Raisin Bread Pudding

Time for a confession - I don't like bread pudding.  Never have, never will.  It's just one of those facts of life that you take for granted.  Like gravity.  Or Sherlock.

But there was all this whole wheat raisin bread that I was never going to eat - because I've found a new breakfast food!  (Begin tangent!)

Scrambled egg whites.  Yes.

There's this whole debate about whether eggs are good for you or bad for you or whether you should eat the yolk or not, but I'm just like, well, there are egg whites in a carton - like, just pour and scramble - so that's what I'll eat for breakfast.  And it only takes like three minutes to heat, pour, scramble, and eat. It's really awesome, and it gets some protein into the beginning of my day.

I used to eat a slice of raisin bread for breakfast.  But that's not very nutritious, nor did it taste awesome.  Salt-and-pepper egg white scramble?  Yes, please.

So I had all this leftover raisin bread.  And what can you do with raisin bread?  Bread pudding.

And that doesn't tempt me at all, so I'm skipping dessert and being doubly healthy.

Which means you know I'm going to post something fattening next! ;)

And one more thing before the recipe - this is crockpot style!  Yes, we have a crockpot now!  So pop this in there, let it cook, and enjoy!

Raisin Bread Pudding

4-5 HOURS COOKING TIME

Pudding:

8 slices whole wheat raisin bread

4 eggs

2 cups milk

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 stick butter, melted

1/4 cup raisins

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Grease slow cooker.  Cut bread into cubes and place in cooker.
2. In a medium bowl, beat eggs and milk.  Add sugar, butter, raisins, and cinnamon and stir well.  Pour over bread cubes and stir gently with a wooden spoon.
3. Cover and cook on High 1 hour.  Reduce heat to Low and cook 3-4 hours.  Make sauce while pudding just finishes baking.

Sauce:

1/4 stick butter

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup water

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Melt butter in a large saucepan.  Stir in flour until smooth.  Gradually add water, sugar, and vanilla.  Bring to a boil.
2. Stirring constantly, cook 2 minutes or until sauce has thickened.

Serving:

1. Serve bread pudding warm in individual bowls.
2. Pour sauce over portions and serve.  Makes 6 servings.

Now, wasn't that easy?

To make it easier, here's the breakdown:

You've got your bread...

Now cube it!  I cut mine into ninths.

Combine the eggs, milk, butter, raisins, and cinnamon...

And pour over the bread cubes.  Cook 1 hour on High, then about 3 hours on Low.

Make your sauce and serve!

I've got to admit, that does look good.
Maybe I'll come around eventually... ;)
-JJ