We had a family reunion this weekend for the Buck side of the family so we haven’t been home, except to sleep and have a meal with the Anderson’s, in two days. The reunion was Saturday and today the whole family went to the cape for a beach day. Instead of rushing home for Sunday night dinner we had a delicious breakfast with the Anderson’s before we departed for the cape.
This bread pudding was perfect because you make it the night before, so the bread really soaks up the goodness and it makes the morning meal a total cinch to pull off. Perfect for a fun, busy, but tiring weekend. I was also looking for something to help all of you use up your eggs from the egg shares, many of you commented you were behind on egg usage. This is perfect and delicious.
Start by cutting your bread into cubes. I used a full loaf of gluten free bread for this, but gluten free loaves are usually smaller than regular bread. A gluten free loaf is about 3/4 the size of a regular loaf. Put 1/2 of the bread cubes down into a lightly greased or sprayed 11×18 dish. Cube a block of cream cheese and add that to the bread, then sprinkle on 1 cup of blueberries.
Add the rest of the bread on top of that and prepare the egg mixture.
Crack 6 eggs into a bowl, add 1/2 cup of sugar, and 1/4 cup of melted butter. You need to add 4 cups of dairy to this. Depending on how rich you want the dish you can use anything from cream to 1 percent. I don’t recommend using skim milk. Don’t rule out the nut milks in this case, they add a ton of richness and flavor to the dish. I wanted mine to be really creamy so I used cashew milk, it was awesome! Mix that all together and pour it carefully over the bread cubes.
Sprinkle that with another 2 cups of blueberries. At this point it needs to sit for at least 8 hours before baking. The bread soaks up all of the goodness and does its thing in the fridge. So, I was able to whip this is quickly after a long day of family reunion activities and hit the sack quickly, knowing that I was going to wake up, pop this in the oven and done.
So, into a preheated 350 degree oven covered with foil for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes remove the foil, sprinkle with coarse sugar or 1/4 cup of maple syrup and put it back in the oven for an additional 30 minutes.
Its beautiful! We served it with bacon and the kids had some eggs too.
How did we like this one? Take a look, then make this in your home, you won’t be disappointed. I am on my way to shower off the salty ocean and fall into a deep sleep, the kind you can only get after a day having fun and breathing in the ocecan air. Enjoy!
