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I wanted to make a chocolate bread pudding. But I wanted it to be healthier than most recipes I found, which called for white challah bread, heavy cream, butter and lots of sugar. I wanted to use whole-wheat bread (more specifically, the Whole Foods brand pre-sliced multi-grain bread because that’s what I always have in the house), reduced-fat milk, no butter, and not too much sugar. I also wanted a non-soggy, non-mushy bread pudding. I had to make this recipe a couple of times to fine-tune the details, but here it is: a delicious, chocolaty, non-soggy chocolate bread pudding, that tastes great even though it’s lighter in fat, calories and sugar.
A note on the bread: Whole-wheat bread works well for a non-soggy bread pudding, because it’s more substantial than white bread. I used 8 standard, 40-gram slices of pre-sliced bread. They need to be dry, so leave them out on the counter overnight. 8 slices are about 4 cups bread cubes.
Makes 6 servings
New quantity:
Total time: 1 hour
Prep: 10 minutes
Bake: 45 minutes
Cool: 10 minutes
Ingredients
8 slices whole-wheat bread, dry, cubed
Butter-flavored nonstick spray
1 1/2 cups reduced-fat milk
1/3 cup (2 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
3 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch salt
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
Directions
1. Generously coat an 8-inch square baking dish with nonstick butter-flavored spray. Place bread cubes in pan.
2. Heat 1/2 cup of the milk over medium heat in a small saucepan. Add the chocolate chips. Whisk constantly until chocolate is melted. Remove from heat.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining milk, eggs, maple syrup, vanilla and salt. Add the now-slightly-cooled chocolate-milk mixture. Whisk well to combine.
4. Pour evenly over bread cubes, making sure all bread cubes are soaked. If some remain bare, gently flip them using your fingers to make sure they get coated. Cover the pan with foil and carefully place a heavy pot on top, to flatten.
5. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. (No need to preheat, the time it takes for the oven to heat will help the bread soak up the custard).
6. Remove foil. Lightly spray the top of the bread mixture with butter-flavored nonstick spray. Bake, uncovered, 30 minutes.
7. Remove from oven, lightly spray again (helps prevent drying) and bake, uncovered, 15 more minutes.
8. Remove from oven. Cool 5 minutes in pan, then cut into 6 servings and place on a cooling rack to cool 5 more minutes. This helps with the non-sogginess, especially of the bottom.
9. Dust with powdered sugar and serve.
Nutrition per serving
(I calculated the cooking spray as 1 teaspoon of oil)
Calories 330.0
Total Fat 10.0 g
Saturated Fat 3.7 g
Cholesterol 97.4 mg
Sodium 260.3 mg
Total Carbohydrate 53.2 g
Dietary Fiber 3.6 g
Sugars 25.0 g
Protein 9.7 g
Weight Watchers Points Plus: 9 points
I'm Vered DeLeeuw, a blogger, a foodie and a mom. Welcome to Healthy Recipes, my food blog and the only cookbook I use. I'm so excited to share it with you. Bon appetit!
