The 12 Days of Christmas, Day 11: Pumpkin Pie Bread Pudding

Make your Christmas morning SIMPLE with this make-ahead show stopper.  All you need to do is pop it into a preheated oven, before you unwrap gifts and it will be ready when you are.

This pumpkin pie bread pudding is a dream recipe because it is not only ridiculously simple to make, but it uses simple, inexpensive staples most everyone always has on-hand in their kitchen.

Pro tip:  Always keep a loaf of stale french bread on top of your fridge or in your bread box.  Its a great multi-tasker, whether for bread crumbs, bread pudding, or more.

In my fridge recently sat a lonely, partial can of pumpkin just begging to be used up.  With the big holidays I try my best to prepare as many dishes in advance so that I don’t have to deal with many messes on the big day, so this was a no brainer.  We don’t (yet) have a traditional breakfast which we do on Christmas mornings because our children are small and enjoy pretty much everything.  This year I concluded, who doesn’t love bread pudding?  It’s easy, versatile, and potentially more nutritious (or at least less unhealthy) than so many other breakfast staple options.

Preparing to go into the oven!

You will need:

9×13 casserole dish, liberally buttered

1 loaf of stale bread, cut or torn into approximate bite size pieces

1 cup melted butter

12 eggs

2 cups pumpkin puree

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 cups whole milk

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

pinch of salt

Whipped cream

Maple syrup

Toasted pecans

Directions:  Cube bread and place into greased casserole dish.  Drizzle melted butter over stale bread.  In a large bowl, beat eggs, whip puree into eggs, then add sugar, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla, and mix until combined.  Slowly incorporate milk, one cup at a time.  Pour over the bread and butter.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until sides are lightly browned and a toothpick comes out mostly clean from the center.

Serve with whipped cream, maple syrup, and toasted chopped pecans.