Chocolate-Flecked Bread Pudding

Direct from the oven and still puffy from its steamy interior. Image by author.

The Furrow & Trowel household has benefitted from the 2020s resurgence of sourdough home baking. Recently, my husband tried a new starter he ordered online, and we’ve been cutting into fresh loaves of bread each week. To prevent the occasional leftover bread from going to waste, we like to repurpose the occasional stale remainders into croutons and bread pudding. Croutons on salad make salad feel special while also giving me a free pass to dish up a decadent dessert. Salad, even with parmesan-crusted croutons, feels like I’m making a healthier choice than snacking on the Pirate’s Booty catcalling me from the kitchen cabinet.

This chocolate-flecked bread pudding relies on the standard custard base of a traditional bread pudding and steps up the dessert game with an ample addition of dark chocolate. If you prefer the pared-down version from your childhood, omit the chocolate chunks. I will say the kids who chowed down on a batch of this bread pudding yesterday had no beef with chocolate melted throughout.

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Chocolate-Flecked Bread Pudding

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

• 8 ounces sourdough bread, cut into 1/4-inch thick slices

• 3 large eggs, plus 3 egg yolks

• 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling

• Pinch of fine sea salt

• 1 cup half-and-half

• 1 3/4 cups whole milk

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• 1 tablespoon raw sugar

Directions

1. Sprinkle 3/4 cup of the chocolate along the bottom of 1-quart baking dish. (I used a round baking dish, but go with what you have.)

2. Spread melted butter on one side of the bread slices. Place the buttered bread on top of the chocolate, overlapping at the edges. I layered the bread slices since they were thin and then ensured that I had enough custard base to cover the bread.

3. Whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in the half-and-half, whole milk, and vanilla extract into the egg mixture until all are combined well. Pour the custard over the bread, and press any floating bread slices down into the custard to ensure the liquid will soak all of the bread.

4. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate pieces over the top, pressing them into the custard slightly to fill in the gaps where the bread meets. Set aside for 20 minutes to soak.

5. While the bread is soaking in the custard, preheat oven to 35o degrees F.

6. After the 20-minute custard soak, sprinkle the raw sugar over the top, and dust with cinnamon.

7. Bake until the custard is just set and the pudding puffs slightly, about 50-60 minutes.

8. Let the pudding cool for 10 minutes. Serve warm. If you have vanilla ice cream, I endorse it as a topping.