Cinnamon Bread Pudding

For some reason I have always loved the idea of bread pudding.  I'm not sure when the first time I first tried it, but I knew I would love it and I have loved every bread pudding and I ever tried!  My favorite is what the Grand America serves, which if you ever a chance to just sit in their lounge and order it, I would highly recommend doing so!  One day I'll make that, but this time around I went a bit more basic.

This is about as easy as it comes, for the basic pudding that is.  The sauce on the other hand...... I will be figuring something different out in the future!  The ingredient list isn't too crazy, might even have it all on hand.

I know this works even better with day old bread, so if you have some bread that is too stale to eat, time to make this one up!  First you break the bread into pieces and fill your pan.

The custard part will cause it to bake down a bit, so don't be afraid to really fill the dish.  If you are the type that only likes the crusty pieces, using the same amount of bread, spread it thinner in a larger dish.  Next up, mix up your milk, vanilla, sugar, eggs, cinnamon sugar and melted butter.   I actually had some whipping cream so I poured a little in to make it extra yummy!  You will want to either use a hand mixer or whisk it up really good.

Pour that all over the bread.  For this version I next sprinkled a generous amount of cinnamon sugar on top.

I love this combo so I was extra generous but I definitely didn't regret it!  You need to let this sit for at least 10 minutes so that moisture can soak back up into the bread, if your bread is dryer, I would let it sit for up to an hour before baking.  Just make sure you put it in the fridge!  Once ready, bake for about 40 minutes.  Keep an eye on it at the end so your bread reaches the desired level of crispiness you prefer.  I like mine nice and golden brown.
While that is baking you can work on your sauce.  Now this recipe came with a white chocolate sauce that combined melted white chocolate, butter, powdered sugar, cinnamon sugar, vanilla and sweetened condensed milk.  I had 3 attempts at this until I finally left the butter out and used about a Tbls of oil.  For some reason, my white chocolate didn't want to melt or blend nicely with the butter.  It also got too thick after adding the powdered sugar so I ended up using more sweetened condensed milk than it called for.  Next time I think I will leave out the powdered sugar and the butter and just go with the chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon sugar and sweetened condensed milk.

Despite my first 2 failures for the glaze and the issues with my third batch, it turned out so amazing!

My sister doesn't normally like bread pudding, since in her mind it is mushy bread, but she liked this one.  I will definitely be making this one again, especially on a cold day when I want a dessert that is also a comfort food!

Ingredients
Pudding:
1/2 loaf of white bread (can use any type of bread)
1 C. whole milk (I used 2% and then some cream)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 C. sugar
2 eggs
1/4 stick butter, melted
Cinnamon sugar mixture
Glaze:
5 oz white chocolate
1 Tbl oil
1 1/2 Tbl water
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/2 C. sweetened condensed milk
1/8 C. cinnamon sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.  Spray 9x9 baking pan, break up bread into about 1" size pieces and place in pan.  Make the custard by combining milk, vanilla, sugar, eggs, butter and a healthy sprinkle of cinnamon sugar mixture.  Mix until combined and pour over the bread.  Let soak for at least 10 minutes.  Sprinkle liberally with cinnamon sugar mixture and bake for 40 minutes.

For the glaze, melt the white chocolate and oil over low heat, stirring frequently.  Once melted, add the water, vanilla and sweetened condensed milk.  Heat for a couple more minutes before adding the last of the cinnamon sugar mixture.

Spoon the warm pudding into small bowl and drizzle with warm glaze.  Enjoy!