Chocolate Bread Pudding

This is a very rich bread pudding perfect for using leftover sourdough or other types of bread. For the chocolate chips, Ghirardelli's bittersweet chips work perfectly -- they're just the right sweetness level.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Chocolate Bread Pudding

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 35

Cooling Time 1 10

Total Time 2

Servings slices

Author Anna

Cost 5

Ingredients

6 cups cubed toasted sourdough bread (210 grams)
1 ¼ cups heavy whipping cream (300 grams)
1 ¼ cups whole milk (300 grams)
12 oz Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chips (60% cacao)**
½ cup sugar (100 grams)
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
⅛ teaspoon salt (optional) -- depends on saltiness of the bread

Additions (optional)

3 tablespoons dried cherries
⅓ cup chocolate chips
1 cup whipped cream or whipped topping

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch square baking dish or casserole that holds about 2 quarts.
In a saucepan, bring the milk and cream to a simmer. Remove from heat and add the chocolate. Stir until melted.
Put the toasted bread cubes in a large bowl, then pour the chocolate mixture over and stir well. Let stand for 10 minutes while you mix the other ingredients.
Whisk together the sugar, eggs, vanilla and salt (if using) then add to the bread mixture and stir well. If using dried cherries, stir them in too.
Transfer to the prepared baking dish.
Cover the dish tightly with foil. Set the baking dish on a rimmed sheet pan and bake for 35 minutes or until pudding appears soft set. The bread will have absorbed most of the mixture, but you'll also have a layer of soft chocolate mixture on the top.
Serve hot with a scoop of ice cream or let cool, then chill and slice as you would chocolate cake. Warm each plate gently before topping with whipped cream or ice cream.

Notes

The type of bread is going to affect how much you use. My sourdough bread was crusty and full of air pockets, but if you are using a denser bread you might be able to use less.

For the chocolate, I used Ghirardelli brand bittersweet chips. Make sure whatever chocolate you use is between 43 and 63% cacao, otherwise you may need more sugar.