A sweet and spicy bread pudding made with leftover challah, topped with chunks of apples, raisins, and almonds, drizzled with butter and brown sugar

6-8 tablespoons butter, plus extra for greasing
3 cups milk
1 tablespoon cinnamon
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 pounds leftover, slightly dry challah [1], thickly sliced and lightly toasted
1 cup raisins
3 cooking apples
1 to 1 1/4 cups raw sugar or brown sugar
1 cup sliced almonds (may substitute walnuts)
Whipped cream, for serving (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 9x13-inch baking dish. Mix together the milk, cinnamon, eggs, vanilla, and salt.

2. Spread the challah toast with butter, reserving 3 tablespoons. Cut the challah into bite-sized chunks.

3. Add the buttered challah and raisins to the milk mixture and fold in gently so that all of the bread is coated with the liquid.

4. Core and dice the apples, but don't peel. Spread the bread in the bottom of the prepared pan, then top with half of the sugar, the almonds, the apples, and ending with the rest of the sugar. Dot with remaining butter.

5. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until juices in the middle are clear (test with fork). Serve with whipped cream, if desired.

Original recipe from Jewish Cooking by Marlena Spieler. Photographs are property of TammysRecipes.com. :)

This is a delicious bread pudding, which makes a nice breakfast, snack, or dessert. It is fairly sweet, and I think it tastes like a yummy coffeecake, with the fruit, nuts, and butter/brown sugar, which sort of caramelizes during baking. I think it's sweet enough without the whipped cream, though of course I love whipped cream! ;)

We make this with our homemade challah.

I always test the pudding by sticking a fork in the middle and pulling gently to one side, to see whether the juices inside are clear. If the juices are still white-ish or somewhat yellow, the egg isn't fully cooked. It usually takes a full 60 minutes for us with our oven.

This is a great recipe, and very yummy!! It rivals a good coffeecake and is simple to make (if you have leftover challah)! My rating: 10/10