Banana Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce

Bread pudding is the comfort food of desserts. Warm and creamy custard moistens stale bread and is served with a drizzle of homemade caramel sauce. You won’t regret the calories!

My mom came to visit this weekend, which means we will not be leaving the kitchen. Growing up, it was just me and mom. Every night we made a special dinner and a different homemade dessert. Although my mom does not eat as much as me, we have a shared love for cooking. The highlight of my day is always a big hearty (manly) dinner. But for mom, dessert is the most necessary part of any meal. So in honor of her, we made this decadent and cozy treat together.

Ingredients

2 cups half & half (substitute: Heavy Cream or Egg Nog)

4 large eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. salt

6 cups Italian bread (cubed)

3-4 ripe bananas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Blend the cream, eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt in a mixer

Add 3-4 mashed ripe bananas and mix again

When my bananas are overly ripe, I put them in the freezer. So I had to heat my frozen bananas in the microwave for about 50 seconds to soften them. Then I squeezed them into the blended mixture.

Butter a 2-quart baking dish.

Fill the dish with the bread cubes.

Pour the banana mixture evenly over the bread.

Set it aside to soak up the liquid for about 10-15 minutes

Bake in the oven for 35-45 minutes (depending on your oven)

Caramel Sauce

1/4 cup half and half

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp of butter

2 tsp of vanilla

pinch of salt

Instructions: Heat all ingredients in a small sauce pan on medium-low heat, continuously stirring with a whisk. After about 3-5 minutes the sauce will reduce and thicken. Set aside to slightly cool.