By Tracy Lauth
This easy to make Strawberry Bread Pudding is lightly sweet and full of flavor. It brings back so many fond memories of my childhood. My mother liked to make cinnamon-raisin bread pudding growing up. Hers was very sweet. This recipe is lightly sweetened to ensure that you taste the strawberries not the sugar and to compliment a sauce or ice cream you will want to pair with it.
This recipe uses less sweetener but packs so much flavor. The hint of almond, nutmeg, and orange is certain to please.
Ingredients
4 c Sweet French Bread – toasted and cubed
3 c Cream/Half and Half / Whole Milk / Almond Milk
3 T Butter – unsalted
¼ c Brown Sugar / Honey / Maple Sugar Flakes
½ t Salt
5 Eggs – whisked
1/4 t Nutmeg
1 t Vanilla
¼ t Almond Extract
½ t Orange Extract (or 1 T orange zest)
½ c Strawberries – cut to ½ inch pieces
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees
- Butter 2 QT casserole dish, 12 ramekins, or any other baking dish you prefer to use. Fill with toasted bread cubes – set aside
- Heat milk and butter in saucepan to 200 degrees (not quite boiling)
- Remove milk from heat and add everything except eggs. Whisk together until smooth.
- Slowly add ½ the milk mixture to eggs whisking constantly
- Add the remainder of eggs
- Pour over bread cubes – allow to soak bread cubes until moist – approx. 5 minutes
- Sprinkle strawberries evenly over mixture and push lightly into mixture. You want to be able to see the strawberries
- Cover with foil with a small hole poked in top to vent steam.
- Bake until eggs rise or a knife inserted into center comes out clean
- Remove foil and bake until lightly browned
- Set on cooling rack. Mixture will fall and settle into dish. This is ok.
- Serve topped with powdered sugar with ice cream, whipped cream, or other sauce.
Substitutions
- Substitute almond milk for dairy. If you do, you will want to add additional butter for richness
- Use croissants, Texas toast, Hawaiian Rolls, or any other sift bread. Adjust sugar for sweetness
- Use monk fruit, maple syrup, honey, agave or any other sweetener. Add a tablespoon of molasses for richer flavor
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