Frankly, bread pudding is not one of those desserts that I remember fondly from childhood, or have any memories of at all. Having never eaten it as a child or young adult, I had little or no interest in something that sounded not quite like a dessert and not quite like a breakfast food. Why would anyone put bread in a perfectly good pudding anyway?

Then I grew up and was diagnosed with Celiac disease. So my experiences with bread pudding became a rather moot point in that I couldn’t eat it even if I wanted to. And as we all know, once something is forbidden it becomes much more attractive.

I have a friend who has a ‘special’ bread pudding recipe that he makes for special occasions. I must admit that even as I pronounce my, "Oh don’t worry about it , I’m too full anyway" speech, I’ve secretly wanted to taste what all the hoopla was about. After all, every time my friend makes this dessert, everyone swoons with anticipation, how bad can it be?

Not being one to be shown up, I decided to perfect my own ‘special’ gluten-free bread pudding recipes. As with other bread soaking type recipes, heck, with any recipe that includes bread as an ingredient, the first challenge is bread. Typical gluten-free bread does not hold up well to soaking and will usually turn to mush or at best, lose it’s texture and integrity. The solution is to not use gluten-free bread, but instead use frozen gluten-free waffles. I’ve used this not-so-secret ingredient with terrific results in stuffing, where again you have a situation where ‘bread’ must soak up wet ingredients. For our bread puddings, we used Van’s All Natural Wheat-free, Gluten-free Original Waffles. We double toast the waffles, (toast them twice without letting them burn) then cut them into 1" pieces. The waffle pieces are crisp and crunchy and will hold up well to soaking.

This month we offer you to two bread pudding recipes that are indeed special:

Chocolate Mocha Bread Pudding and Fresh Apple Cranberry Bread Pudding. If you’ve never eaten bread pudding before or if you’ve longed for a perfect gluten-free bread pudding just like the one Mom used to make, these recipes are likely to become family favorites. You might find out like I did, that you like bread pudding, and now you can eat and enjoy as much as you like!

Serves 4

• 4 cups 1" toasted pieces of Van’s Gluten-free Waffles
• 1-1/4 cups gf semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
• 1 cup cream
• 1 cup half and half
• 5 Tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2 Tablespoons instant espresso
• 4 large eggs and 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1-1/2 cups whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• Chocolate chips for garnish

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter 4-7oz. ramekins.

In a medium bowl, toss bread pieces, 1/2 cup chocolate chips and chopped nuts together until blended. In a medium saucepan, whisk together cream, half and half, cocoa and espresso until blended. Add remaining chocolate chips and cook and stir over low heat until all is melted and blended. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar. Slowly whisk in chocolate espresso mixture until blended. Pour this mixture over bread mixture and gently toss. Let stand for 1 hour. Divide puddings into the ramekins evenly. Bake puddings until set, about 40 minutes. Serve warm puddings topped with whipped cream and sprinkled with chocolate chips.

For whipped cream: Beat cream in a large bowl until it starts to thicken. Add sugar and beat until thick.

Fresh Apple Cranberry Bread Pudding

Serves 4

• 3 apples, peeled, cored and diced
• 3 cups 1" toasted pieces of Van’s Gluten-free Waffles
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened dried cranberries
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup cream
• 2 Tablespoons Apple Jack brandy

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8"x8" baking dish.

In a large mixing bowl, combine apples, waffle pieces, sugar, cranberries, cinnamon and nutmeg; toss to blend. In a small bowl add eggs, cream and brandy. Whisk until blended. Add egg mixture to bread mixture, tossing gently to blend. Transfer mixture to the prepared baking dish and bake for 30 minutes. Serve warm as is or with gf vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!

-Glutenfreeda