This recipe is perfect for a cozy Thanksgiving evening. It is warm and delicious, fancy enough for a holiday and best of all: easy and budget friendly.
Made with many ingredients you likely have on hand, this simple, homey, old-fashioned recipe can be made with any bread. I used plain French brioche and surprisingly you can get a loaf of brioche in many grocery stores these days. So no special trip to the bakery is required.
This recipe is adapted from Everyday Delicious (mostly) and (a few ideas from) Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa Vanilla Brioche Bread Pudding recipes.
Gather your ingredients:
- 1 brioche loaf
- 4 large eggs
- 4 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon butter for greasing the baking dish
- 1 pint vanilla ice cream
Instructions:
Defrost a pint of vanilla ice cream
Grease 9×13 baking dish
Preheat the oven to 350°
Cube whole loaf of brioche bread, place on baking sheet and toast for 5 minutes
In a bowl, mix eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and salt
Place toasted bread in a 9×13 casserole dish
Pour mixture over bread, press bread down making sure each piece has been soaked, but not all pieces need to remain submerged
Bake 40 minutes or until the center of the pudding reaches at least 160°
Serve warm with crème anglaise (a fancy term for the melted ice cream)
Optional: You can add orange zest, nuts, or sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Experiment with the basic structure of the recipe and have fun making it your own.
Enjoy!