Filed under: DESSERT | Tags: apricots, bread, bread pudding recipes, dried fruit, dried fruits, fruit mixture, milk, plain soy milk, pudding, raisins
I wanted to take a picture of the pudding plated, but it smelled and tasted so good that it was gone before I had a chance. I combined two great bread pudding recipes – one from Simply Recipes and one from Gourmet – to make this amazing dessert.
Ingredients:
- 1 baguette (homemade is best)
- 1 cup cream
- 3 cups milk (I used 1 cup skim and 2 cups plain soy milk)
- 3 large eggs
- 3 T unsalted butter, melted
- 2 t vanilla
- 2/3 cup
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup brandy
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 1/4 cups chopped mixed dried fruit such as raisins and apricots
Directions:
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Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in middle.
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Cut enough 1-inch pieces from baguette to measure about 5-6 cups.
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Stir together eggs, butter, 2/3 cup sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Then whisk in cream, milk, and vanilla.
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Add bread and soak, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes.
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Meanwhile, boil brandy and water with dried fruits in a small heavy saucepan until liquid is reduced to about 2 Tbsp, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool slightly.
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Stir fruit mixture into bread mixture, then transfer to a 2 Quart baking dish. Bake until custard is set and bread is golden in places, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Cool slightly before serving.
Filed under: BREAKFAST, SNACK | Tags: apricots, nuts, oats, peanuts, raisins, vegetarian
This is a simple, two step thing. First, to make the granola, then form the bars. I have made granola a few (three) of different ways in the past and have my favorite recipe prettymuch down. To make the bars, i just added a bit of maple syrup to my usual granola recipe, to make it more sticky. Next time i might add some chocolate chips…
Homemade Granola Recipe:
- 2 C rolled oats
- 1 C peanuts or toasted almonds
- 1/4 C sesame seeds
- 1/4 C flax seeds
- 1/2 C toasted sunflower seeds
- 1/2 C coconut (this time i used the fresh coconut i had hand cut at the beach)
- 1/4 C fiber one (crushed in a coffee grinder)
- 1 t sea salt
- 1/2 C raisins (i like to mix golden and regular)
- 1/2 C dried fruit (dried apricots + craisins)
- scant 1/4 C canola oil
- 1/2 C honey
- 1/4 C maple syrup
- Mix the oat, nuts and grains in a large bowl.
- Measure oil into the measuring cup and swirl it around before pouring into bowl.
- Then measure out the honey in the same, unwashed cup. The oil will help the honey exit the cup.
- Toss everything together until evenly coated and then pour out into a baking pan. I use a large roasting pan, as it keeps everything contained. A cookie sheet with a lip also works, but you have to stir it slightly more carefully if you use that.
- Bake at 300° F for 30 minutes, turning it with a spatula every ten minutes or so. You want everything to be an even golden brown.
- When it is finished cooking, returned the baked granola to the mixing bowl, add the raisins and fruit and stir to combine.
- To form bars, line a rectangular baking dish with wax paper. Immediately pour the warm granola into the dish, cover with another piece of paper, and press down HARD, packing the granola as tightly as possible.
- Let the pressed granola harden cool for at least 3 hours (i let mine sit overnight) before cutting. My pan yielded 14 thick granola bars. For lack of more sustainable packaging ideas, I wrapped them up in some saran-wrap.
yum. i had seen this in a couple places before, but not taken the initiative to make it happen. it just so happened that after making granola this afternoon, i had a few almonds left over, 6 apricots left in the package, and a hankering for chocolate. it was insanely easy to make (and kinda fun) and tasted SOOOO good.
ingredients:
- 6 dried apricots
- 3 T melted dark chocolate (or semi-sweet)
- 6 almonds, chopped (i had seen the recipe done with pistachios)
directions:
- dip the apricot in melted chocolate, sprinkle with chopped nuts, and place on plate in the freezer or refrigerator for chocolate to harden.
two skinny jenkins 