Buttery bourbon sauce tops bread pudding that's healthier

Watching calories this time of year? Ha! That’s some kind of joke.

But occasionally a great-sounding recipe comes up that’s a healthier version of a traditional rich sweet. Bread pudding topped with a buttery bourbon sauce? Healthy? Well actually this version, made with Smart Balance® products – the Butter Blend stick, and also their fat-free milk – as well as whole grain bread, is lower in fat than the traditional hi-cal dessert. It’s delicious too, laced with dried cranberries and with the scent of cinnamon and vanilla.

This pudding would be a great ending to a holiday party, or just to snack on while wrapping those gifts.
And, please note, I have no relationship with the company that produces Smart Balance® products.
So there.

BREAD PUDDING WITH BUTTERY BOURBON SAUCE

Base:
1-1/2 tablespoons Smart Balance® butter Blend Stick, melted
2 cups Smart Balance™ Fat-Free Milk*
2 eggs
1 egg white
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 ounces multigrain or whole wheat Italian bread, torn in small pieces

Sauce:
1/4 cup Smart Balance® Butter Blend Stick
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons Smart Balance™ Fat-Free Milk*
3 tablespoons bourbon or apple juice
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat 11x7-inch glass baking dish with Smart Balance® cooking spray; add 1-1/2 tablespoons melted Smart Balance® Butter Blend Stick and set aside.
2. Combine milk, eggs, egg white, vanilla, sugar, cinnamon, and baking powder in large bowl. Whisk until well blended. Add bread and cranberries; gently stir to allow mixture to absorb slightly (do not over mix).
3. Pour mixture into baking dish and bake, uncovered, 35-40 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.
4. Meanwhile, combine remaining ingredients, except vanilla, in small saucepan; place over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla.
5. Cut bread pudding into 8 pieces, place on dessert plates, and spoon sauce evenly over all.
Makes 11x7-inch bread pudding plus 1/2 cup sauce total. Serves 8 (about 2-1/2-inch by 3-1/2-inch pieces plus 1 tablespoon sauce per serving.
*Smart Balance™ Fat-Free Milk is available in Florida and Georgia.

Whole wheat bread pudding is studded with cherries

My shelves are lined with cookbooks. And while many of them are just collector’s items, such as the early 20th-century books that belonged to my mom, there are many books that I turn to again and again to cook from. One of my recent acquisitions is the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking Book.

I’ve tried several recipes from this book, with great results – the Sour Cream Muffins (I added fresh blueberries), Simple Spelt Pancakes (a good, thick buckwheat-like pancake), the Cherry Chocolate Scones, and the Maple Granola, to name just a few.

The book also features some tempting bread pudding recipes, which I have tagged for my ever-growing to-try list, such as the Cherry-Almond Bread Pudding below. I have such confidence in the quality of the recipes in this book that I don’t think there’s a single thing that won’t come out really great. The book gives a few tips for making bread puddings with whole grain breads, some of which I list below.

(Suggestions from the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking cookbook)
- Use a “slightly sweet, soft whole wheat bread, unless you plan to let the bread soak overnight before baking.”
- Increase the liquid-to-bread ratio when using whole grain breads, and give the bread a long period of time to absorb the custard.
- To speed up the process, “heat the liquid in the recipe, whisk it into the eggs, and pour the warm custard over the bread to soak while the oven preheats.”
- For a lower-fat bread pudding, use low-fat milk, but don’t heat it. Instead whisk it into the eggs, and let the bread soak up the liquid, at least an hour, or overnight.

CHERRY-ALMOND BREAD PUDDING
(from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking)
Yield: 16 servings

Pudding:
3 cups (12 ounces) frozen sour cherries or 2 (15-ounce) cans, drained
1 cup (7 ounces) sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 cups (9 ounces) cubed, fresh whole wheat bread
3 large eggs
2 cups (16 ounces) milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt

Topping:
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) unsalted butter
1/4 cup (1-7/8 ounces) packed light or dark brown sugar
1 cup (3 ounces) sliced almonds

Pudding: Place cherries, sugar, and cinnamon in large mixing bowl. Stir to coat cherries. Add bread cubes. In separate bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, extracts and salt. Pour egg mixture over bread cubes in bowl and stir to coat bread thoroughly. Let mixture sit for 30 minutes so bread can soak up egg mixture.
While bread is soaking, preheat oven to 325 degrees F. and butter 9-inch pan.
Topping: Melt butter in medium saucepan. Stir in brown sugar and cook until sugar melts and mixture is bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in almonds; set aside.
Pour pudding mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes; remove from oven and sprinkle topping evenly over pudding. Return to oven and bake until pudding is puffed and set, and sides are pulling away from edges of pan, 25 to 30 minutes. A clean knife inserted in center will come out almost clean. Remove pudding from oven and let cool 10 minutes before serving. Serve warm with ice cream.