I recently ran across a simple recipe for Pumpkin Bread Pudding so I was super excited to give it a go as we nestle in to the holiday season.  (The original recipe can be found here.)   I remember my family gathering old pieces of bread and bread heels to make break pudding when I was a little chiquita, because as an immigrant family we needed something "yum" to soften those rough economic times.  Bread Pudding is indeed very comforting and a delicious breakfast and snack.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups whole milk (Or 1 cup heavy cream plus 1/2 cup whole milk)
3/4 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs plus 1 yolk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
Pinch of ground cloves
2 tablespoons bourbon (optional)
5 cups cubed (1-inch) day-old baguette or crusty bread
3/4 stick unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.

  •  Whisk together pumpkin, cream, milk, sugar, eggs, yolk, salt, spices and bourbon.  
  • The bourbon is optional but a nice touch!
  •  I bought a $1 dollar baguette and sliced about 1/2 of it to make the 2 cups of bread cubes. 
  • While you are preheating the oven, put your tray with the butter in to have it melt.  
  • Once your butter has melted, toss the bread cubes with butter in another bowl, then add pumpkin mixture and toss to coat. 
  • Transfer to an ungreased 8-inch square baking dish and bake until custard is set, 25 to 30 minutes.
And there you have it!  If you use heavy cream and more butter, it would probably be even more delicous.  We used whole milk and it was still delish.  Although we tried to be a little healthier by skipping the heavy cream, we made up for it by adding an ice cream scoop and whipped cream.  Yeah, the eating season has begun!
What are you cooking these days?