My goodness, it's been way too long since I wrote in my blog! Where did all the time go? Not that I really mind 2009 coming to an end, but I feel like the last few months have just flown by! With 2010 right around the corner and New Year's resolutions popping up, I felt it time to get back on the ball and start writing again. And, I have the perfect recipe for it! Dave Lieberman's Challah Bread Pudding. This is one of my all-time favorite recipes and it's really super easy. In fact, I not only made it once, but twice over the weekend! The first time was for Christmas at our friend Suella's house and the second was for Joey's reunion party. I am pleased to say that both times it was a hit. That's really saying a lot for anything put up against Suella's food!
When I was preparing this, I made it two ways. One with the bread sliced in 1 1/2 inch slices, which is what the recipe calls for (pictured above); and, one with the bread in 1 1/2 inch cubes (pictured below). While the taste is the same, I prefer the bread cubed, which is great because it actually was a mistake on my part. I love it when mistakes turn into happy accidents!
This is a dish everyone should try. It's so creamy and delicious and honestly is not all that hard to make.
Ingredients
- 4 cups whole milk, warmed
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, melted in microwave
- 1 1/2 cups sugar 6 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 loaf challah bread, cut into 1 1/2-inch slices or cubed
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup raisins
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- Combine warmed milk and melted butter with the sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Whisk until incorporated and smooth.
- Line a large baking dish with two-thirds of the challah slices. Sprinkle with half the chocolate chips and half the raisins. Top with remaining challah slices, layering them one on top of the other, and then remaining chocolate chips and raisins, making sure the chips and raisins get inside the layers created by the challah slices.
- Pour milk mixture slowly over the top of everything and let stand until the bread has absorbed almost all of the liquid, 5 to 10 minutes.
- Wrap the baking dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 50 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil and cook 10 to 15 minutes longer until set in the middle and lightly browned on top.
- Remove from oven and let cool before serving.
Try to use as deep a baking dish as possible as this tends to really puff up and spill while cooking making a huge mess of your oven. I learned this the hard way.
