopped on the T and willed it to move a little faster so I could get home and in the kitchen (thank goodness I don't take the Green Line home anymore or else I may have died from my cravings while on the T… OK, that's a little dramatic. Kind of).

I've also been craving all things coconut lately, or really anything tropical and summery, so I grabbed some coconut milk, shredded coconut, and bananas and got to business.

You should know I rarely post recipes right after I make them. I usually have quite the backlog and take my time editing and writing because I'm a crazy planner and don't like to be stressed out (when it comes to blogging at least). But this one was so good, I had to blog it right away.

Whole Wheat Coconut French Toast Recipe

Despite having a fully-loaded title, this breakfast/brunch/breakfast for dinner (Brinner) dish has relatively few ingredients and is actually quite simple and easy to make. Which is why it was the ideal craving-buster for making after a long day of work.

Now, don't get me wrong; I love a french toast made with challah or brioche. But I don't often have fancy breads laying around my kitchen. What I do always have? Whole wheat bread. So not only is this french toast recipe a little bit healthier (whole grains!), but it's possible to enjoy pretty much any time the craving hits.

You may want to start with the banana pecan caramel sauce (recipe below!), but it only takes a few minutes to make, so you can also do it while your french toast is in the skillet.

To start the french toast, Whisk eggs in a large shallow bowl. Add coconut milk, vanilla, and shredded coconut and whisk together to combine.

If you don't have coconut milk, you can certainly use any other dairy or dairy alternative. The coconut flavor obviously won't be as strong, but you can always add some more shredded coconut to compensate.

Dredge each slice of bread into the coconut mixture, making sure the bread is fully coated on both sides. Let excess drip off.

Melt some butter in a large skillet or griddle over medium heat. I highly recommend the All-Clad griddle [affiliate link] if you make a lot of french toast or pancakes. I also make a ton of bacon on mine. I actually really want to purchase a second one so I can make french toast and bacon at the same time!

Place bread on hot skillet. Cook for about 3 minutes, until the bottom of each slice of bread turns golden brown. Flip bread and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

When the french toast is browned to your liking, remove from heat and set on a plate. Drizzle Banana Pecan Caramel Sauce over the top and some extra shredded coconut, too.

Banana Pecan Caramel Sauce Recipe

This special sweet sauce is a wonderful substitute for traditional maple syrup and would work well on any kind of french toast or pancakes. It's also extremely easy!

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add brown sugar and 3 Tbsp water, turn the heat to medium-high, and stir. Let the mixture simmer for about 2 minutes to thicken.

Remove saucepan from heat and mix in sliced bananas and pecans.

Oh. My. Goodness.

Now serve up some stacks of french toast and drizzle that banana pecan caramel sauce over the top. You can sprinkle a little more shredded coconut on, too. This is, after all, whole wheat coconut french toast!

And your french toast cravings have been satisfied. At least mine were. Yours are probably just starting, right? Oops.

I love that the coconut milk, coconut, and bananas give this dish a slight tropical flavor, without being overwhelming at all.

Yes, I ate this for dinner and yes, I know this isn't the most nutritiously sound meal in the world. But I needed something like this. After a long day of work fighting off this craving, I totally deserved it.

And I made it with whole wheat bread, so that right there obviously has to score me some extra bonus points. Serve it with some bacon if you like. Then you'll get protein, too.

This tropical-like coconut french toast will help bring a little summer back into your life, despite the fact that pumpkin products are already coming out in stores. Wah wah.

Now that my french toast craving has been satiated with this whole wheat coconut french toast, I wonder what I'll start craving for dinner while I'm at work today? Hopefully something just as delicious!

P.S. Happy 100th birthday to Julia Child 🙂 While this blog was obviously originally inspired by Martha Stewart, I have to wonder where we'd all be without Miss Julia. Thanks for doing your thing, Girl! You'll never ever be forgotten.

What have you been craving this week?

If you're looking for more delicious french toast recipes, try my French Toast BLTs or my Banana Split French Toast. Next up I want to make this Apple Butterscotch Stuffed French Toast from Pastry Chef Online!