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: Vegan Brownies

The little girl was invited to an impromptu playdate down at the village pool this afternoon. I didn't know what to prepare since our pantry was almost empty.

Luckily, while I was searching for a brownie recipe I chanced upon this vegan brownie recipe. I had all the ingredients on hand except for eggs and this one didn't call for eggs so I got all the ingredients out and prepared to bake.

I would wish I can come up with a dessert that will require less oil  (if possible, none at all) but that will have to wait for another day.

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#Vegan #brownies for the kids swim playdate later :)

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I was a little anxious at how this experiment would turn out but in the end, it proved to me that you can never go wrong with chocolate.

The recipe did not need much tweaking but let me just type it all in here for easy reference (in case you are like me who doesn't like to jump from one page to another)

Vegan Brownies
Yields: 16 brownies
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes

What you will need:

 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
 2 cups white sugar
 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
 1/2 cup chopped dark chocolates
 1 teaspoon baking powder
 1 teaspoon salt
 1 cup water
 1 cup vegetable oil
 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I added 1 more extra vanilla in here)
 a pinch of cinnamon
 colorful sprinkles

What you need to do:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.
3. Pour in water, dark chocolate, vegetable oil and vanilla; mix until well blended.
4. Spread evenly in a 9x9 inch square baking pan.
5. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until the top is no longer shiny.
6. Take out of oven when toothpick comes off clean. Add colored sprinkles on top.
7. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting into squares.

It was a hit among the kids and yayas. I even brought some for my officemates to sample the following day and they loved it too.