Foodie Friday: Coconut Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

As a food lover, and more specifically, a sweets lover, I’m always trying to find ways to create healthier options of my favorite foods. So when Nathan looked at our 2-day-old ciabatta bread and asked me to make bread pudding, I gladly accepted the challenge!

Now, if we’re really talking about healthifying, I would have preferred a wheat-based bread.. maybe a whole wheat cinnamon raisin bread. Mmmmm!

But these are minor details.

Coconut Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

Make 9 – 3″ squares
Adapted from sweetlab

Ingredients
1/2 stale ciabatta loaf, cubed
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 egg
3 egg whites
1 – 13.66oz can lite coconut milk
3/4 cup unsweetend vanilla almond milk (Or other low- or non-fat milk)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (Optional – I opted not to add as I was using vanilla almond milk)
2 tbsp agave (Or another form of natural sweetener)
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/4 – 1/2 cup dark chocolate or semi-sweet chips
Pinch of salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread shredded coconut over a sheet pan and toast in the oven for about 8 minutes, or until golden brown.

In a large bowl, mix egg, egg whites, coconut milk, almond milk, vanilla extract, agave, cinnamon and salt until well combined. Add in the cubed bread and half of the toasted coconut. Toss until everything is evenly and well coated.

Grease a 9×9″ pan and scatter a small amount of chocolate chips, about 2-3 tbsp, along the bottom of the pan. Add in half of your bread and coconut mixture. Top that with half of the leftover coconut and about 3/4 of the chocolate chips. Create another layer on top of that of the rest of bread and coconut mixture, topped with the last of the chocolate chips and coconut. Allow to rest in the pan for about 15 minutes.

While resting, preheat oven to 325°F. Bake for about 1 hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean, turning halfway through. Once done, allow to rest about 15 minutes to let everything settle.

Or dig right in and burn your mouth.. it might be worth it! 😉 But don’t say I didn’t warn you!

If you like it a little sweeter, feel free to drizzle more agave or other sweetener on top. And if you’re feeling extra fancy, throw a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on there!

Speak Up!

What’s your favorite bready type of dessert? Are you a bread pudding fan? I never was until just a few years ago.. now I can’t get enough!