Lucy and I went to a meetup play-date and potluck today. The theme was Autumn, so this morning I threw together this pumpkin bread pudding. It turned out absolutely delicious, which I was very pleased to find out, since it was the first time I made it. I guess you could say that is risky business bringing a dish you never made to a potluck, but I like to live on the edge. Well that, and bread pudding is probably the easiest thing to make, you can even do it with a baby attached to you (well, remove baby before you take hot objects from the oven) and even if you mess up it usually still tastes good. If I had served this at home I probably would have made a glaze or icing to drizzle over the top before serving, but since we took it on the road I didn’t. It was still delicious, and if you love pumpkin half as much as I do, then give this recipe a try.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

• 1 loaf of French bread, cubed
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 3 eggs
• 1 (16 ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4  teaspoon salt

1. Toss bread cubes with milk in a large bowl. Toss in raisins. In a separate bowl whisk eggs, pumpkin, vanilla, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt. Pour pumpkin mix over bread, stirring to coat. Cover and refrigerate for an hour or so.

2. Preheat oven to 350°F.

3. Pour mix into a 9×13 baking dish. Bake until pudding has firmed and is golden brown on top, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.