Pumpkin Maple Nut Bread Pudding
Oct 09, 2012, Updated Sep 27, 2017
Hi, everyone! I’m so excited to be participating in another October Unprocessed. This is such a great month for our family because it helps us refocus on our vegetarian, (mostly) unprocessed lifestyle. It’s so great to take a whole month and really think about why we eat the way we do, why we chose a meatless lifestyle, and why it’s so important for us and our children to eat healthy, natural foods.
When Andrew and I first discussed my guest post for this month, about ten different recipes popped into my head at once. In order to narrow things down, I sat down and thought about the one dessert recipe (it had to be a dessert recipe, of course!), that would embrace the Unprocessed challenge, and be a great Fall dessert. The answer came to me pretty quickly: Bread pudding. Not just any bread pudding, Pumpkin Maple Pecan Bread Pudding. It just sounds like Fall, doesn’t it?
This recipe combines all the great flavors of fall: Pumpkin, maple syrup, pecans, and spices like cinnamon and cloves. Add that to some homemade (or unprocessed store-bought) milk and some toasted bread, and you’ve got yourself the perfect Fall bread pudding.
Bread pudding is so comforting, and you can make a perfectly decadent refined-sugar-free, all-natural version of it! So, go ahead and dig into dessert…
Pumpkin Maple Nut Bread Pudding
Ingredients
- 10 cups bread, cubed
- 3 cups pumpkin puree
- 2 cups milk, almond milk or soy milk
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 325°.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and transfer the cubed bread pieces to the lined baking sheet.
- Bake at 325° for 20 minutes, using a spatula to turn the cubes after 10 minutes.
- While the bread cubes are toasting, prepare the pumpkin custard. In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, milk, eggs, maple syrup, vanilla extract and spices until combined.
- Once the cubes are toasted, remove from the oven and place in a greased 9x13 baking dish.
- Pour the pumpkin custard over the bread cubes, and toss with a large spoon to make sure all the bread cubes are covered.
- Top with the chopped pecans.
- Bake the bread pudding at 325° for 50-60 minutes, or until the bread pudding is completely set.
- Let cool slightly before enjoying!
Nutrition
Jackie Gonzalez-Feezer is the recipe developer and photographer behind La Casa de Sweets, where she shares her grain-free and (mostly) vegan recipes. Having made the switch to a grain-free lifestyle a few years ago, her goal is to make healthy food taste good. You can also find Jackie on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Jenn,
Thank you for the applesauce tip!
Fun fall recipe – homemade challah would be fantastic for bread pudding – just have to use an acceptable flour. Just thinking about it makes me hungry!
Bread question: any all-natural bread would work well with this recipe, particularly the crustier ones. I also make my own bread to make sure all the ingredients are natural. As Andrew states in his guide, bread only needs a few ingredients to make!
There are some wonderful brick oven bakeries in my neck of the woods (New England).
Sunnyfield Brick Oven Bakery (bakery@sunnyfield.us) to name just one. Ingredients are organic for the most part and they even use fresh spring water. Delicious. Lots of home bakers around.
Can this recipe be eggless?
Unsweetened applesauce can be used to replace eggs as a binding agent in baking. 1/4C = 1 egg. Homemade applesauce is easy too: peel, core & cut organic apples, steam, and puree.
Sounds like a great way to make this eggless, Jenn!!
Another thought on what bread to use…we’ve found a new bread that we like that fits the unprocessed criteria (although I don’t know that it would work for this recipe):
Dave’s Killer Bread (several varieties) http://www.daveskillerbread.com
Their motto is “Just say no to bread on drugs!”
Lynn, I think I might try Bob’s Red Mill 100% Whole Grain Wheat bread mix and then create this.
I was wondering what to make for my own birthday cake (because that’s the only way I’m going to get an unprosessed one) and this should solve that. Serve it warm with fresh unpastured whipped cream – YUM!
yes interested in that bread question….. what bread is used in this recipe??
what kind of store bought “unprocessed” bread can anyone recommend?
Check with your local co-op. They often bake their own fresh breads for sale. They cost a little more than a a typical loaf, but it’s worth it if you don’t have the time to bake your own! They would also likely carry a organic/unprocessed brand.
Jackie, this sounds yummy! I’m thinking this is a great recipe to make for Thanksgiving. Of course, it needs a test-run before that…
It definitely needs a test-run before Thanksgiving! Hope you like it!