Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

This is MY version of "Pain Perdu" or "Lost Bread". With all the bread I make, there is often a heel of bread left in a bag and then the next loaf gets cut. Nobody seems to want a dried out, skinny old heel of bread. Now, I could make french toast or croutons, yes, but I've had much more success turning it into Bread Pudding. I cut up any dried out pieces of bread that haven't turned green yet, and put the cubes in a big bag in the freezer. When there is 4 cups of cubes, I take them out and make bread pudding.

I'm sure any bread pudding recipe will do. The trick to get EVERYONE coming back for seconds, is to replace the raisins with chocolate chips and the milk with chocolate milk and decrease the amount of sugar accordingly.

It doesn't look like much, but it is Really delicious! I use this slightly modified recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book:

Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

4 cups bread cubes

1/3 cup chocolate chips

2 eggs, slightly beaten

2 cups chocolate milk

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp. vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a 1 1/2 quart casserole, combine bread cubes and chocolate chips.

2. In a bowl, combine eggs, milk, melted butter, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. Pour over bread mixture.

3. Bake, uncovered for 50 to 55 minutes or until puffed and a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool slightly. If desired, serve with vanilla ice cream.

Crepes

Ever since my children were big enough to drag a chair over to "help" in the kitchen, I have been making crepes for breakfast. There was a time when I made them on request. Then they started requesting them every day! So, for about the last 4 years I have made crepes every Tuesday and Friday morning. Surprisingly, they haven't gotten tired of them! Thank God, since they are such a snap to whip together. I combine flour and milk with egg and a little sugar and a sprinkle of salt. I add more flour or milk to get the right consistency. I might describe the right consistency as that of a slightly beaten egg, perhaps a little thicker, but not as thick as liquid honey.

Preheat a non-stick or cast iron fry pan to medium-hot (I start at 6 1/2 on my induction burners that go from 1 to 10, and reduce to 6 after first crepe). Pour a soup ladle full of batter into the hot 10" pan and tilt the pan around to let the batter reach the sides of the pan. Cook until the top no longer looks wet. Flip.

The crepe will be a nice tan color. When the bottom is flecked with light brown, it's ready! Remove to a plate. Spread with desired filling and roll up. The sooner you eat these, the better they are! The edges get crispy and harder to roll as they cool.

In our house, I have one order for "just butter", one order of "butter and jam", and four orders of "peanut butter and jam" but my husband also adds chocolate chips to his!

I have, over the years, also tried these perfectly delicious fillings:

banana and nuttella (with whipped cream if you like it)

banana and peanut butter

simply a piece of cheese, melted on the hot crepe

yogurt and berries

maple syrup - works better over two crepes, eaten like pancakes

banana and yogurt

Crepe recipe

Makes enough for one person (about 2 crepes)

1 egg

1/3 cup flour

1/3 cup milk

1 tsp sugar

1 sprinkle salt

Just multiply as needed. I find that 5 eggs works for my family - 9 crepes.

My sister came up with this recipe when I was in high school. She may have used a recipe book, but I am not sure. No matter, it makes great crepes! So, now you can rise and bake some of your own!

Mom's Whole Wheat Flax Bread

This is the bread I grew up eating.  I made two batches yesterday, because it is still what my family prefers. It turned out beautifully, as always!

Here is what goes into 5 loaves:
Proof the yeast:
     1 cup hot water
     2 tsp. sugar
     2 1/2 Tbsp. active dry yeast
Add that to:
     6 1/2 cups hot water
     1 cup dry milk powder
     1/3 cup shortening
     1/3 cup molasses
     1 1/2 Tbsp. salt
     1/4 cup ground flax seeds
Whisk together until the shortening is melted. Whisk in:
     3 cups whole wheat flour.
Mix in with a wooden spoon:
     3 cups all purpose flour
Now mix in a bit more flour at a time until it becomes a shaggy mass that you can knead or pick up. Knead in more flour. My recipe says 9-11 cups of flour, but I just keep adding until the dough is smooth, elastic and no longer sticky and don't pay any attention to how many cups that actually is! I even have my 2 year old add the flour most days. It's fun for her and keeps her out of trouble elsewhere!
Cover, and rise in a warm spot for 40 minutes.
Punch down and divide into 5 greased loaf pans.
Rise for 40 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F, 20 minutes before baking.
Bake the loaves for 35 minutes or until golden brown on top and bottom and the bottoms sound hollow when tapped. (These times are for my convection oven).

There you have it! Enjoy.