A couple days ago someone on Facebook asked me if I had a good bread pudding recipe and I was super excited because I doooo! I actually had this recipes saved in my archives, just waiting for the perfect time to post it…and y’know what? Now kind of seems like that time!
I love bread pudding for so many reasons! I don’t love super sweet desserts, so bread pudding is the perfect combo of salty and sweet. It is also very versatile. You can add nuts, berries, raisins…you name it!
I went vanilla and bourbon on this bad boy, but feel free to play!
1 oven safe glass baking dish
Semi stale bread, enough to fill the baking dish 3/4 of the way high (I used a mix of hawaiian rolls, brioche and cinnamon bread)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 small scrape of fresh vanilla bean
1/4 cup of bourbon (you can omit)
2 cups almond milk (you can use regular milk as well)
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
pinch of sea salt
*I would add cinnamon, but my bread was cinnamon bread so I didn’t..If your bread is plain, add cinnamon or nutmeg!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Tear bread in to bite size pieces and fill dish
In small skillet, warm the butter, bourbon, milk and vanilla
In mixing bowl, slightly whisk two large eggs and brown sugar with a pinch of sea salt
Pour your skillet of warm buttery bourbon-y vanilla-y creamy goodness in to the brown sugar and egg bowl and give it a quick stir to combine! Do this quickly! We don’t want scrambled eggs before we have time to pour the mixture over the torn bread! Once the wet mixture is poured across the bread pieces, give it a very soft press throughout, making sure the bread starts to absorb the liquid but please don’t mash it down! You want the edges to catch a bit of texture from the oven.
To me, a good bread pudding has texture and dimension. It’s got air pockets every so often and a bit of crunch in places across the top. Nothing is worse than a solid chunk of soggy bread mush. Well, let’s be serious. It’s not that bad, just not the way I prefer to enjoy it.
Serve with a good ice cream.
