Good Morning Bread Pudding

I shared with you how I recently tried out the recipe for Multi-Grain Sourdough Bread.  There was a problem though: this bread is made with leftover oatmeal and the leftover oatmeal I had contained chai spices (cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, etc.)  Somehow, the combination of sourdough flavor and chai flavor just did not work!  As I looked at that loaf of bread last night, I thought, "What do I do with this?"  And then I decided it would work perfectly in bread pudding for breakfast- and very convenient since I had no idea what we were going to eat for breakfast either!

I originally found this recipe for Bread Pudding shortly after I first tried to make the "soaked" muffins from Nourishing Traditions.  They were a huge failure- dry & tasteless.  Rather than throw them out (which I was tempted to do) I made them into bread pudding & the resulting breakfast was wonderful!  Now, as I experiment with sourdough baking I have had a few more occasions to turn a failed loaf of bread into a delicious breakfast.  I have adjusted the recipe a little bit & I put it together the night before so when I get up in the morning I can just put it in the oven to bake.

The recipe calls for sugar- what I use is turbinado sugar because our family seems to tolerate it well.  You could also try Sucanat.  Normally I use raisins in this recipe, but because I've been eating raisins all week in my No Bake Granola Bars I decided to use blueberries instead.  I pulled the blueberries straight out of the freezer & they thawed overnight in the pudding.  I also saw I had some sliced almonds & decided they would be nice sprinkled on top. 

Good Morning Bread Pudding  :  Serves about 6

6 slices day old bread, cubed
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup raisins or blueberries (fresh or frozen)
4 eggs
2 cups milk
1/2 c. sugar (scant- could go closer to 1/3)
1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla

Optional: sliced almonds, whipping cream

Place bread in 8x8 inch pan (mine was being used for granola bars so I used an oval casserole dish instead).  Drizzle melted butter over the top of all the pieces of bread.  Sprinkle with raisins or blueberries.

In a mixing bowl combine eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla.  Beat until well mixed.  Pour slowly & evenly over the bread.  Lightly push down on bread to make sure it is covered & soaking in the egg mixture. 

If using almonds, sprinkle these on top.  Cover and place in refrigerator.
In the morning uncover dish & place directly in oven.  Turn oven on to 360 (do not preheat) and bake for approximately 50-60 minutes.  Middle of the dish will rise from the steam coming up from underneath & then go back down as it cools.

Here is our finished dish.  When I pulled it out this morning it smelled wonderful.  Then I thought, "This would be great with some whipped cream!"  I just happened to have some cream & whipped up about 1 c. of cream with some stevia to sweeten (alternately you could use maple syrup to sweeten the whipped cream).  My husband gave it a thumbs up & my daughter said it tasted like blueberry pie!

If you make this in the morning instead of the night before, I would suggest preheating your oven to 350 and baking for 45 - 60 minutes.  This post is a part of Pennywise Platter Thursday because you are making a meal out of something (stale or failed bread) you might otherwise throw away.  And it's sooo good!  Enjoy!

Blessings,
Lisa