Bread pudding is one of those traditional desserts that can comfort your soul on the harshest of days. It's so simple, usually made of day-old bread, cream, eggs, sugar and butter. It is delicious. But my question is this: Dessert...or breakfast?
I mean, it's sweet, so I get that a lot of people would say dessert. But it also has eggs, bread, and milk...making this a potential breakfast dish! Oh the dilemma...
I recently went to a friend's house where she made us the most scrumptious bread pudding. It was fresh out of the oven, and I could've eaten it until it was completely gone. But it did get me thinking...could I make a healthier version (or as my husband would say: "Ruin it")?
My version is NOT RUINED...in fact, it's equally creamy and will fill you up and have you guessing the ingredients! Lactose-Intolerant friends rejoice! We can all enjoy this treat together!
I still use eggs in my recipe because I love eggs. But I do swap out the cream for almond milk, bringing the fat and calorie content WAY down. Another switch I made was using the whole grain bread I had leftover. Once my daughter discovered it had seeds in it...well, that was the end of that. Bread pudding is an awesome recipe for leftover bread because really, who makes croutons anymore?
And you're probably wondering about the sugar! Usually recipes will have at least one cup of refined white sugar but I use only 1/3 cup of maple syrup in this entire recipe. It's really all it needs! The almond milk sweetened up the entire recipe without the added sugar.
So, breakfast? Maple Pecan is one of my favourite flavour combos and it's found in a ton of breakfast items.
Or dessert? My kids ate this for dessert and there were no questions. They were A-OK with this being a dessert item. Although if I offered it for breakfast, I don't think they would complain. Let's just say there's no leftovers of the leftover bread.
So what are you waiting for? You can make this today! You can decide for yourself. And if you're NOT lactose intolerant...I'm sure this would be really good with ice cream.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 350.
Grease a small, deep baking dish with coconut oil. I used a 9x6 dish with tall sides.
Cut day-old whole grain bread into cubes. Place in a large bowl.
In another bowl, whisk eggs, milk, maple syrup, vanilla and salt.
Pour over bread and mix. Wait five minutes.
Pour into greased dish and top with pecans. Drizzle a little more maple syrup if you'd like.
Bake for 40 minutes.
Let cool for ten minutes and eat!
This dish is so simple to make, it's perfect for those guests that drop in last minute or when you just want to make dinner (or breakfast) extra special. Enjoy!
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