Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce

It's no secret that I love sweets! One of my favorite desserts is bread pudding. Whenever I see it on the dessert menu at a restaurant, I just have to order it. I love it most when it's super moist on the inside and a little crunchy on the top. I'm pretty picky about my sauce too...I like it to be a little sweet, but I don't always love the overpowering rum sauce that lots of restaurants like to use. I was excited to try out this warm vanilla sauce recipe and it did not disappoint! It was just the right amount of sweet and super creamy.

For this recipe, I picked up a loaf of Jimmy John's day old bread. If you live near a Jimmy John's, you must swing by and pick up a loaf of day old bread...it's only $0.50 a loaf and it makes this bread pudding taste so good! If you don't have a sandwich shop nearby, pick up a loaf of Italian or French bread at the grocery store. It will still be super tasty.

I originally doubled the sauce recipe and we had quite a bit leftover. You should have just the right amount when made as directed below, but if you love sauce and want to make sure you have plenty, double the sauce recipe! I'm sure you can find something yummy to dunk into any leftover sauce you may have. The bread pudding is best served warm from the oven with the warm sauce drizzled over it, but it tastes totally amazing heated up the next day! Enjoy!

Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce
Adapted From: Kitchen Joy

4 - 6 cups French bread, cut into cubes (I picked up a loaf of day old bread at Jimmy John's and it was perfect for this recipe)

2 cups milk

½ cup sugar

¼ cup butter

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons light brown sugar

For the Vanilla Sauce:

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoons flour

1/4 cup unsalted butter

3/4 tablespoon vanilla extract

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 8x8-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

2.  In a medium saucepan, whisk together the milk, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add butter and heat over medium-low heat until butter has melted and milk is warm, but not boiling. Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla and beaten eggs. 

3.  Pour egg mixture into the bowl of bread cubes. Stir the bread until all cubes have been coated with the egg mixture. Let sit for 5 minutes. 

4.  Transfer mixture to prepared baking dish. Sprinkle brown sugar over the top. Bake uncovered for 35-40 minutes, or until it is set in the center and the top is lightly golden. 

5.  To make the Vanilla Sauce, whisk together sugar, flour and heavy cream in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the butter and heat until boiling, stirring often. Let simmer until the sauce has thickened for a few minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour warm sauce over bread pudding and enjoy!

 

Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

This delicious cookie pie is a family favorite! Grab a glass of milk, you will need it for this tasty treat!

To make this cookie stand out from your standard cookie, I added caramel filled chocolate morsels. Have y'all seen the Nestle Delightfulls? They come in lots of fun flavors and I couldn't resist the Caramel Chocolate Combo. Those two are always a winner in my book. I found the Delightfulls at Target and I know they carry them at Walmart too. Give them a try if you haven't yet. They are delicious and add something extra special to your desserts! If you aren't able to find the Delightfulls, you can always substitute your favorite chocolate chips. It will be delicious too, I promise! I've made this recipe many times before with chocolate chips and it tastes just as yummy.

This cookie pie tastes great the next day too! I'm not sure that you'll have much left though once you try the first piece! Enjoy this tasty recipe and let me know how you like it in the comments below.

Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

Adapted from: Chocolate Treats

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 1 tablespoon butter, melted, divided

1 cup packed light brown sugar

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 package (9 ounce) Nestle Delightfulls Caramel Filled Chocolate Morsels

Hot fudge sauce

Vanilla ice cream

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-inch pie plate.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat 1/2 cup of melted butter and brown sugar until well blended. Add eggs and vanilla. Add flour and baking powder; beat until well blended. Fold in chocolate morsels using a rubber spatula or spoon.

3. Place dough into prepared pie plate. Flatten and smooth the top and bake for 30 - 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. After removing the pie, brush the remaining 1 tablespoon of melted butter over the top of the pie. Place pie plate on wire rack to cool.

4. To serve, cute pie into wedges and top with ice cream and hot fudge sauce. 



Have You Ever Heard of a Food Bus?

So I was headed to a baby shower last weekend and made it across town a little early. I stopped into the nearest Target to pick up a few things I just had to get *as if the Target 5 minutes from my house didn't carry the exact same merchandise.* Once my shopping quest was complete, I decided to grab a quick bite. I was headed down the road looking for something tasty, when I spotted this!

Oh my, I had to do a quick double take as I passed by thinking my eyes were deceiving me. Yep, I had found one of Bernie's Burger Buses and I was actually going to get to try one. I have been telling C about this "food truck" for a while now, but we haven't been able to get to it together. I made the safest, quickest U-turn possible and got myself straight to that bus! The menu includes some really tasty sounding burgers, including one that has two patties sandwiched between two grilled cheese buns! What!?!? Awesome! I didn't get that one though, I opted for the Principle - your classic go-to when your taste buds are in overdrive from the delectable offerings. I decided to go no cheese, no onions, and no mustard. The Burger Bus was parked at Ooh La La Bakery, so while I waited for my burger order, I went inside to drool over the bakery displays. Cupcakes, pies, bars and more - serious deliciousness begging to go home with me! I mean look at this...pink lemonade cupcakes, tuxedo cupcakes, strawberry cupcakes and so much more. And the most amazing thing about these cupcakes was their size. These weren't you average size cakes, no, no, these were jumbo sized. More cupcake for me to eat! I didn't order any while I was there for lunch, but you bet I went back there after the shower before heading home!

After seeing all of the amazing cupcakes, my burger was ready. I could not wait to dive into this thing! Look at that beautiful buttered bun and that perfectly cooked patty peaking out from under it. 

Yum! Toasted bun, veggies, and an oh so good burger patty!

This burger was so amazing from the top down! The top bun was coated in a tasty, super pasty ketchup with a hint of sweet. The meat was so tender and seasoned perfectly. Hiding under that tasty meat was a bed of lettuce and garlic roasted tomatoes! Every detail of this burger was perfect and melt in your mouth! And those garlic roasted tomatoes were so good. 

I can say hands down this is one of the best burgers I've had...seriously! I can't wait to find the bus again and share the awesomeness with C! It's worth the time to seek out this bus...and they make it pretty easy for you. Check out the website daily to see if the bus is headed your way! Mmm...burger love!

Well, Well...Look Who's Back!

Wow...two years exactly since my last post. Something is wrong with this. I love blogging, I truly do. I love sharing recipes and fun shopping finds, and I love reading comments from readers here. So why the long break? Good question, and I wish I had a good answer for that. Life got busy and I tried to wear too many hats at once. I couldn't juggle being a great wife, loving mommy, housekeeper extraordinaire, trying new recipes all the time blogger and run a work from home party business. I have realized how much I truly miss the baking and blogging (and shopping and scrap booking and blogging). I love to be in my kitchen experimenting and playing around with new ingredients. It brings me great joy. And so does sharing that with all of you on the other side of this screen. I've put a few of my hats aside and reevaluated my priorities. My hubby and sweet boys are top of that list, followed by my need to reconnect with my crafty, baking, fashion sharing side.  So that's why I've decided (exactly two years to the date) to try again. {by the way, as much as I tried to lose the housekeeping hat, it didn't work! Someones got to do it, right!}
Don't get me wrong, I'm still juggling too many things and probably won't be able to post nearly as much as I like. C and I have added a new addition to our family. From here on out, he will be called  "Little Dude." We love our sweet new guy to pieces! And he and Little Man get along so well! But let's just say that Little Dude is not a good sleeper...at all. He doesn't give Momma and Daddy a whole lot of down time and one of us is always holding him or laying right beside him while he sleeps. Totally not what we pictured for sleeping arrangements, but at least we are sleeping some. I tell you that because I don't get a lot of time in the kitchen these days. My time in there is generally spent throwing together a quick dinner and washing what feels like a million baby bottles! Anyone else know that feeling? But, I'm tired of missing out on sharing all the great recipes and cute things I find. I miss it, so that is why I'm going to try again...starting slowly and get this thing back up and running!
I can't wait to start sharing with you all! And help me remember that it's okay to switch to my crafty hat some days, okay!