If you want to make this ahead of time, you can go ahead and prepare your bread to dry it out. You can also cook your apples, but strain the juices off of them and store the juices and apples in two separate containers. If you tried to make it up completely and store it in your fridge overnight, the egg mixture would have too much time to soak into the bread, and it might make it too soggy.

Then, when you are actually ready to bake it, assemble the dish, pour the egg mixture over the top and put it in the oven to bake, as the recipe directs. Don’t forget to pour your reserved apple and spice juices over the pudding!

 

INGREDIENTS

14 oz. French bread (stale)

1¾ lb. gala apples

4 Tbsp. butter

2½ Tbsp. flour

2 tsp apple pie spice

¾ cup brown sugar

1 cup water

5 eggs

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

2¼ cups whole milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup brown sugar

1 tsp apple pie spice

1 tsp cinnamon

Optional: ice cream for serving

 

INSTRUCTIONS

 

About 24 hours before preparing this bread pudding, cut bread into ½ inch cubes and spread it out on a large baking sheet. Leave it out to get stale for about a day.

For the Apple Pie Filling

Peel, core and dice apples.

In a medium sauce pan, over medium heat, melt butter. Add flour and stir well with a whisk. Add ¾ cup of brown sugar and stir well.

Add diced apples, apple pie spice and water, stir and cover. Cook over medium heat until the apples are soft, stirring occasionally (10-15 minutes). Take off heat and strain through a strainer, saving the juices. You will be using the juice to top off cooked bread pudding. Let the cooked apples cool a bit.

For the Bread Pudding

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and lightly grease a 9×13 casserole dish. Spread stale bread in the baking dish evenly. Spread apples all over the bread evenly. Move it around a little to let some apples get between the bread.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs, milk, melted butter, vanilla extract, ½ cup of brown sugar, apple pie spice, and cinnamon. Pour egg mixture all over the bread and apples. Press down on bread lightly and put in the oven. Bake for 35-40 minutes. You can check for doneness by touching in the center, if it feels dense and firm, the eggs are cooked.

Pull bread pudding out of the oven and pour saved juices from cooking apples all over the bread pudding.

Serve bread pudding warm and with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

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Quick Tip:  When choosing apples for this recipe, sweeter apples will taste better than tart apples. Honeycrisp, Gala and Fuji apples will be sweet, juicy and firm enough to withstand baking

Recipe and image courtesy of Lyuba at Will Cook For Smiles, image courtesy of youtube.com