Blueberry Lemon Bread Pudding from Molly MacRae

 

Bread pudding might be more of a fall or winter dessert, but the blueberries and lemon in this version give it a lovely summer lightness. For the bread, we use whatever odd bits we have left over. White bread is fine, whole wheat is great, rye is a little strange. If you don’t have old bread, lightly toast fresh bread. About half the bread in this batch was from the ends of a rosemary olive oil loaf. The hint of rosemary was wonderful. Next time I’ll probably add a bit of fresh rosemary to the pudding. We didn’t have any lemon zest to spare but that would be a nice addition sprinkled on top.

Blueberry Lemon Bread Pudding

Ingredients

3/4 c. blueberries (fresh or frozen)

4-6 slices old bread or leftover rolls or buns sliced horizontally into ½ -inch-thick pieces (enough bread to make 2 layers in an 8” x 8” x 2” baking dish)

2 cup milk (dry nonfat, 2%, whole, or half-and-half – however indulgent you feel)

½ cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon lemon extract

2 eggs

Butter – enough to spread on one side of each piece of bread (2-3 tablespoons)

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 350º F.

Fit half the bread, buttered side up, into a greased 8” x 8” x 2” baking dish. Sprinkle half the blueberries over the bread. Fit the rest of the bread, buttered side up, over the blueberries. Sprinkle the remaining blueberries over all.

Heat the milk and sugar just until steaming. Stir in vanilla and lemon extract.

Beat the eggs in a bowl, then gradually stir the warm milk into the bowl. Pour egg mixture over bread.

Bake, uncovered, 25-30 minutes, or until the top is beginning to brown and a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

Serve warm, cold, or reheated, with or without custard sauce or ice cream.

 

Look for Molly’s new series—The Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries—coming in July 2024!

Book 1: Come Shell or High Water

 In the meantime, enjoy visiting the Scottish Highlands and the hills and hollows of east Tennessee in Molly's other books - available in libraries and everywhere books are sold. 

The Boston Globe says Molly MacRae writes “murder with a dose of drollery.” She’s the author of the award-winning, national bestselling Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries and the Highland Bookshop Mysteries. As Margaret Welch, she writes books for Annie’s Fiction. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and she’s a winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction. Visit Molly on Facebook and Pinterest and connect with her on Twitter  or Instagram.