Weekend Project: Bread Pudding

What do you do with all those ends of the bread loaf?  Feed the birds, make breadcrumbs, maybe even eat them - surely you don't throw them away, right?  They're also great for bread pudding.

I'm listing this as a Weekend Project for 2 reasons - (1) you can take all week, or 2 weeks depending how many loaves of bread your family eats, to collect your bread, and (2) maybe there's a greater chance you have more time to cook on the weekends.

You can google recipes if you need something more specific, but basically what you are going to do for your bread pudding is adapt your favorite French toast recipe, here's mine.

Bread - collect the heels of the loaves, store in the refrigerator to keep fresh.  Some people use any kind of bread - sandwich, biscuits, hot dog rolls, croissants, etc., but I prefer to use one type of bread per pudding.  Cube into 1" squares.  You may need to add more regular slices of bread to get your needed quantity, you'll need about 6-8 cups, a mixing bowl full.

Batter - Mix these together in a measuring cup or small bowl.
2 eggs, beaten
about 1/2 cup brown sugar
a little less than 2 cups of milk (put the eggs & sugar in the measuring cup first, then fill to the 2 cup mark)
2 t vanilla extract

Pour the batter of the bread and mix well.  Let this sit long enough to get your coffee started to allow the bread to soak up the liquid.  Spread half of the bread into your baking dish.  If your family likes, spread about 3 T Nutella over this layer, then top with the rest of the bread mixture.  You can also use chocolate chips, banana slices, nuts as your extra filling here.

Bake at 350 degrees 35-45 minutes or until slightly browned on top.

Enjoy - and have a great weekend!