Egg Nog Bread Pudding

Updated: Adding a picture I had taken of this. Also added some cinnamon and sugar to the eggnog version, as it needed a little more sweet after all.

I'm posting two recipes for the price of one, here.  One is my tried and true bread pudding recipe that I adapted from Giada DeLaurentiis (who didn't have any vanilla or cinnamon in hers - yeesh!) and made up my own sauce for.  But then I adapted it again upon finding a quart of egg nog in my fridge that wasn't going to get consumed before its expiration date, and I decided to make a limited-number-of-ingredients version.  I will confess that the latest version is still in the oven so I'm not exactly sure it's a winner yet, but, I'm feeling pretty clever so I'm posting it now.

I've found that freezer-burned hot dog buns, hamburger buns, or white sandwich bread work really nicely for this.  The buns, in particular, are nice because the crusts look really nice when it's all baked, but it will all be equally tasty for you.  I usually stuff a little more bread than one package, because I have heels and things laying around, and it's enough liquid to accommodate it. 

Enjoy!

Bread Pudding with Apples

Pudding:

1 loaf bread, cubed

1/3 C. raisins

8 eggs

2 ½ C. heavy cream

1 ½ C. milk

1 ¼ C. sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

½ tsp. cinnamon

Sauce:

4 large peeled, cored, sliced apples

¼ C. butter

¼ C. brown sugar

¼ C. sugar

¼ tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. nutmeg

1 ½ C. apple juice

2 T. cornstarch

Fill a casserole dish with the cubed bread and raisins. Beat eggs, and add remaining ingredients. Pour over bread, making sure all the bread gets soaked.  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  Bake at 350°F for 45 – 50 minutes.  For the sauce, brown the apples in the butter. Add sugars and spices.  Stir together the cold apple juice and cornstarch, add to apples and boil to thicken.

Egg Nog Bread Pudding

Pudding:

1 loaf bread, cubed

1/3 C. raisins

6 eggs
½ C. sugar
¼ tsp. cinnamon

1 quart of egg nog

Sauce:

1 can of apple pie filling

~½ C. apple juice

Fill a casserole dish with the cubed bread and raisins. Beat eggs, and add egg nog. Pour over bread, making sure all the bread gets soaked.  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  Bake at 350°F for 45 – 50 minutes.  For the sauce, stir together the pie filling and apple juice to desired sauce consistency, and heat to serve.