Panettone is kind of a new thing in our house. I’ve been curious about it for years, but decided that this was the year to try it. In a lot of ways, it’s like a fruitcake made with a light yeast bread, as opposed to the dense quick bread that we typically associate with fruitcake. Rather than all of the heavy candied fruits, the panettone that we had simply contained raisins and candied orange peels. It was quite yummy. That having been said, I’m not typically a fruity bread guy. I never really went after raisin bread or even banana bread that much. After the panettone sat there for a few days, I decided that it was time to do something else with it. I got to thinking that it would make a really yummy panettone bread pudding.
Think about it! It’s a nice yeasty bread that would happily soak up some custard. It already has the raisins that would go into so many bread puddings. And that perfumey orange zest would add such a neat note to a rich dessert. Since it’s between Christmas and New Year’s here, I definitely have some egg nog hanging around, so I figured I would use that in place of the milk. It added a silkiness that was very welcome. It felt like such a guilty indulgence even though I just used some stuff leftover from Christmas. Pretty easy concept, right? It turned out to be even easier.
The kids cut up the bread with the plastic knives that they got for Christmas, we mixed up the custard, folded it all together, and scooped it into jumbo muffin cups. When I say that it’s so easy a child can do it, we aren’t far off here!
Panettone Bread Pudding
You can use pretty much any vessel you want to cook this in. Souffle dishes, mini ramekins, or even regular muffin tins would work just as well. Just make sure to adjust the cooking time and check regularly.
Ingredients
4 eggs
1 1/2 C white sugar
2 C egg nog
1/2 C plus 2 Tbsp milk, divided
5 cups panettone, chopped
1 cup powdered sugar
Directions
Set oven to 350. Prepare jumbo muffin tins or casserole dish with softened butter or spray oil.
Mix eggs, sugar, egg nog, and 1/2 C milk in a large mixing bowl until well combined. Add bread and fold together. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes so that the bread can soak up the egg mixture.
Spoon into prepared jumbo muffin tins or casserole dish. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until the custard is set.
To prepare the glaze, combine powdered sugar and remaining milk.
To serve, place on a plate and drizzle with glaze or serve with vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!
What are your guilty indulgences during the holidays? How do you use up your leftovers? Leave us a note and let us know how we can help!
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