Recipe: Easy-Peasy Cinnamon-y Bread Pudding

I hate to throw away food. As much as possible, I cook just enough to serve the number of heads I am expected to feed. But of course, on occasions where leftovers are just inevitable I try my hardest to be creative. And I believe, modesty aside, my creative juices flow better when I'm in kitchen.

Not to say that I don't rely on recipes entirely. I have yet to level up to being an innovator in this field but familiarity with how ingredients would taste or react with each other helps me a lot when I cook or bake.

The other night, a Facebook friend posted her freshly baked bread pudding and I remembered again the bread loaf that I've been keeping in our freezer for two (I think) weeks now. I immediately asked for her recipe and seeing I had everything on hand got me giddy to bake again.

This morning, the little miss and I finally got to work while the Daddy of the house is still asleep. I had about 4 cups of old bread and we tore them up to tiny pieces, dumped them into the baking pan, poured the custard (well, more like milk really) mix and pop it into the oven.

Here's a list of the ingredients:

4 cups of old bread (torn into tiny pieces it was a mix of white and wheat bread but it didn't really matter)
2 large eggs, well beaten
about 1 cup of evaporated milk
about 1 cup of non-fat milk (since that's what I had left)
4 tbsps muscovado sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract (it would've better if I had vanilla beans, i'm sure)
1 tsp cinnamon
about 1/8 to 1/4 tsp nutmeg (I used McCormick)
a pinch of salt
about a tsp of unsalted butter to line the baking pan


suggested toppings: cold condensed milk, peanut butter, chocolate spread, whipped cream, powdered sugar, maple syrup, honey, fresh berries/fruits

How we did it:

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius.
Mix all ingredients - eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon and nutmeg - except for bread.
Line the baking pan with butter.
Fill the pan with bread (about 2/3 of the pan).
Pour milk mixture over the bread until they are thoroughly soaked.
Press with spatula to even out the top.
Brush with softened butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg.
Bake in oven for 40-45 mins till knife comes out clean.

The pudding was done just in time for breakfast. We had it warm and topped generously with condensed milk.

Thin, crisp top and soft on the inside.

If you are an occasional baker most of these ingredients are probably already available in your pantry. This is so easy to make and my little girl was so proud to serve this to her dad at breakfast. I'm happy that I finally made time to try this today. This is a great alternative to french toast (another leftover bread recipe) which is also one of our faves. Will share the recipe in another post next time.

p.s. Thanks Lisa for sharing that photo the other night!

Recipe: Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies

Have I already mentioned I'm a dessert monster? Although I try to be very conscious of my sugar intake, dessert will always be my weakness. Luckily, my little girl never really got addicted to sugar. It probably helped that I delayed the introduction of sweets to her till she was almost a year old. We don't have to tell her to stop eating candies and chocolates. She usually just stops after a piece or two.

I hope she keeps that self control even if I've been spending a lot of time with our oven of late. My latest baking adventure has yielded this soft, chewy creation which was actually inspired by my baking idol, Maggie!

Mags and I both agreed this would probably level up if you added a few chunks of macadamia nuts. I have yet to get my hands on some macadamia nuts but my taste testers (the hubs and the little girl of course) both gave their approvals already.

Maggie's cookies looked waaaay better than the ones I baked. I didn't get the chance to bookmark the recipe she shared to me earlier so I made do with the recipe that I already had printed out from Sally's Baking Addiction.



My little girl is also visiting her lola and her cousins for a week and so I packed her a dozen of these to give as pasalubongs to her cousins. I hope they liked it!

What you will need:
1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter (i just cut a bar of butter in half), softened to room temp
3/4 cup muscovado sugar
1 egg, at room temp, slightly whisked
1/4 cup white granulated sugar (refined sugar)
1 tbsp filled milk
2 tsps vanilla extract
2 1/2 tsps red food coloring (I used liquid)
about 80 grams of white chocolate chip cookies (you could use more, the original recipe actually called for 180grams)

ready to bake!

sometimes, i do amaze myself. all this time it's all been purely muscle power that i've been using to cream butter and sugar. so really, if you really want to learn to bake you don't have to have plenty of equipment to do it.

food color and dry ingredients added!

white chocolate chip cookies galore!

How I did it:

1. Combine all the dry ingredients - flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt (I just used a wire whisk).
2. In a separate bowl, cream the butter until smooth then add the sugar and mix thoroughly.
3. Add egg, milk, and vanilla. Mix well and add the food coloring next.
4. Continue to mix then add the dry ingredients gradually (I did this in 3 sets so I didn't have a hard time mixing everything when the dough started to stiffen. Mix in the white chocolate chips. Cover dough with plastic wrap and freeze for about 30mins (or refrigerate for at least an hour)
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (around 180 Celsius).
6. When ready to bake, take our frozen dough and cut to about 1/2 inch thick and form into a ball. Line baking pans with parchment paper and place each of the cookie dough balls about 2 inches apart. I added colored sprinkles to some of the dough since the colors will look attractive to the kids.
7. Bake for about 12-15 mins (top most layer of my oven).
8. Take our from oven after baking time is finished. Let cookies cool on the sheets for around 5 mins and then transfer to wire rack to cool.

Weekend Love: Bake Date with Mommy Maggie Musings

If you follow me in Instagram, you probably know what days of the week are my favorite. Yes, like (if not by ALL) most working parents, it is always the weekend - FRIDAY NIGHT, SATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS.

I love the weekends not only because I get to forget about work temporarily. I love the weekends because I value my family the most. And these are the days of the week I can find the perfect reason to just devote my full time to them (well, that isn't always true but I would like to believe only they own my weekends).

I also love the weekends because those are the days I can reconnect with my passions. I can make time for this blog. And arrange playdates not only for the little kid's enjoyment but for my own as well. Just like two Saturdays ago when we went on an impromptu bake date with one of the bloggers I used to stalk now turned mommy friend, Maggie, and her little cutiepie Lucas.

Maggie and I have been talking about this bake date since the husband gifted me with a gas oven last Christmas. She is one of the experienced bakers that I personally know so I usually turn to her instant baking advice when I need them. As this was an impromptu bake date though, we did not have a baking plan. But it still turned out to be super fun. Not only for me, but to the little girl who surprised me that day.

My normally shy (especially to people new to her) little miss was extra cooperative and chatty that day. She asked Maggie if she can take a look at her making the royal icing (all by herself) and pulled a chair on her own (I think she temporarily forgot that she wasn't at home) when Tita Maggie gave her permission to.

Another good thing about playdates like this is while waiting for our end product to bake and set, Mags and I had the chance to chat about parenting ups and downs, exchange work dilemmas, talk about our the series that we are currently addicted too (thanks for the Suits reco Mags and Mike, we are now hooked!). It's always great to touch base with somebody who can relate to my daily wows and woes as a working parent.

Thanks Mags and Mike for letting us make a mess at your place. We are definitely looking forward to more weekends like this. And I hope this time with more of our baking blogger friends as well (Erl? Maqui? Sha? Mars? Pepper).

Weekend Love - Milestone At The Kitchen Front

What's the activity that you are most scared of doing?

For me, it's probably baking. It comes a close second to my top fear/hate which are job interviews and speaking in front of a lot of strangers (both tied in first place).

Both of the things I mentioned earlier, I've already attempted to overcome several times. Well, I came out alive on all attempts but I couldn't really say I've totally overcome them.

But I am perfectly okay with the idea that at several points in my lifetime, I've tried once, twice and even thrice to win myself over those two.

BAKING on the otherhand is something that I haven't really tried my hand at. Well, I don't count that first attempt I did during high school because that probably was the reason I'm so scared to try baking come adulthood.

I love watching THE FOOD NETWORK though and yes, I will not deny the fact that I've always been in love at Ina Garten and Nigella Lawson's creations.I did dream to make them myself at some point. But I guess, I dreamt freely because I knew there's really no way I will ever challenge myself to try making one of those mouthwatering homemade baked desserts.

THAT however changes this year. Because my husband, who is just as masochistic as me, agreed to buy a gas oven for our household. We've had the oven for about 2 months now but I've never really gotten around to trying to whip out even just a simple muffin or a cookie recipe. Not till last week. It's the husband's birthday and I thought, it's just the perfect day for me to take the plunge into the world of baking. But that impulsive plunge turned out to be just as I feared -- my first break into the baking world was A TOTAL FAILURE.

I was on a break at work because Ate Inday is not back yet. I planned for a perfect day for me and Maia after she comes home from school. We wanted to do something special for the husband's birthday. I suggested baking calamansi muffin (which was actually something that he's been requesting for us to make) and boy was she delighted with the idea of me and her baking a goody for Daddy? Of course, she was! She's been asking for it since we had that baking playdate with Aki.

But guess what I did? I burned half of the muffins. I was extremely heartbroken. But unlike the other two fears that I mentioned, I had this strong feeling that I can make a strong comeback. If only I can find out the reason behind my burning the muffins when I've followed the recipe to the letter.

Well, turned out there's something that I didn't follow. And that was to read the OVEN MANUAL. It said there to use either the top or 2nd rack to bake cakes and cuppies and muffins. Guess which tray I used? THE BOTTOM! No wonder 15 minutes I charred half of them.

So yesterday, I prepared my ingredients and got myself ready to comeback with a vengeance.

How was it? IT TURNED OUT REALLY GREAT!!! Yay! I felt like I won the lotto when the muffins came out of the oven perfectly baked and sporting a nice yellowish color. It didn't look anywhere close to the Calamansi Muffins that Real Coffee makes in Boracay but hey, to my taste testers (aka Tibs and Maia) it tasted exactly the same.

And as an added bonus, I also tried making a double chocolate chip loaf cake with the remaining ingredients that I have on hand and that turned out pretty well too. My co-workers liked it so much. I'm just so, so happy!

So I guess, it pays to challenge your fear and push yourself to overcome it.

This might seem petty, shallow, trivial to some but my baking success last Sunday was like a triple dose of happy pills for me. Now, I'm more excited than ever to try other baking recipes.

Baking With Aki

Advance warning: This post is going to be photo heavy. If you're not up for it, please skip this post.