Vanilla Maple Breakfast Bread Pudding

If I could change one thing about my typical day, I would make breakfast the star.

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One reason I love weekends so much is because my mornings aren’t rushed.

There’s time to sit and talk over coffee. No one says anything if you stay in your robe until 10 am. Slippers are totally acceptable to wear all morning. I get the chance to make a more involved breakfast dish or try something new or have an excuse to use heavy cream in something other than a dessert.

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I feel like such a rebel when I cook with heavy cream.

Maybe it’s all those years of losing my college weight and getting to a point of maintaining that made me shut the door on heavy cream and pineapple orange juice and cherry coke, which were my kryptonite back then.

Whatever it was that kept me from using it is slowly backing away.

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I’m not afraid of it anymore. And which is weirder – that I’m not afraid of cream now or that I used to be scared of it?

I think I just need a weekend of cooking with Ina or Nigella and I’ll be cured.

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Because, really, I know there’s nothing to be afraid of. I just never cooked with it or even thought about it unless I needed real whipped cream for a dessert.

And just like everything else, practice makes perfect.

I’ve got heavy cream in my fridge and I’m not afraid to use it.

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Since Nick’s birthday fell on a Wednesday this year, we didn’t have hours and hours to sit and enjoy a long breakfast. But I still wanted the start of his day to be special.

This breakfast bread pudding is prepped the night before and sits overnight in the fridge, the cubed bread soaking in a vanilla-studded silky cream bath.

If the smell of this baking in the morning doesn’t get you out of bed and into your robe and slippers, I don’t know what will.

 

Vanilla Maple Breakfast Bread Pudding

Makes: 9 servings

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 2 Tbsp maple syrup
  • 6 slices bread, torn or diced into bite size pieces
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla bean or vanilla extract)
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

  1. Put brown sugar, butter, and maple syrup in the bottom of an 8×8 baking dish.
  2. Heat in the microwave 30 seconds to 1 minutes or until the butter is melted and the sugar starts to dissolve. Stir the mixture together until all the sugar is mixed with the syrup and butter.
  3. Put the diced or torn bread on top of the sugar mixture in the baking dish.
  4. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs.
  5. Whisk the cream, milk, vanilla, and salt into the eggs.
  6. Pour the cream mixture over the bread but do not stir!
  7. Press the top of the bread mixture into the cream to get every piece to soak in some of the cream mixture.
  8. Cover the dish with foil and let it sit, overnight, in the fridge.
  9. In the morning, preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  10. Bake, covered for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 5-10 minutes.

46 comments

  1. I really enjoy bread pudding and love that he can now be breakfast!

  2. Wow, this is so much more exciting that my normal yogurt/oatmeal breakfasts!

  3. Oh my gosh this sounds amazing! I have some heavy cream in my fridge that is expiring soon that I should probably use… 8)

  4. Goodness…this would be a perfect breakfast for the weekend! I also love the no-rush feel on Saturdays and Sundays…everything seems so simple on weekend mornings!

  5. I’ve starred this and will be yanking it back out whenever Shane (ok, and myself) does something that merits a breakfast like this!!!

    • That’s what I like to hear :) Let me know when you make it!

      PS: It would also be great with just milk, no cream, but man – that creamy base is deeeelicious :)

  6. Ooh, heavenly breakfast pudding.

  7. Yum! Sounds like my kind of breakfast! ;)

  8. I love bread pudding. And for dessert? Even better! This looks great!

  9. I used to be afraid of heavy cream, too. I always thought if I ate anything with it in it I would instantly gain five pounds. Thank goodness I discovered the beauty of portion size, because heavy cream is delicious.

  10. Yum. Whether you call it breakfast bread pudding (which sounds more fun and dessert-y) or french toast I love dishes like this. How do you love the vanilla bean paste? I’ve never tried it before but I am very curious. I usually use vanilla beans. How do you find the price & taste compares?

    • I love the vanilla bean paste! It’s nice to have it in the jar, waiting, instead of having to scrape the vanilla beans each time, but it also has a bit of added sugar so there is a trade off.

      I actually found the jar for only $5 at an Amish market near nick’s parents, so it was a great deal!

  11. “I’ve got heavy cream in my fridge and I’m not afraid to use it.” –Love this!
    Your pictures are fantastic by the way!

  12. bread pudding is one of my favorite things on earth…I love that you made it into breakfast. Genius.

  13. Wow! Now THAT is a birthday breakfast! Sounds fantastic. Sometimes indulgent baked goods are very necessary

  14. How funny – we have heavy cream in our fridge, too, which never happens! If I’m baking something indulgent, I’m going all out! :)

  15. You said Vanilla and showed coffee in a photo = sold!

  16. I had to bring in one other dish to work tomorrow for office birthday celebrations, and I was wondering what else to make – um, not anymore! Thanks for the recipe Brandi!

  17. this sounds amazing. i’m coming around to heavy cream… ;) i know, i’m working on it!!

  18. i just might have to make this for the family we have visiting this weekend! i’m not afraid of heavy cream either…been using it a TON lately to make homemade ice cream ;)

  19. HOLY SHIZZ BRANDI! This was outstanding – while I did have to make some adjustments based on what I had, this turned out great for our office birthday breakfast – so easy too!

    I used all ff half and half, used stale Italian baguette and for the last ten minutes, I added a tablespoon of brown sugar to the top and broiled it on low to carmelize the top. YUM! You better believe this was insulin worthy! Thanks!

  20. Hooooly moly, that looks glorious!!!!!

  21. What an awesome dish! Like you, I once felt very wary of heavy cream. But now, I’ve come to recognize what a great, rich ingredient it is. Kind of like butter. Mmmm, butter.

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  26. oh I am drooling over that!

  27. want, want, want. this looks UH-MAY-ZING!!

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  29. just whipped it up and stashed it in the fridge. wicked easy to do and I cant wait to wake up and indulge! Just add macerated strawberries and you got yourself heaven on a plate… or bowl if u wanna contain those gooey juices.

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  31. This looks lovely! I plan to spend the night at my parents house this weekend, and would love to make this for them.
    What kind of bread did you use / do you recommend?

    • How fun! I used some homemade bread that we had leftover, but any bread should work great. Since it soaks overnight, the custard has time to really sink into the bread cubes, no matter what kind you use. Let me know how it turns out!

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