Bread Pudding French Toast

I have never had a problem with having leftover bread pudding and being at a loss for what to do with it. I eat it – plain and simple. That being said, you can never have too many ideas to make eating those leftovers a little bit more interesting, even when you start off with bread pudding that is perfectly good in its leftover state to begin with.

Bread pudding is bread soaked in a custard mixture and baked. French toast is bread soaked in a custard mixture and fried. See the similarities? Bread pudding can be reheated in the microwave in seconds and still be delicious. Using it as the base for a french toast-type of dish is just amazing.

The process here is simple: heat up some butter in a large frying pan or on a skillet, then lay slices of chilled bread pudding into the pan.  Fry the slices, turning once, until they are golden on both sides and are heated through. The bread pudding comes out slightly crispy on the surface, and soft in the center. I used eggnog bread pudding, of course, and since I baked it in a loaf pan it was very easy to slice. If you bake yours in a casserole dish, you shouldn’t have any problems creating thin (approx 1/2-inch thick) slices, but they might be a slightly different shape than those from a loaf-style bread pudding.

Bread Pudding French Toast
4 slices leftover bread pudding
1-2 tbsp butter
maple syrup, to serve

Heat a skillet or griddle over medium-high heat and melt 1 tbsp butter in the pan. Place bread pudding slices in the pan and fry, turning once, until pudding is a light golden brown on each side.
Serve immediately, with maple syrup.

Serves 2.