Bread Pudding Muffins

Bread pudding baked in muffin cups is a delicious way to turn leftover bread into a dazzling breakfast or dessert treat. We encourage you to enjoy bread pudding any time; for dessert we recommend finishing it with a nice, boozy hard sauce or fresh berries macerated with a bit of sugar.

NOTE: You can prep and save bread cubes any time you have leftover bread; store in freezer to use later for bread pudding muffins, croutons, stuffing, or breakfast strata.

Make 12 pudding muffins

1 pound crusty artisan white bread *or any rustic loaf*
1/2  teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 eggs
3/4 cup (5.25 ounces) granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) heavy cream
1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Prepare bread.
Slice bread and cut in 1-inch cubes.  Place in a large bowl, dust with ground cinnamon and set aside.

Make custard.
Whisk together eggs, sugar, cream, milk and vanilla and pour over bread.  Allow bread to soak, refrigerated, for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours.

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a standard-size 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or butter generously.

Bake puddings.
Scoop a heaping 1/2 cup of pudding mixture into each of the 12 muffin cups; each one should be nicely mounded. Top off each pudding with any remaining custard.

Place on middle rack of oven and bake 45 minutes, rotating from front to back halfway through.  When they are ready, the muffins will be lightly golden brown on top. Dust with powdered sugar while still warm.

From The Grand Central Baking Book, by Piper Davis and Ellen Jackson