Old Fashioned Southern Bread Pudding

Ingredients
•1/2 pound loaf of French bread, or about 4 to 5 cups leftover stale biscuits or bread
•1 cup of whole milk
•1 cup of half and half
•2 eggs
•1 cup of granulated sugar
•1 tablespoon of pure vanilla extract
•1/2 cup of golden raisins, optional
•1 (15 ounce) can of fruit cocktail, drained
•2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted
•Whiskey Sauce

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Whisk together the milk and half and half. Tear the bread into small pieces and put into a large container for soaking. Pour the milk mixture all over the top. Let sit for about 10 minutes. Stir.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with the sugar and vanilla until well blended. Pulse the fruit in a food processor or blender to break it up, but don't puree it. Add the raisins and fruit cocktail to the egg mixture, pour over the bread and gently mix. Put the melted butter into the bottom of a 9 x 9 inch baking dish and coat the dish all along the sides and bottom. Spoon the bread pudding mixture into the dish.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees F for 1 hour, or until bubbly on the sides, golden brown and set in the middle. Let cool for about 5 minutes before cutting into squares. Drizzle each serving with whiskey sauce. Doubles great.

~Cook's Notes~

Some people scoff at the use of fruit cocktail in my recipe, but I say don't knock it till you've tried it. If you are really against it, use this recipe, omit the fruit cocktail and increase the eggs to 3, the butter to a half stick (1/4 cup), and the milk and half and half to 1-1/2 cups of each. That should do it.

Can substitute a wide variety of leftover breads, rolls, buns, or a combination of them. You’ll need about 4 or 5 cups of rough cut, or cubed bread.

Whiskey Sauce

Ingredients
•1/2 cup (1 stick) of unsalted butter
•1/4 cup of granulated sugar
•1/2 cup of heavy cream or whole milk
•1 tablespoon of all purpose flour
•1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
•1 tablespoon of whiskey, or to taste

Instructions

Melt butter in a saucepan and whisk all other ingredients in except the vanilla and whiskey; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened. Remove from heat, add vanilla and whiskey, whisk and drizzle over individual servings of warm bread pudding, shown above.

Note: Can omit whiskey for a simple glaze, or substitute rum, if desired.