Healthy Bread Pudding 4 Ways in 1 Dish! (refined sugar-free)

one big piece of mixed berry bread pudding with caramel sauce and ice cream on top

Healthy Bread Pudding 4 Ways in 1 Dish! (refined sugar-free)

Make Classic Bread Pudding 4 Ways in 1 Dish with any bread to meet your needs (regular, gluten-free or grain-free/Paleo), and it can be dairy-free or with dairy! So it suits all eating styles -- yet, it's decadent, inviting and such a fun recipe. The 4 Corners/Flavors of the Dish are: Chocolate Chip, Mixed Berry, Caramelized Banana and Vanilla (or add in raisins, pecans or diced apples to the final quadrant).

Course Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword ancestral, apple, banana, berry, bread pudding, chocolate chip, dairy-free, gluten-free, healthy, paleo, pecan, raisin, refined sugar-free, traditional

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 40

Total Time 1 10

Servings servings

Calories 225kcal

Author Megan

Cost $9

Equipment

blender , or whisk wet ingredients together in a large bowl
large casserole dish , Ideally use 13x7, 11x9, 11x8 or similar <-- I have this one. (9"x13" doesn't allow the bread pudding to be deep because it spreads out too much.)

Ingredients

Base bread pudding ingredients

1 12 oz to 16 oz loaf bread : sourdough, gluten-free, grain-free (for Paleo), challah or brioche, (this one for GAPS) — your choice!
2 cups milk (full fat creamy), including raw or coconut; or use half heavy cream + half low carb nut milk for keto/low carb; homemade nut milk if creamy and high fat; sour cream + nut or coconut milk for GAPS
4 whole eggs
½ cup maple syrup (Keto: use preferred low carb sweetener or honey for GAPS)
½ cup butter , coconut oil or preferred natural fat, melted and cooled slightly
2 egg yolks -- These add to the richness of the custard and should be included. Don't sub out.
1 Tablespoon real vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon sea salt + optional spices: ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon and ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Topping/flavor ingredients

2 Tablespoons chocolate chips
1/2 cup mixed berries or one berry choice if preferred
1 medium to large banana
optional: 2 Tablespoons raisins, 1/4 cup pecans, or 1/3 cup diced apples
1 Tablespoon maple or coconut sugar

Instructions

Grease well a casserole dish slightly smaller than 9"x13" (to allow the bread pudding to be a little deeper) [See Equipment section above for more details.]. Cut bread into 1" cubes. Add bread to casserole dish. Scatter each quadrant of the casserole dish with its flavor of ingredients: one corner, the allotted amount of chocolate chips, one corner, evenly distribute the berries, one corner tuck in banana slices over the surface and into crevices, and then sprinkle that corner with the 1 Tablespoon coconut or maple sugar, the last corner, leave plain, or add in raisins, pecans or diced apple. Set aside.
Add liquid ingredients, salt and optional spices to blender in this order: milk of choice (and optional cream), eggs, yolks, maple syrup, vanilla, sea salt and spices. Blend for 10 to 15 seconds, then, with motor still running, add melted butter (or coconut oil) through the door in lid.
Pour “custard” from blender over bread cubes. Use a spoon or fork to press all the bread pieces under the custard so they’re saturated. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 350°F. (While the oven preheats, the bread cubes soak up the custard. Occasionally press down on them to ensure all pieces absorb the custard.)
When oven is preheated, bake Bread Pudding 4 Ways 40 to 50 minutes, or until top is set and tinged with brown. Don’t overbake; it is best with a soft, custardy center. Start checking at the 40-minute point.
Place on a wire rack to cool 15 to 30 minutes before serving with various topping options.

Nutrition