Cinnamon Roll Bread Pudding

Are you sick of coming around here only to find the most recent post is still Limoncello? Me too. Ugh. Sorry about that. I've been a little preoccupied with some fun stuff and some not-so-fun stuff, and all I have to show for it is a couple completed knitting projects and a boatload of reading to catch up on. I don't have much time to talk food right now, so I'll just get straight to the recipe. It's delicious and a great way to use up stale bread or cinnamon rolls.

Cinnamon Roll Bread Pudding

Adapted from Bon Appetit, December 2003

12 ounces crustless bread, cut into large chunks (about 4 large cinnamon rolls)

7 large eggs

2-1/2 cups whole milk

1/3 cup raisins, preferably soaked in hot water for about 10 minutes until plump

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

1-2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

2 tsp ground cinnamon

These are the leftover cinnamon rolls that I made a couple weeks ago. The only reason I had leftovers is that I'm not really a cinnamon-roll-a-day kind of person, and after snacking on them for a few days I had to get my gluttonous tendencies in check. So I made bread pudding. Makes perfect sense, right?

Cut the crust off the rolls, and cut them into about 1" cubes.

Crack 7 large eggs into a big bowl. Lightly beat them.

Add the milk, sugar, and vanilla. Whisk to combine.

Add the nutmeg and cinnamon. I didn't actually measure the nutmeg, but I grated somwhere between 2/3 to 3/4 of a whole seed. It was pretty strong on the nutmeg flavor, which I really liked, but you could reduce the amount of nutmeg if you'd prefer the cinnamon to shine through more.

Did you know that both mace and nutmeg come from the same plant? And they grow on an evergreen tree? The ol' Myristica fragrans is the only tropical plant that's the source of two spices. Fascinating, isn't it?

Stir the egg/milk/sugar/spice mixture until everything is combined, and then pour it over the bread and raisins in a large bowl.

Use a spoon to push down any bread that isn't submerged, and let the mixture hang out for at least 20 minutes and as long as overnight.

Pour the mixture into a greased 11x7x2-inch* glass dish, cover it with foil, and put it in a cold 350 oven for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking for about 35 minutes, until the top is puffed golden brown.

*If you only have a 9x13-inch dish, that should work as well. You might need to adjust the baking time, though.

I took mine out a little too early, which I didn't realize until I started cutting pieces from the edges and the runny center rushed to fill the newly vacant space in the dish. If that's the case, just throw it back in until the center is set.

The original recipe calls for a drizzle of maple syrup and a sprinkle of toasted pecans to top it off...

But we went with vanilla ice cream. There was also a bottle of chocolate syrup that was passed around, but for some reason I resisted.