I Can't Believe It's Lactose-Free Right in Time for the Holidays

It's delicious!  As luck would have it, I overestimated the amount of banana bread I needed recently for a family brunch, so I decided to try to come up with a bread pudding recipe to use the banana bread that was left over.  The banana bread I make is dense and moist, so it’s important to dry it out for it to be successful in bread pudding, fyi - if yours is as well. **See the bottom of page for tips to dry the bread.

I wanted to develop a recipe that was not only delicious, but also had enough protein and nutrition to make it a special guilt-free holiday breakfast.  And as a holiday breakfast or dessert, it had to also be  super-fast and easy to make, plus an easy clean up as well.  How delish and holiday-ready the nutmeg and eggnog made the house smell was an added bonus! 

My lactose-free, nutrition conscious friends especially loved it and suggested I post it on my blog for the holidays.  Happy holidays and bon appetite!  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

You will only need a 3 to 4 cup measuring cup, 1 fork, 2 measuring spoons, and an 8”x 8” baking pan. 

INGREDIENTS

½ c Vegetarian Spread or Salt free Butter

2 large Eggs

1 t Vanilla

1 t Nutmeg

½ t Salt

Fairlife Lactose free Milk, about 1 1/8 cups

OR Almond Milk

¾ c Lactose Free Eggnog. THAT's the secret that sets it apart from the rest

*½ c Light Brown Sugar. (If you're out of brown sugar, mix a little Molasses or Maple Syrup with granulated white sugar to achieve the same end and some extra nutrition). 

*4 c (leftover, dry) Banana Bread (with or without nuts) cut into about 1 ½ inch cubes

Optional: moist sweet coconut, about 1/4 cup sprinkled over the top.

Optional: This bread's also a delicious dessert, topped with a scoop of Vanilla, Butter Pecan, or Egg Nog Ice Cream. Lactaid, Breyers, and Kroger are just some of the companies that are beginning to include lactose-free ice cream in their product line, so if you can find them, this bread's also a delicious dessert, topped with a scoop of Vanilla, Butter Pecan, or Egg Nog Ice Cream. 

DIRECTIONS

Put butter in a 9”x 9” pan, then place in the oven while it’s preheating until butter is melted.

Break the 2 eggs in the measuring cup.  Whip the eggs thoroughly with a fork, then add the milk to equal 1 ½ cups liquid. 

Take the baking pan with the melted butter out of the oven to cool slightly. 

Add the Egg Nog to the other liquid ingredients to equal 2 1/4 cups total liquid ingredients in the measuring cup.  Then add the remaining ingredients, except the bread and stir to mix.

Pour ½ of the liquid into the pan and stir to mix with the butter to cool it slightly.  Gently add the bread (and coconut if desired) and gently pat it down to as level a layer as possible.  Then slowly pour the rest of the liquid on top, making sure the liquid is completely around the outer edges and distributing it as equally as possible to avoid stirring it afterward.  

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes until it’s set but not dry.  It will set more as it cools.

It's delicious warm or cool, but if you want to top it with ice cream, cool it slightly first. If it won’t be eaten soon, covering the pan with aluminum foil will seal in the moisture.

TIP: * I often use Splenda sugar substitute to bake with, and Splenda also makes a Brown Sugar Blend now which works well in this recipe too.

** If you need to dry out the bread, before making the pudding cut it into cubes and bake at 200 degrees for 30 minutes, then finish drying it out, uncovered on the counter.