You saw this one coming, didn’t you? That last cinnamon roll post – for a small batch to minimize extras – took me two attempts to get right so let’s just say I’ve got quite a few cinnamon rolls lying about. I took one for the team, my friends. Oh the irony. I’m not a big fan of leftovers so I’ve been trying to keep on top of things but one of the biggest offenders in my house lately is bread. Like many, I’ve embarked on several bread adventures during this quarantine and there’s one great truth in all this: I can only so much bread. Loaves and bagels and buns, oh my and those cinnamon rolls certainly didn’t help. Now, probably more so than any other time, we’re all acutely aware of what we eat and how much we waste. Due to shortages, we’re careful how much flour or rice or pasta we cook and certainly don’t want to throw anything away if avoidable. We repurpose leftovers into lunchtime salads, little casseroles, stir fries and soups with varying degrees of success. For the first time in many of our lives, we’re aware. And right now, many of us are aware of an excess of bread hanging about, keto diets be damned.
You can do many, many things with stale bread: croutons, breadcrumbs, panzanella (a great Italian bread salad). None of those are quite right for cinnamon rolls but you know what is? Bread pudding. Oh yes, indeed. Perfect. My usual recipe can be quite rich – heavy cream and egg yolks – but who wants to run out for cream and deal with separating eggs and then finding something to do with the whites right now? Nope. Not happening. So, I kept this one simple: just milk and whole eggs. I’m running low on vanilla, so I turned to my trusty liquor cabinet for an alternative. Bourbon and dark rum were leading contenders, but I went for the brandy as it just seemed right. Why not? I’ve got nowhere to be. I used brown sugar because I like those darker, caramel-y flavors with cinnamon but regular sugar would work just fine. I don’t particularly care for skim or 1-2% here and I haven’t tried any of the 64 kinds of nut milks but if that’s what you have, that’s what you have.
Don’t feel that you have to make a big ‘ol thing. If you have a little stale bread, make a little bread pudding. There’s a basic formula at play here: 2 cups cubed bread + 1 large egg + ½ cup milk. Don’t have cinnamon rolls? Use whatever bread you have an add some sweet things – diced apples, chocolate chips, dried cherries and what not – if you like. Not sure that I should mention you could go savory too or if that’s going to complicate matters. I’d skip the cinnamon rolls if you go that direction but any other bread would be good. Leave out the sugar, add some complementary spices/flavorings and add some savory things like ham, cheese, vegetables, etc. It’s a good clean out the fridge kind of dish. The point is you’ve repurposed that stale bread into a new delicious meal rather than wasting it. That’s a very good thing. Bravo. And if you have leftover cinnamon rolls, it’s a double good time.
STRESS THERAPY BAKING FACTOR: MAINTAINING A RHYTHM. It’s a constant cycle around here. Bake, eat, deal with the leftovers. I’m not great with leftovers, don’t like the majority of them in fact but if I turn them into something entirely new, then it’s not a leftover is it? Stale bread is the bane of my existence on a normal day. Right now it’s never ending. Who would have thought I’d have a tray of stale cinnamon rolls hanging out, screaming for something to be done? Certainly not I. So bread pudding it is; soft and creamy inside, delightfully crusty and crackly on top. It’s like a whole dish of the gooey center of a cinnamon roll (which we all know is the very best part.)
eleven years ago: Khachapuri (cheesy Georgian bread)
ten years ago: Kolacky (Polish butter cookies)
nine years ago: Sticky Bun Bread
eight years ago: Fresh Goat Cheese
seven years ago: Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons
six years ago: Guinness Crème Anglaise
five years ago: Flourless Chocolate Cookies
four years ago: Red Curry Firecracker Shrimp with Sweet Chile Dipping Sauce
three years ago: Greek Yogurt Cheesecake with Fig-Date Compote
two years ago: Easter Recipe Round Up (and some polka favorites)
last year: Vietnamese Style Chicken Salad
CINNAMON ROLL BREAD PUDDING
serves 6-8
Don’t have enough cinnamon rolls? No worries, remember the basic formula: 2 cups diced stale bread + 1 large egg + ½ cup milk + ¼ cup sugar.
for the pudding:
8 cups diced cinnamon rolls, ¾” cubes (from about 6 rolls)
4 large eggs
2 cups whole milk
1 cup light brown sugar
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or brandy, bourbon, dark rum, etc.)
For the topping:
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 Tablespoon sugar
Pinch of kosher salt
- Cut the cinnamon rolls into roughly ¾” pieces, icing and all, and spread out on a sheet pan in a single layer. Leave them out uncovered overnight to get nice and stale (they’ll soak up the custard better if they’re dry.) If you don’t have the time, leave them out as long as you can, giving a toss once in a while. A little stale is better than nothing.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and vanilla until smooth.
- Butter a shallow baking dish, place on a parchment paper lined sheet pan and fill the dish with the dry bread cubes.
- Pour the custard over the bread and give it a little toss. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to soak, giving a stir halfway through to evenly soak.
- Halfway through soaking, preheat the oven to 300°F with a rack in the lower third.
- After 30 minutes of soaking, cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine the cinnamon, sugar and salt for the topping. Set aside.
- Remove the foil, sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top and bake for another 15 minutes, uncovered, until the custard is set. To check, insert a paring knife into the pudding, just off center. If it comes out wet, like you dipped the knife in beaten eggs, give it another 10 and check again. If it comes out clean or with moist, not wet, bits remove from the oven.
- Serve warm, room temperature or chilled with heavy cream or whipped cream.
STRESSCAKE 
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