So, it’s a little known fact that I cook all the meals in our house. Hey, breakfast you’re on your own…so I hope you like hot or cold cereal, or the cookies I made yesterday. But other than that, I cook ALL the meals. And mostly from scratch. I don’t know why. I’ve gotten really picky as I’ve aged. I just like the taste of fresh food. It doesn’t taste like a can, not bland or rubbery, and it’s so much easier on my digestive system. Oh bless you, for listening to me ramble. But there is a point. I cook a lot. So I’ve been able to tweak recipes over and over again until they’re near perfect. Mmmm…. so here’s our Toffee Bread Pudding Recipe. And even my picky kids all ate it. Yes, there is finally a recipe that everyone is happy with! 😉 Enjoy!!
- 2 loaves french bread (10 cups)
- 5 medium eggs
- 3 cups milk (2% or whole only...walk away if you're going to make this with skim...just walk away)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 TBS pumpkin pie spice
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- Topping: mash up some See's Candies Toffettes, or Almond Roca, or Skor bars
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 pan with butter or margarine.
- Cut bread into 1 1/2 inch cubes. Squish bread into the 9x13 pan.
- Combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl with a whisk. Pour the mixture over the bread. Stir bread until every piece is coated, then squish it back down into the pan with your hand or the back of a serving spoon. Try to make it lower than the edge of the pan...really squish it. You want it nice and tight. Place pan on a cookie sheet and put in the oven. Bake for one hour (it will puff up like crazy). Let stand 10-20 mins, and sprinkle with toffee bits. Serve warm with drizzled caramel sauce.
- Use REALLY crusty bread. I mean like, 2 days from the bakery old. Let it sit out and get stale. It cuts like cardboard and tastes like heaven. Do it. That's the secret to perfect bread pudding.
- You can get day old bread from Jimmy John's for about 50-75 cents a loaf. Let it sit out 2 more days and your bread pudding will be awesome. Seriously awesome.
- If you must use plain ol' sandwich bread, you'll need to cube it and toast it in the oven first, for about 12-15 mins at 350 degrees F.
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk (you can use non-fat or low-fat if you want)
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup milk (2% or whole only)
- Whisk sugar and condensed milk together; heat mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves. Turn heat down to simmer. Add butter and vanilla, stir until it melts together. Add milk and stir well. Remove from heat.
- Pour over your desserts, and store extra in a covered container in the refrigerator until your next dessert emergency.
- A little goes a long way.
- And It will firm up at room temperature.
Happy Cooking!
