May 13, 2015

Chocolate Banana Bread Pudding

Flour Bakery carries the tagline “make life sweeter…. eat dessert first!” Well I wasn’t so sure about that but was certain that my love for a freshly baked loaf of bread and sweet pastries at breakfast would not die.

This is how it works for me. Those are the occasional bites to eat that make all the healthy breakfasts and salad lunches worthwhile. At a stretch I can consider baked bananas a health food, rather this weeks Chocolate Banana Bread Pudding is a soul satisfying bowl of…pudding…for brunch.

The result is soft, chocolatey and marbled on the inside, slightly chewy on the outside and crunchy on top.

I made it last Sunday morning, topped it with greek yoghurt and toasted almonds and washed it down with a mug of strong coffee from my french press. Treat yourself, your family or spoil your friends when they come to stay.

Recipe adapted from Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston’s Flour Bakery + Cafe

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 2 hours 30 minutes HIGH or 4 hours LOW

Servings: 8-10

Ingredients

8 cups 1 day old bread from a natural white or brown loaf, 1 inch cubes

2 cups almond milk or half & half

1/3 cup / 2 oz dark chocolate chips

1 cup / 6 oz milk chocolate chips

2 eggs

6 egg yolks

½ cup granulated sugar

½ tsp salt

3 bananas, sliced

2oz toasted almonds *optional

Put the bread cubes into your slow cooker

In a microwave proof bowl or on the stove in a saucepan, heat the milk or half and half to just below boiling point. (about 2 minutes on high in a microwave) Add the chocolate pieces to the hot milk or cream and leave to sit for a minute. Whisk to distribute the melted chocolate through the milk.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks and eggs together with the salt and sugar. Pour the chocolate milk liquid over the eggs and whisk thoroughly.

Pour the egg, milk and chocolate mixture over the bread cubes in slow cooker. Stir in the sliced bananas. Use the whisk to push the bread and banana slices into the chocolate mixture. Cover and cook on high for 2 hours 30 minutes.