Einkorn Sourdough Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce

I must preface this recipe with telling you that this is not a health food, this is a sweet treat that I came up with trying to figure out a way to use up leftover einkorn sourdough bread! I do not like wasting food, and I LOVE to experiment in the kitchen.

This bread pudding makes a lovely accompaniment to a holiday breakfast, as a sweet side dish. The bourbon sauce is so delicious but entirely optional. However, the ingredients in this recipe definitely do make it healthier than the standard bread pudding recipes out there. I used real homemade einkorn sourdough bread, high-quality butter, and eggs (I added more eggs to the recipe), raw whole milk, organic cane sugar (so it’s not GMO), and lots of love! I hope you enjoy this Einkorn Sourdough Bread Pudding recipe too!

Einkorn Sourdough Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce

Ingredients

For bread pudding:
7 cups cubed einkorn sourdough bread, about 3/4 of a large loaf of sourdough bread
3 cups raw whole milk
4 large pastured eggs
1 cup organic cane sugar
2 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup raisins (soaked an hour or two in 1/4 cup bourbon)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
For bourbon sauce (optional):
1 stick grass-fed butter
1/2 cup organic sugar
1 pastured egg
1/2 cup Kentucky bourbon whiskey (less or more to taste)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Soak the raisins in bourbon in a glass, set aside.

3. Place bread in a large mixing bowl and pour the milk over the bread.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon.

5. Pour over the bread and milk mixture.

6. Add the bourbon-soaked raisins and stir to combine.

7. Generously butter a 9x13 inch baking pan -- lesson learned, this stuff will stick to a pan!

8. Pour the bread mixture into the baking pan.

9. Add some extra raisins on top if you wish; I like it for presentation.

10. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until the liquid has set -- the pudding is done when the edges start getting a bit brown and pull away from the edge of the pan.

11. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Optional: Make the bourbon sauce while the bread pudding is cooking.

12. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan on low heat.

13. Whisk the egg in a bowl and slowly whisk in the butter.

14. Add the sugar and whisk everything together.

15. Slowly cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, then remove from heat. Do not allow the mixture to simmer or it will curdle.