OK, I know this is another food post, but it's yummy!

I don't like to waste things. That applies to food, too.When we've eaten up a loaf of bread and the ends are left, I stash them in a ziplock in the freezer.  When we have leftover pancakes or waffles?  Yep, stashed in the freezer.  The kids will pull out frozen waffles or pancakes and heat them up for breakfast, but sometimes it feels like the freezer is getting over-run by leftover carbohydrates.

Not really a bad thing, but in the effort to make some room in the freezer to keep stashing bread, I made some bread pudding. 

Not all in the family are in love with bread pudding.  I know, weird.  So I made individual servings in canning jars.  Because much like bread pudding, I am in love with canning jars.  But that romance is for another day.

Even though bread pudding is relatively easy to make, it is usually soggy and heavy.  That is not my favorite.  So I looked for a good recipe to try and came upon this one from Amy at Angry Chicken.

I modified it just a smidge.  Here is what I ended up doing:  I let the ziplock of stashed carbs sit for a bit on the counter until it was partially thawed.  Then I tore them into bits.  This bowl includes pieces of homemade bread, store-bought bread, pancakes, chocolate chip pancakes, and even a stray biscuit.

Then I mixed the wet ingredients together and poured them over the top.  Not so tough.  I also threw in a couple of handfuls of chocolate chips, since there were already some in the pancakes.

Then I spooned them into 1-cup canning jars (this made 7 of them), set them in a cookie sheet, covered them with foil and refrigerated overnight.  I agree with Amy, this made a huge difference and gave the pudding an airy, spongey texture.  I also baked on the cookie sheet and added some boiling water to the cookie sheet as a water bath.  I'm not sure if that was necessary, but they turned out great!  See the yummy chocolate chips?  Heaven!

Bread Pudding in a Jar:

6 cups (or so) of bread, or an assortment of what you have, torn into pieces
1 (or so) cups chocolate chips
1/4 cup melted butter (1/2 cube)
2 cups milk (I used skim! and it was still great!)
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla


Tear bread into a large mixing bowl. Add the chocolate chips.  The more, the merrier!

In another bowl, melt the butter and let cool before adding the other ingredients.

Pour the wet ingredients over the bread and toss.  Cover bowl and refrigerate for at least an hour to let the bread soak up the custard.

Prep the canning jars by buttering or spraying with a non-stick cooking spray.  Spoon the bread into the individual jars and place onto a cookie sheet.  Cover all with one large sheet of aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight.  Pour boiling water a 1/2 to 1 inch in the bottom of the cookie sheet.  Bake at 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes (my oven is a little hot, so things tend to take less time)  If they brown too quickly, just put the foil back on top.

Enjoy!


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