This Can’t Be Healthy! Apple Cinnamon Bread Pudding
I’m sorry about the picture overload guys, but I’m just totally, completely, entirely infatuated with this guy…
I took a million photos and had a REALLY hard time deciding which ones would make the cut and which ones would get left behind.
Because, believe it or not, I did leave some VERY good shots behind!
Know this, though. The number of pictures appearing in this post is directly proportional to my level of appreciation for that bread pudding.
So… think I liked it? At least a little bit?
It was, without a doubt, THE best bread pudding I have eaten in my entire life.
And you know what? I enjoyed all four VERY GENEROUS portions for breakfast… all that WHILE being on a weight loss stretch.
You read that one right.
THIS absolutely decadent dessert looking thing is what I am actually eating for breakfast while actively working on shedding some pounds…
And you know what still?
The fat is actually coming right off!
It might be hard to believe by looking at it, but this bread pudding is healthy as can be!
But hey, don’t take my word for it. Go ahead and take a look at those nutritional facts… I didn’t make them up, you know! 😉
Never in my life did I imagine that I could eat such an amazing and sweet tasting dessert for breakfast and feel so full and supported for so long. I can guarantee that this one will not send you crashing an hour after you’re done eating.
I wasn’t even in a hurry to have my morning snack after eating this.
In all honesty, I think it could easily serve 6. And if you are going to serve this as a snack or dessert, you can very well make that number an 8.
If you are a fan of bread pudding, by all means, give that one a try.
And don’t be afraid of serving it to guests, or even kids.
Trust me, no one will care that it was made with whole grain bread.
Heck, they probably won’t even notice!
Yeah, really… it’s that good!
This Can’t Be Healthy! Apple Cinnamon Bread Pudding
Ingredients
For The Pudding
- 227 g crusty whole wheat bread, cut into 2 inch squares
- 1½ cup home made coconut milk, or other milk of your choice
- 1½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 whole eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 Red Delicious apple, peel on, finely diced
- ½ cup raisins
- ¼ cup walnuts
For the Sauce
- 3 scoops vanilla flavored whey protein powder
- ¼ cup fat free plain Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup home made coconut milk, or other milk of your choice
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, add coconut milk, unsweetened applesauce, eggs, cinnamon and nutmeg. Beat ligthly with a whisk until well incorporated.
- Fold in bread cubes, walnuts, apple and raisins.
- Transfer to oven safe dish, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. This will allow the bread to soak up the liquid.
- Preheat your oven to 350F and bake the bread pudding for 45-50 minutes, until it's set and the top turns nice and golden brown.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool until it reaches room temperature, then cover and transfer to refrigerator once again to cool completely. (This pudding is best served cold)
- When ready to serve, make the sauce by adding protein powder and yogurt to a mixing bowl and mix with a spoon or whisk until well incorporated. It might look like there is too much powder at first, but it will come together eventually. Same goes for the "lumpy" feeling. Just let the mixture rest for about a minute and give it another quick stir. It will become nice and smooth.
- Add milk and stir until nice and creamy looking.
- Pour generously over bread pudding.
- Both the sauce and bread pudding will keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
If you’ve tried this recipe, please take a minute to rate the recipe and let me know how things went for you in the comments below. It’s always such a pleasure to hear from you!
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Start with a nice whole wheat / grain crusty bread
All cut into cubes
After a nice long bath…
Straight out of the oven…
Oh! I wish you could smell that!
Breakfast is served
Still undressed and already looking delicious… but wait!
It gets better…
Let’s add a little sauce, shall we?
Yum! All good and ready to go…
Does that look good or what?
Go ahead, dig in!
Now for a taste test… Moist enough for you?
71 Comments on “This Can’t Be Healthy! Apple Cinnamon Bread Pudding”
Looks delicious and a must make for Fall!!
Hope you try it Kim! Make sure you let me know how it turned out if you do! 🙂
I think I just died and went to heaven!
NORA!!! So good to see you! OMG, where have you been girl? Is the new store keeping you so busy? I hope things are working out great!!! Oh, I just want to hug you right now. So happy to “see” you! This just made my day! =D
Love this recipe! Will be linking back to this in my upcoming post 🙂
Thank you Marla! I am honored! 😀
I do not know how you wait long enough to take photos. Even of it all ready to eat off the spoon! I can almost smell it myself. What self restraint! I assume you get the set up all ready well before it comes out of the oven.. I do not believe you ate all four servings of this for breakfast! That sauce/custard will sure come in handy on a number of dishes.
In fact, Christina, I rarely set up before my food is ready, because I tend to let the food speak to me. It is “it” that dictates how it wants to be photographed. I look at it and then get my inspiration. Unless I’m dealing with things that are extremely time sensitive, like ice cream…
And for the record, I didn’t have all four servings in one go, but I had all four servings for breakfast, on four different mornings. I would’ve never been able to eat it all at once! Even one serving was a lot! And so true, that sauce is the bomb and can be used with a number of dishes. It’s like instant, fail proof crème anglaise!
looks healthy and delicious! i’ll take it, and bet my kiddos would love it just as much 🙂
I’m sure they would! If you make the test, let me know the results! 🙂
All of these pics are fantastic! And the pudding looks so tasty! I love anything with bread. 🙂
Love bread pudding! Especially the one that looks like that.
Wow girl, you were certainly on a roll when it comes to taking pics of that gorgeous bread pudding. And gorgeous pics they are too! Makes me drool to no end. I’m just wondering one thing; I see in the ingredient list it uses whey protein powder. Now since I am making my own cheese lately I have been looking for ways to use all the whey which is apparently very healthy. Ofcourse it is not in any powdered form but do you think there would be a way to incorporate that into the bread pudding. Looks amazing!!
Thank you so much Simone. To have you say that my pictures are gorgeous is simply priceless. I am flushed! 🙂
As for using the whey, I have no idea… it’s fairly liquid that stuff, isn’t it? I guess you could replace the milk with an equal amount of whey, but having never worked with it, or even seen what it actually looks like, it’s hard for me to tell.
And wait a minute. Did you say make your own cheese? Love the idea! Is that on your blog, cuz if it is, I totally missed it! How goes it? Is it really messy and complicated? Heading over to your blog right now!
haha… it’s not so complicated but yes it can get messy… 😉 I’ve made ricotta and have just done goatcheese. Both are on my blog too.. And as for the whey; yes it is very liquid. It’s what you get when the milk splits into curds and whey. Curds ending up being the cheese and whey is the leftover product. You should try it too!
I might be able to get my hands on some raw goats milk! Trust me, if I do, I will give this cheese making a go, that’s for sure. I did check out your goat cheese post but got distracted before I got to comment, which I meant to do. I’ll have to get back to that. Looks so yummy, it definitely inspired me to give it a try!
Love the ingredients in this! I have so many recipes of yours I want to try but this just moved up to the top of the list. Yell at me if I haven’t made it within a week! This looks too good to wait around for. And I’ll resist adding any sweetener, although I’m sure maple syrup would be so perfect for this! Fantastic pictures, too. 🙂
Trust me Erin, you won’t need the sweetener! And if really you can’t resist, you can always drizzle a touch of maple syrup on top of everything… I really hope you like it and can’t wait to get your impressions. However, I won’t be able to yell at you for I won’t be around in a week! So I’ll yell at you in 2 weeks instead, how’s that? You just bought yourself more time! 😉
WOW! That looks so totally delicious! I can’t wait to make it tomorrow. THanks for sharing the recipe! I love that it has enough protein in it that I can eat it alone for breakfast without needing to add an additional protein source!
I hope you like it as much as I did, Elizabeth. Make sure you share your impressions, I’d really love to hear them! 🙂
you’re right, it doesn’t look healthy… it looks sinful!! yummm!
It also tastes sinful! You would never guess that it’s healthy, I swear!
I don’t know if this would be considered healthy. It seems to compare to be about twice as healthy as a 1/2 cup of fattening whole dairy ice cream, and does far worse on the cholesterol measure. Looks great though!
Agree. I read the nutrition facts. This looks delicious, but is in no way a healthy food.
Without even trying it, I know it is the best bread pudding ever. That’s how good it looks.
Awwww, Tender. As always, you are the SWEETEST!!! Thank you so much! You just made my day 🙂
Bread pudding is my favorite dessert and I’ve never tried one with apples! This time of year, I’m craving all sorts of apple and pumpkin treats and your bread pudding has me all excited to start the fall baking right now! Looks delicious and yes, I’ll eat it for breakfast! 🙂
I hope you do give it a try, Julia. If you love bread pudding and everything apple, then you will definitely love this one! And now you just inspired me to make a pumpkin version of this. Oh my! I want to make one NOW!!! Thanks for the inspiration, and make sure you let me know how you like the pudding if you end up trying it! 🙂
This looks incredible! I don’t know how you do it but you are constantly amazing me with your creations 🙂
I’m seriously drooling – and mentally running through my kitchen cupboards to check if I can go make it right now. I do have some homemade spelt bread that needs a purpose…
Out of curiosity – I’d love to know what protein powders you like/regularly use? It’s always good to get recommendations 😉
Spelt bread sure would do the trick! Bet it would love to be made into a healthy pudding!
The protein powder that I use regularly and strongly recommend to is New Zealand Pro by Ergogenics. There is a link in the ingredients list if you want to check it out! 🙂
I actually made this recipe yesterday. It turned out great, not too sweet. The only change I made was to add a little more bread… the ratio of bread to liquid seemed a little too “goopy” for me. The finished product was perfect. My fiance forgot to eat his for breakfast, so he wants to know if he can have it for dessert. LOL! It’ll work for both!
Did you let the bread soak for a little while, Bonnie? I find this step is mandatory, as it allows the bread to soak up all that liquid and makes it real moist and flavorful! Glad the recipe turned out perfect. And of course, your fiance can have his serving for dessert instead… if you don’t eat it before then, that is! 😉 Not sure I could resist!
Yep, I let the bread soak for about an hour before baking. While I ADDED more bread, hence increasing the calorie count, I also made the finished product into 6 servings instead of 4, which I still find to be more than enough for a portion. And it drops the calorie count back down, too! I had my portion for breakfast, so I have to be good now, and not eat more. 🙁
O M G…I can’t believe I’m reading this… BREAD PUDDING!? I am OBSESSED with bread pudding. The hotel we have our company christmas party at makes AMAZING (but probably super bad-for-you) bread pudding and I always look forward to dessert just because of that. My boyfriend actually asked the manager if he could have a container of it to take home and surprised me with it at the end of the night. Marriage material? I think so.
So… this is my next recipe that I’m making from you. And I have high hopes because everything else that I’ve made from your blog has been super-duper amazing. If this is as good as I think it’s going to be… I may need to build a statue in your honour. Or something else. Or just keep praising you to all my friends and family like I have been? That last one sounds a tad easier.
Honestly, Claudia? Best bread pudding I ever had. I still drool internally sometimes when I think of this bread pudding or look at the pictures. I sincerely, honestly hope that when you give it a try, it will satisfy you just as much, if not more, as this other one you’re infatuated with. Make sure you let me know how it turned out when you try it. I certainly hope that THIS recipe won’t let you down. It can’t. Oh boy, I’m almost nervous now. 😉
And erm… marriage material? Right on! I definitely think so too! DON’T, I repeat DON’T let that one go anywhere! Keep a close eye on him! 😉
Oh, and ps… this time you had me totally flushed. Royally. A statue? In my honor? You’re too much! Even the praise is too much. But thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! You soooooo rock! 😉
hi sonia – is the nutritional value for the entire dish or is just for one serving? this looks delicious and i can’t wait to make this and give it a try. thanks for the healthy recipe!
Thanks Jamie! The nutritional value is per serving, based on 4 servings, including the sauce. Hope you like it as much as I did! 🙂
This looks amazing! I want to make it today, we are snowed in here in Colorado…I am a little concerned about the calorie content though…is that 476 calories per serving? Also, do you know what how many cups of bread 227 grams would be? Thanks for the post!
476 calories is per serving indeed. But we’re talking HUGE serving here. As in breakfast size serving. If you’re going to have this for dessert, I would say you could easily get 6, if not 8 servings out of this recipe. As for the quantity of bread, I would say you’re looking at around 5-6 cups…
Hope you like! 😀
I made this for breakfast today. I love that is has apples AND raisins AND walnuts. MMM. Sonia isn’t kidding, the portion Is huge. Just imaginine if you baked a (fairly tall) cake in a 8or 9 inch square pan… and only cut it in quarters! Although I gobbled mine down easily for a hearty breakfast, but my hubbie got through half before he was stuffed. A few notes just FYI:
-Although Sonia mentioned serving it cold, we loved it warmed up in the microwave.
-Since the rest of the pudding is so deliciously full of whole foods and natual flavors, I felt it was a shame to have the stevia flavor in the sauce. Since there is a decent amount of protein thanks to eggs, bread and milk (I used 2% dairy), I may try an alternative sauce next time.
-As for Karl`s health concerns, I have to disagree. This recipe contains a balanced combination of food groups. It has significant amount of fiber, protein, vitamins c and b, etc….Would you have a breakfast of 2 slices whole wheat toast, 3/8 cup of plain Apple sauce, 1/2 a beaten egg, 6 tablespoons of some sort of milk. That plus some raw nuts and raisins is the entire base recipe for one serving. And you may only be able to eat half that in a sitting. There is a flaw in perspective to compare the nutrition facts of an entire meal to that of an after-dinner snack.
(Sorry for any typos, this was a phone post on the train ride)
Thank you for the great feedback, Summer! Real glad you liked this recipe and I sincerely appreciate your taking the time to let me know! That’s always golden to me. 🙂
Hi Sonia,
This is my first time trying a healthy alternative and I’m a little disappointed. Mine turned out really bland and not sweet at all. I didn’t make the topping and used lactaid milk. Is that why it didn’t turn out tasty? Is it the coconut milk that gives some sweetness to it?
Definitely, Jean, the coconut milk adds sweetness and flavor, as does the topping…
Just made this, after trawling for recipes to use up excess milk and eggs. I used sprouted grain bread, subbed chopped almonds/cashews/pepitas for the walnuts I didn’t have and also added some hemp protein, coconut chips and ground flax.
Ate some straight out of the oven as I couldn’t wait for it to cool. Delicious!
This recipe could easily be made vegan, and is so versatile!
Thank you for taking the time to leave this great feedback, Ingrid. Real glad to hear you liked the recipe, even straight out of the oven! 🙂
How can 57 grams be healthy? I googled paleo bread puddings & this recipe came up
While a good number of my recipes are paleo, Carolyn, this one definitely isn’t… maybe it’s time I started working on a good Paleo Bread Pudding Recipe. Adding this to the list… 🙂
Made it again and it was gooo-oood (again).
I finally got around to making up an alternative sauce. It still packs a decent amount of protein (about 8 gm/serving in just the sauce, depending on what brands of yogurt and cream cheese you use). Clearly this one has sugar, but I did my best to keep it pretty much equal in calories.
Summer’s Alternative Sauce
(For Healthy Foodie’s Awesome Breakfast Bread Pudding)
5 tbsp(about 30g) Powdered Egg Whites
1/8 cup(aka 2 tablespoons), Greek Nonfat Yogurt
1/4 cup(s) Healthyfoodie’s home made coconut milk (or other milk of your choice)
60.0 g(s) powdered sugar (I think this is a little less than 1/2 cup)
2.0 Tbsp (31g), low-fat (I used Greek cream cheese from Green Mountain Farms- Sprouts)
Put all in a blender/magic bullet/food processor or something and blend until well combined.
I was going to do a side-by-side but I found it difficult because protein powders can so much in protein content
So here are stats on mine:
Servings 4.0
Calories 102
Total Fat 1 g
*Saturated Fat 1 g
*Monounsaturated Fat 0 g
*Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g
*Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 3 mg
Sodium 121 mg
Potassium 14 mg
Total Carbohydrate 16 g
*Dietary Fiber 0 g
*Sugars 16 g
Protein 8 g
Vitamin A 1 %
Vitamin C 0 %
Calcium 3 %
Iron 0 %
Again thank you for this recipe… it is a total keeper!
So how much is 227g of bread? I’ve never measured bread that way. Most recipes are in cups.
227g is half a pound, Diane. Hope this helps!
Would this freeze well? I’d be making it for just myself & dividing into 8 portions but couldn’t eat it all in a few days. I’d rather make a whole batch & freeze part if it’ll work than to make just a 1/2 batch. I have health issues & being able to pull something out of the freezer when I don’t have the energy to cook/bake works well for me.
I suppose it would, Jennelle, but I’m not sure about the sauce, though. I think this one would be much better fresh!
i need to try this! Thanx for the recipe
I just made it this morning with a whole bunch of old leftover “restaurant” bread (bread basket component from one of my fave restaurants) lol. Not sure if it’s whole grain but man, it’s delicious! Dark, crusty and filled with nuts and raisins. I had a very hard time throwing it out so in the fridge it sat for weeks until I came across your recipe =)
Needless to say, the bread pudding came out amazing! I let it sit in the fridge overnight and I did not add any extra nuts or raisins; instead of your sauce I used Walden farms calorie free caramel syrup.
Thank you for a lovely breakfast idea! And the delicious apple pie room fragrance that came with it =)
You are very welcome, Kseniya, and thank YOU so much for taking the time to leave such great feedback! I’m glad the bread pudding was to your liking AND that your leftover bread was saved from the bin! 😉
What are your thoughts on using Ezekiel 4:9 bread?
I’m not familiar with that bread, Kim, so I’m afraid I can’t be of much help… sorry about that!
Hi – don’t do milk or hardly any sugar so I made this with almond milk – my homemade whole wheat bread heels saved from a few months and I split the applesauce with pumpkin purée. Also did craisins instead of raisins. Im leaving it in the fridge overnight and we are going to eat it for breakfast warm! So excited love bread pudding
Souds delicious, Heather! Enjoy breakfast! 🙂
Cant be all that healthy with all that sugar and calories.
Hi. Just made this using Fat free, lactose free milk. Turned out well. However, I think that one tsp of nutmeg was a bit too much.
Next time, might try it with apple cider, instead of milk, + some cornstarch to really kick up the apple flavor.
Will this taste good without the sauce? Would it be sweet enough on it’s own?
Taste is a very personal thing, Yasmin, so it’s hard for me to say whether you will find it sweet enough or not. But if it were me, I would definitely say yes!
This bread pudding recipe does take some time and elbow grease, but man is it delicious! And sooo healthy! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Awesome! Real happy to hear, and thanks for the great feedback; I sincerely appreciate it! 🙂
Delicious! Instead of using bread, I used leftover pancakes. I looked for a way to post a picture of the results, but couldn’t find one.
Can you make the sauce without the protein powder?
I’m afraid not…
I made this with a few modifications. It still turned out fantastic. First, I doubled the recipe because I had a lot of leftover bread. I also plan to freeze it in single portions. I only used 2c applesauce because I used 3 apples in the bread portion. Then I increased liquid egg whites to cover that “wet” ingredient. I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk and added 2t vanilla extract. Thanks for the recipe!
Very good! I was a little dubious about the sauce at first, but it is delightful!