Pumpkin Cinnamon Raisin Bread Pudding

I know the name of this recipe is a mouthful, but I couldn't choose which key ingredient to leave out. The pumpkin makes this pudding so moist and the subtle spice of cinnamon and the chewiness of the raisins are in every mouthful. This bread pudding is healthy enough for breakfast (at least in the VanderMolen household) and was perfect for brunch on Brett's Birthday. We absolutely looooved my Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls so I thought this would be a fun twist on similar ingredients.

I've mentioned a few times that Brett and I are moving to NYC soon, so I've slowly been trying to clean out our freezer. I don't even know who put all that food in our freezer, but it needs to be eaten. One large item in there was a loaf of Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin Bread. We love that stuff, but go through it slowly, so I still had a good chunk frozen. 

I saw a recipe for a pumpkin bread pudding that included cinnamon and raisins and I thought it would be perfect to use our cinnamon raisin bread for a similar dish. I've never made bread pudding before, but it's really simple. If you've ever baked anything, you can make bread pudding. It's mainly just dry and wet ingredients mixed together and baked to perfection. Simple and delicious.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Raisin Bread Pudding

(Serves 6)

Ingredients:

• 6 cups (about 10 slices) Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin Bread (or other brand)
• 1 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup agave nectar (or other liquid sweetener)
• 2 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

For the Cinnamon Pecans:

• 1/2 cup pecans
• 2 tablespoons agave nectar (or other liquid sweetener)
• 2-3 shakes of cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and spray 6 ramekins with cooking spray and set aside. 
2. Rip up the bread into bite sized pieces and place in a large bowl
3. Place all the ingredients from almond milk to nutmeg in a blender and blend until smooth.
4. Pour the pumpkin mixture over the bread slices and stir well to combine. Let it sit for about ten minutes to allow the bread to soak up the liquid.
5. Give the bread mixture one last mix and then evenly divide it among the 6 ramekins. 
6. Bake the bread pudding for 40 minutes until the top of the bread is starting to get firm.
7. About 5 minutes before the bread pudding is done prepare the cinnamon pecans by stirring the pecans, sweetener and cinnamon together in a bowl. Spread evenly across a lightly sprayed baking dish and place in the oven for 5 minutes to toast. 
8. To serve, sprinkle the cinnamon pecans evenly on top of the individual bread puddings and dig in!

Notes: This is perfectly sweet for me, but if you want it sweeter for a dessert you can increase the agave nectar in the pumpkin mixture to 1/2 cup.

Adapted from Fat Free Vegan.

Rip up the slices of bread into bite size pieces and place them in a large bowl.

Blend up all the wet ingredients, from almond milk to nutmeg, until smooth.

Pour the pumpkin mixture over the bread, stir to combine, and let it sit for 10 minutes.

Divide among the 6 ramekins.

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes and then top with the cinnamon pecans.

Dig in!

Eat Consciously,

Faith

Cleaning out the Fridge: Cinnamon Raisin Peanut Butter Banana Sandwich

This post is going to be short and sweet because I'm about to leave for the airport! I'm heading overseas for a few weeks and I couldn't be more excited to travel again...even though it's only been a couple weeks since I've been on a plane. International travel always gets me really excited and I haven't been overseas since September so I'm feeling overdue. (FYI, I'll be able to post a few recipes while I'm gone so check back!)

As with any trip I'm trying to clean out the fridge before I leave. Two nights ago I had some friends over for dinner and I made a sweet potato and black bean chili which made a good dent in my produce. Yesterday I was able to finish off the rest of our perishable items and even tried out a sandwich I've been wanting to try. 

Over Christmas break Brett and I were able to stop at a Trader Joe's (yippee!). One of our purchases was Cinnamon Raisin Ezekiel Bread. I love this bread because it's not overly sweet and you can eat it with both sweet or savory spreads. One of my favorite sandwiches is a peanut butter and banana sandwich and I knew I needed to try it out with this cinnamon raisin bread. 

My instincts were correct and it truly is an amazing combination. It doesn't even need a recipe. Just spread some peanut butter on two pieces of toast and lay slices of ripe banana in between. You could even spread some butter on the outside parts of the bread and warm it up in a panini maker. I'm sure it'd also be delicious with a drizzle of sweetner and a sprinkling of granola. 

If you know of any other good sandwich combinations please let me know!