A Slice of Heaven
Ah, the heavenly aroma of sweet challah baking in the oven. The cinnamon sugar mixture bubbling on top. Maybe your challah has raisins or chopped apples, or a cinnamon streusel draped over the braided beauty. But here’s a thought for you. When the holidays are over – when your Sukkah is stashed away for the season, what on earth do you do with all that leftover challah?
Sure you could turn it into French Toast. But that takes too long. Or maybe dice them up and bake them into croutons. So, uh, you can have cinnamon challah croutons in your Caesar salad? Nope, I have a better idea.
Take that French Toast idea and make it into a casserole. Behold, Cinnamon Swirl Challah Bread Pudding! Here, take this napkin to wipe the drool from your chin. 🙂
Let’s be honest, bread pudding is a carb-o-load to the MAX, so this is definitely not keto-friendly (unless that is, if you’re using a low-carb bread to start with). So one piece is really the serving size here. Trust me, this is not a delicate or light dish (and when I say “trust me”, what I mean by that is I used my husband as the taste-tester for this).
Leftovers to the Rescue!
I got the idea after defrosting a challah from the freezer and well, sadly, it tasted a little like freezer burn. Clearly that won’t get your taste buds salivating, but I went the lazy-girl’s way. All you do to make this bread paradise is cube up leftover challah, and make a custard, pour it on top and bake. Like I said, lazy-girl’s version of French Toast, but in casserole form! Genius, I KNOW! And if you look closely, you can see those perfect cinnamon swirls throughout. Ah, the perfect bite. No more freezer burn taste here!
One side note – my husband mentioned that this bread pudding would be great with some maple syrup on top – or something to “glaze” it. I didn’t have a photo to share on this post with the glaze, but it’s simple to make! Just a few tablespoons of powdered sugar added with some almond milk (and add in some vanilla extract too), until it gets thick and gooey. Drizzle on top and there ya have it (detailed instructions are in the recipe below).
But beware! This bread pudding will make your entire household smell undeniably delicious – with an intoxicating aroma of cinnamon and sugar. If you’re feeling creative, add in some (dairy-free) chocolate chips, or some diced apples, or some dried apricots. Not that you need a reason to stuff this bread pudding with anymore sugar, but why not. It’s kugel, gone wild! Or, as I like to say, “leftovers” that are now “makeovers”! Enjoy!
Yet again, this holiday season is upon us, so here we go again – Chag Sameach dear readers, from your team at Meat Your Vegetables!
- 2 cups Almond Milk Or use any dairy-free milk you have around
- 2 tbsp. Coconut Oil, plus more for greasing the pan
- 1 tsp. Maple Extract Or use Vanilla!
- 1/3 cup Swerve Brown Sugar Substitute Or use regular brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
- 1 Pinch Salt
- 1/2 Loaf Sweet challah bread, cut into 2-inch cubes You want to fill the pan but not overcrowd it - this will make about 6 cups
- 2 Eggs, beaten
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Pre-heat oven to 350F. and grease a 4-6 cup baking dish with coconut oil
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In a small saucepan over low heat, warm the almond milk, coconut oil, extract, brown sugar and salt. Continue whisking until coconut oil is mixed in and melted; cool.
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The mixture will start to separate while it's cooling - that's okay. While whisking the slightly cooled milk, add in the beaten eggs and whisk until combined (otherwise if you just pour it in and don't whisk, you'll end up with clumpy scrambled eggs)!
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Pour the mixture over the cubed bread immediately. Bake for 30-45 minutes or until custard is set but still a little wobbly and edges have slightly browned.
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Serve warm or at room temp. You can also serve this with a glaze on top - simply mix a few tablespoons of powdered sugar and add in a few teaspoons at a time of almond milk (and add a splash of vanilla), until you get a thick glaze consistency - pour over top and devour!
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