My mom asked me to make a British dessert for an event at her office tomorrow, so I decided what better time to whip up and blog my favorite recipe for bread pudding? After all, the Bristish might not be well known for their gourmet cooking, but who doesn’t enjoy bread soaked in sweet custard and infused with apples, cinnamon, and raisins?

Apple Strudel Bread.  This is the brand I use, and it is available at Costco, and other stores with nice bakeries.  Any cinnamon apple bread would work for this recipe, or even just plain cinnamon raisin bread if you can’t find it and you’re okay with leaving out the apples.

Bread pudding just by itself is delicious with all the creamy, cinnamon-y goodness.  The apples and raisins in the bread really just make it even more delicious.

Now, I wish that I could have taken a picture of it cut into, but like I said, this was for an event, and I doubt they want a half eaten bread pudding.

Note: This recipe can be halved and baked in an 8×8 baking dish if you don’t want quite so much of it…. Although I am sure that once you taste it, you’ll wish you had made the entire thing!

Ingredients

12 slices day-old Apple Cinnamon Raisin bread
1/4 cup butter, melted
8 eggs, beaten
4 cups half and half
1-1/2 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Grease a 9×13 inch baking dish.  Cut bread pieces into cubes and place into the baking pan.  (I do the first few layers very neatly and cover the entire pan, and then sort of let the top layers stick up a bit.)

 Drizzle melted butter over bread.

In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Pour over bread, and lightly push down with a fork until bread is covered and soaking up the egg mixture.

Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly tapped.