Recently I had some left over croissants and a big chunk of leftover Panetone – they were starting to go stale, so I decided to make bread pudding. Bread pudding tends to be a dessert in my grandmother’s home, but I thought I could change it up and make it for breakfast. I’m so glad I did. It turned out great – a warm sweet and comforting breakfast in a bowl – perfect for a gloomy and cold weekend. Just make sure you have enough mouths to feed or else you’ll eat it all yourself!
Croissant and Panetone Bread Pudding
- Butter, for baking dish
- 3 croissants and large chunk of Panetone, torn into pieces, enough to fill your baking dish
- 1 cup of milk (2%)
- 1/2 cup of cream
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 cup of unsweetened apple sauce
- 1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar*
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Confectioners sugar (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 2-quart baking dish. In a large bowl, whisk together milk, cream, eggs, apple sauce, brown sugar, salt, vanilla and cinnamon. Arrange bread in dish. Pour custard over bread. Bake until custard is set, 45 minutes. Let cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature and dust with confectioners sugar if you wish.
If you serve this for dessert you can add a dollop of whipped cream for garnish.
*Because the Panetone is quite sweet there is no need for a lot of sugar – you can adjust this amount to your taste.
