So I totally get that tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day. If I were with it and awesome, I’d have adorable little leprechauns sculpted out of homemade fondant or something like that. Instead? Yeah, I’ve got Bananas Foster Bread Pudding, which, in spite of my Irish heritage and the fact that I’m completely smitten with Irish culture, is not Irish (or even green) in any way.
So wanna hear some Kate factoids? First, I use the internet for good (blogging) and for the borderline creepy (I tend towards light internet stalking…in completely friendly “Hey-I-just-wanted -to-learn-some-more-about-you-here’s-a-dead-rabbit!” kind of way). Just kidding. But only about the dead rabbit–I totally do hunt people down on the internet.
Second, I have a freakish sense of smell. I developed a super sniffer when I was pregnant with my daughter and it never went away. I kid you not, ask people I interact in person with on a regular basis, and they will tell you about some uncomfortable situation where I unintentionally smelled them. It almost always involves me identifying their laundry detergent/dryer sheets/lotion/deodorant. I can’t tell you how many uncomfortable experiences I would avoid if I’d just THINK, “Original Tide! Bounce! Dove Cucumber Melon!” instead of actually saying it.
Finally, I tend to stash things in my purse that other people think are weird but that TOTALLY come in handy. Like a W-9 form. Or a roll of tape. Or a steak knife.
The internet stalking totally has nothing to do with the rest of the story, I just thought I’d share a little bit of my crazy with you. But after our book signing on Friday night when we were bestowed two loaves of bread, and after we ate one of the said loaves of bread, Sara offered to let me take home the other loaf. I packed it away in my backpack and scampered along to our Saturday activities and then hopped on the plane and wondered why I kept smelling sandwiches. Then I came home and promptly unpacked my suitcases. Except that I didn’t because that would require a level of togetherness that I’m pretty much incapable of. So yeah, every time I walked past my untouched bags, I still smelled those sandwiches and could not figure out why. And then I remembered the bread. And I very sadly pulled it out of my bag. And even though it still smelled delicious (obviously, since my bloodhound nose finally tracked it down), it could have taken out the giant orange cat that crawls under my house and meows in the middle of the night. So what do you do in that situation? You make bread pudding. Even though it’s an international holiday of potatoes, cabbage, and Guinness (corned beef, delicious as it is, is more of an Irish-American tradition, not Irish Irish).
For this bread pudding, you’ll need the bread pudding staples–cubes of a formerly awesome stale loaf of bread (or croissants), milk, cream, eggs, vanilla, and sugar. Then in this particular bread pudding, you’ll also need bananas and cinnamon.
Preheat your oven to 400 and line a heavy, rimmed baking sheet with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Spray it with non-stick cooking spray and set it aside.
Cut up about 3 very ripe bananas (you’ll want 2 cups of sliced bananas). Place them in a small mixing bowl.
Drizzle 1 tablespoon of melted butter over them.
Add some brown sugar and cinnamon…
and toss it all together.
Seriously, can you go wrong with bananas, brown sugar, and cinnamon? Spread the bananas onto the prepared baking sheet
and place it in the oven for 15 minutes or until the sugar is bubbly and caramelizing. Remove from oven and reduce heat to 350.
If this part looks delicious to you, then definitely check out our Caramelized Banana Ice Cream– it starts out just like this!
While the bananas are caramelizing, combine the milk, whipping cream, eggs, egg yolks, salt, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla with a hand-held electric mixer Place 1/2 of the bread cubes into a pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
When the bananas are done caramelizing, gently stir them together with the cooked sugar and butter and then spread them over the first layer of bread cubes. Slice another banana on top of the cooked bananas and then top with the remaining bread cubes.
Whisk the milk mixture and then pour the milk/whipping cream mixture over the bread cubes.
Allow to stand for 10-15 minutes, pressing the cubes into mixture as they pop up so the mixture can soak into the bread. Chop 1 tablespoon of butter and sprinkle it over the mixture.
Bake for 40-50 minutes or until it’s golden and puffed, not burned, and a knife inserted into the middle comes out without egg on it.
Okay, you can serve this a whole bunch of ways:
1) With Cinnamon Crème Anglaise (just whisk in 1/4 tsp. of cinnamon to this recipe).
2) With Buttermilk Syrup.
3) With vanilla bean ice cream.
4) With any combination of the 3. Because this is already a diet-buster, so you might as well go all the way, right?!
Bananas Foster Bread Pudding 6 c. stale bread or croissant cubes Preheat oven to 400. Line a rimmed baking sheet with heavy-duty foil. In a small mixing bowl, combine 3 sliced bananas (about 2 c.) with 1 Tbsp. melted butter. Combine 1/4 c. brown sugar and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon and then add them to the bananas and butter. Gently toss to combine and spread on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or until the bananas are fragrant and tender and the sugar is starting to bubble and caramelize. Remove from oven and reduce heat to 350. While the bananas are caramelizing, use an electric hand mixer to combine the milk, whipping cream, egg yolks, eggs, vanilla, salt, remaining brown sugar, rum flavoring (if using), and remaining cinnamon. Spray a 9×13″ dish with non-stick cooking spray and spread 1/2 of the bread cubes over the bottom of the pan. Evenly spread the caramelized bananas and brown sugar mixture and then slice one more banana over the caramelized bananas. Spread the remaining bread cubes over the bananas. Whisk the egg mixture one last time and pour evenly over the bread cubes. Allow to stand for 10-15 minutes (longer if possible), poking the bread down into the mixture so it can soak in the milk and eggs. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until puffed and golden (but not brown) and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Serve with Crème Anglaise (with 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon added), Buttermilk Syrup, or vanilla ice cream.
Recipe by Our Best Bites
4 medium bananas, divided
4 eggs
3 egg yolks
1 1/2 c. milk
1 1/2 c. heavy cream
1 c. brown sugar, divided
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp. rum flavoring (optional; I leave it out because I don’t like the flavor of rum, but true Bananas Foster has rum in it.)
1 tsp. cinnamon, divided
2 Tbsp. butter, divided
Questions & Reviews
Here we gave it a try…
http://www.saltylips.com.ar/2011/07/bananas-foster-bread-pudding.html
Thank you very much for the recipe!!!
Melisa & Alejandro, from Argentina
I just discovered your blog in Mormon Times. So glad I did! Your bread pudding recipe is the first to tempt me since I found one using blueberries. Can’t wait to try it!
I didn’t have any cream and so I used 2% milk. It was still very rich and tasty!
This recipe looks great!
Is there any way to make bread pudding with less EGGS??? I just hate egg and it’s hard for me to eat foods with lots of eggs because I can’t convince myself that I can’t taste the eggs. It’s immature I know. Do I have any options but to cry and let it go?
Kate- that looks awesome!
Two of the best desserts ever combined into one. Delish!
Oh I love you and all your weird! 🙂 I have a deep hatred for bananas but because I love you and you’ve never steered my wrong I’m going to have to give this a try!
You two are so CUTE! Reading your blog is one of the highlights of my morning. I have even made several of your recipes and they have all turned out great. My kids love the stained glass jello. Anyway, both of your bring a smile to my mornings.
I need to make this, seeing as it’s like my favorite ice cream but in warm bread form!
So can I use regular bread if I don’t have any stale or croissant bread? I totally want to make this, but only have unstable bread. :). I’ve never tried bread pudding and I’ve never been enticed by any recipe for it … But I want to try this one! 🙂
Kara, you can totally use any bread (although croissants, challah, french bread, Texas toast, etc. is better than a big ol’ loaf of whole wheat bread). See if the grocery store has any day-old bread for cheap. If not, you can either leave it out of the bag all day or cut it into chunks and place it on a baking sheet. Bake it for a few minutes at 425 so it’s not toasted but it’s starting to dry out. If the bread isn’t a little dry/stale, it won’t soak up the eggs and milk and then things get interesting. 🙂
Just so you know. My husband lived in Ireland for two years, one of his FAVORITE treats people would feed him there is called Banoffee. It isn’t a bread pudding, but it involves cake (angel food or white), bananas, caramel, and real whipped cream. So, you aren’t so off the mark. I was kind of hoping that you’d post some cutesy things for tomorrow. We’ll probably just do our traditional green eggs and ham for breakfast, with lots of baking in the middle, then the traditional American-Irish Corned Beef, cabbage, mashed potatoes, Irish soda bread, and top it off with Banoffee. I have some amazing chocolate and dark chocolate hobnobs(digestives/cookies)I picked up at the local grocery store that carries “international” food. I hope you have a great St. Patty’s day! 🙂
Jackie
I have never commented on a blog before ladies, and anyone who knows me, knows I read a ton of them (mostly boring political stuff though). But truly, nothing rings my bell like BF and with bread pudding…Manna from Heaven! (Yes, it’s a recycled Nemo quote.) I’ve been reading you girls for about 2 years now and you make me laugh so hard that you have earned my first and possibly only comment on the internet ever. You both are priceless and slightly kooky which totally works for me. Best of luck with the blog!…And the new cookbook!
Val, you have been leaving us hanging all this time?! 🙂 No, I’m kidding, I’m just glad you finally said hi!! And I think we’re probably more than slightly kooky, haha! 🙂
Sounds delish! How about adding some chocolate chips too?
Now this is a banana pudding I can rave about! Unlike the southern standard with vanilla pudding and vanilla wafers. It makes me want to buy some bread just so it can get stale. Thank you so much for this recipe!
I was just chatting with a friend the other day and we were talking about bread pudding. I have never had bread pudding before and so have to try this!
My husband and I were just saying last week that it’s been a while since I’ve done bread pudding and we should do it again. I think I just found the recipe I will use!! Sounds yummy and I know my whole family will love it!
This sounds delicious! But I have a 17 year old, 6’3″ boy in the house – do you know how many years it’s been since I’ve had bread in the house long enough to get stale?
Bread doesn’t have to be stale, bread pudding is just a great thing to make out of the bread that would otherwise go to waste (happens all the time in my house!) Also, when bananas start to brown to the point no one will eat them, you can toss them in the freezer and save them for later. Take them out of the freezer, pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds so they peel easily then mash ’em.
I rarely have stale bread either, so I bought a french loaf and cut it into slices and let it sit out of a couple hours…just so its dry enough to soak up all the creamy goodness.
This is great, but I always do it the lazy way- same ingredients (sans heavy cream), just blend the bananas and then mix them into bread crumbs. Throw in a beaten egg, some milk, sugar and cinnamon, give it a stir add some butter to the top and let it soak for awhile before baking it. It’s my dessert for when I feel lazy and need to get rid of old bread and bananas.
This dessert looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it.
YUMMMY!!!! I love bread pudding! I can hardly wait to try this!!!
To poor allergic Jen,
You could also do the same sort of thing with apples, by the way.
To Kate,
Bread pudding is my ultimate weakness, so I love/hate you for posting this recipe when I’m trying so hard to lose weight!
Kirsten, that’s a great idea. I love bread pudding, but am not a huge fan of raisins that are traditionally added…apple sounds delicious, though! Thanks for the tip. 🙂
This recipe looks delicious. Alas, I am doomed to never sample it, as I am allergic to bananas. 🙁 It makes me sad.
4 eggs and 3 egg yolks. What do you do with leftover egg whites? I suppose one solution is to buy the new cookbook since you mentioned you handle leftover ingredients 🙂 I always put them in a bowl in the fridge waiting for some other recipe to call for whites. If I don’t find one, I just toss them in with the next batch of scrambled eggs.
Scrambled eggs is always a great solution, but did you know that egg whites actually freeze really well? Just label how many you have in a baggie, or place them in a plastic lined ice cube tray, and pop them in the freezer. Then you can pull them out next time you need whites. You can do the same thing if you have left-over yolks!
this looks soooo yummy!!!! 🙂
One thing I wish you gals would do (because i’m way too entirely lazy to do it myself) is post recipes that are made for 1-2 people (single servings, basically).
Like this recipe? *I* would love …. but no one else in my family would.
Oh well ….
and oh yay! Your book is FINALLY on it’s way (I ordered it Saturday? and it’s just shipping today – hrmpphh! *pouts*
I have a super strong sense of smell, I can’t imagine how intense that will be when I get pregnant. I certainly don’t mind a recipe that is not for St. Patty’s Day- there are enough of those around and this looks incredible!
I’m your newest follower … I love your blog and I want to try out everything I see here … great job … I’ll be back often!!!
Um, YUM! And hilarious. Kate, just FYI, you’re in good company with the internet stalking. My MIL (cute Mary Anderson!) gave me your cookbook for my birthday and I’ve been laying in bed at night adding sticky notes and bending down corners ever since! Oh, and yeah, I hunted you down on the internet. The hunter has now become the hunted. Love love love everything you do! And tell Dan Garret says hello. 🙂
Oh, my gosh, your MIL totally is adorable and one of my favorite people in the universe!! I’m so glad you hunted me down!! 🙂 I’m sure Dan tells Garret right back–he’s actually in Logan this week if you guys happen to be there!
I have always wanted to be the first to comment on one of your posts! Woo hoo! This bread pudding looks divine. I am looking forward to trying it! PS I seriously laugh out loud when I read these posts! I feel like I’m sitting here chatting with one of my gal pals so thanks for being so outgoing and fun in your posts!