Bread Versatility

This page is dedicated to bread and its versatility. The recipes below can give life back to stale breads.

Pumpernickle Bread Pudding with Banana

We had leftover cocktail pumpernickle bread. Instead of letting it go to waste, I decided to try making bread pudding. I modified Ina Garten's Breakfast Bread Pudding and used my frozen bananas. Since I didn't have half-and-half milk, I searched online and found out that I could substitute with regular milk and melted butter.

Ingredients:

1 lb stale cocktail pumpernickle bread, 3 eggs, 1 cup milk, 2 tbs butter- melted, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 2.5 tbs honey, 0.5 tsp salt and 3 bananas- peeled and sliced.

Procedures:

1. In a large bowl, whisk eggs, milk, butter,vanilla extract, honey and salt. Set aside

2. Butter an 8x8x2 in baking pan (Pyrex should work)

3. Lay a layer of bread on the bottom of the pan. Distribute banana slices on the bread. Repeat with another layer of bread and banana slices. Finish the last layer with bread so that the banana slices do not burn

4. Pour the egg mixture over the bread and allow it to soak for 15 mins or until all the bread have soaked up the egg mixture, pressing gently with weights or flat plate

5. Preaheat oven to 350F. Bake for 40 mins or until the pudding puffs up and the custard is set. Check with a skewer to ensure doneness

6. Remove from oven and serve cool with your fav toppings

French Toast

I wrote this recipe for my German friend who recently learned about this dish. My French toast recipe is adaptable so you can add your own ingredients.

Ingredients (Yield 2 hearty breakfast servings):

5 bread slices, 4 eggs, 0.25 cup milk, 0.25 tsp ground cinnamon, salt and ground black pepper to taste. Butter for greasing pan

Procedures:

1. In a large bowl, beat eggs and mix in milk, ground cinnamon, salt and ground black pepper

2. Cut bread slices into halves in a diagonal

3. Grease a large pan with butter and some oil over low-medium heat

4. Dip both sides of the bread slices in the egg mixture

5. Place a few dipped bread slices in the pan, making sure not to crowd them. Cook for 2 to 3 mins or until the egg is cooked and slightly browned

6. Flip the bread slices and continue to cook for another 2 to 3 mins or until done

7. Remove bread slices onto paper towels to drain excess oil

8. Serve with your favorite syrup and fruits

Tip:

Feel add to ground nutmeg

Tips:

If you don't have half-and-half milk, you can substitute 1 cup of HH with 1 cup less 2tbs milk and 1.5 tbs melted butter

If you have overripe bananas, just freeze them. They can be used to make desserts and smoothies.

You can substitute pumpernickle with other breads.