Decadent Banana-Chocolate Bread Pudding

After 67 days of living in temporary housing, we have moved back home, albeit to an ongoing construction zone.   What’s a girl to do in all this chaos?  Bake a decadent banana-chocolate bread pudding of course, because amidst the chaos, there was a left over bread, some cream for coffee for the crew, eggs and overripe bananas.  Oh, and chocolate, always chocolate!  This is a bread pudding incorporating good-for-you ingredients:  fiber and nutrient rich bananas, nuts, molasses and dark chocolate.  The bananas are puréed as if you were making banana bread.  Then when it’s ready, you add another layer of fresh bananas.  Bliss!

Because it can be prepped overnight and then popped into the oven for less than half an hour, it will make a fantastic day-after-Thanksgiving breakfast.  Your overnight guests will wake up smelling it baking, then drool when they see it and then just simply devour it, while still warm.  With fresh bananas sliced on top and served with a dollop of yogurt, ice cream or whipped cream, it is comfort food at its easiest and best.   I would have made the bread pudding into individual portions in a muffin pan, if only I could have found it among the hundreds of boxes still unpacked!

• Servings: 6
• Print

• 3 ripe bananas
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 c whole milk or light cream
• 2 T molasses
• 1 T vanilla
• 2 t cinnamon
• 1/2 t nutmeg
• 2/3 c brown sugar
• 1/2 c finely chopped nuts
• 1/2 c finely chopped dark chocolate( you could use chocolate chips)
• 1  16 oz loaf of day old bread such as French, Italian or Challah
• a few dots of unsalted butter, optional
• fresh banana slices for serving
• Greek yogurt, ice cream or whipped cream for serving

1. Spray or butter a rectangular baking dish.
2. Break up the loaf of bread in big chunks in the dish.
3. In a mixing bowl, place all the remaining ingredients except the chocolate, and mix with a beater until the banana is broken down into a creamy consistency.  Pour over the bread and toss gently with a wooden spoon until the bread is evenly moistened.
4. If you like a more crisp bread pudding, then dot the top with a bit of butter.  This is a personal preference.  I did not use butter in mine.
5. Sprinkle the chocolate over the top and using the wooden spoon gently distribute it around the bread.
6. Cover with foil and refrigerate at least an hour or up to overnight.  I actually assembled mine 3 days ahead of baking and it was fine.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350F.  Bake, covered, in the middle of the oven 30 minutes. For a more crispy bread pudding, remove the foil for the last 5 minutes of baking.  Served with fresh banana slices and a dollop of Greek yogurt, ice cream or whipped cream on top.

Looking for other make-ahead breakfast puddings/casseroles?  Check out these cheesy-savoury recipes!

Mediterranean Breakfast Bread Pudding:

Overnight Kale and Prosciutto Bread Pudding:

“In moments of considerable strain, I tend to take to bread and butter pudding.  There is something about the blandness of soggy bread, the crispness of the golden outer crust and the unadulterated pleasure of a lightly set custard that makes the world seem a better place to live.” Clement Freud

Grateful to be home sweet home!