Cinnamon Rolls Bread Pudding

Mouth-watering, crusty top, perfectly moist pudding with caramelized mixture of cinnamon, maple syrup and cream cheese. It is absolute perfection in taste and texture! 

Hello All!  I hope you are enjoying your extra day off.  I have been putting off my son’s request to bake some Cinnamon rolls because of the work involved.  I didn’t want to do it during school days. Well, it’s a three day weekend. I have an extra day to do things I needed to do before the children return to school.  So, I made Cinnamon Rolls for breakfast the other day. Yes, from scratch. 😀

I woke up early, so I could have the kitchen all to myself; no interruptions, no distractions.

Making these rolls made me realized the reason why I haven’t had the desire  to venture into making bread. It’s the waiting and the time involved in making it.   However, after making this recipe, I have a change of heart. 😀 ❤

Quietly, I mixed, I knead, allowed the dough to rest a bit, and waited for the dough to rise…okay, ready!   Time to roll the dough with a rolling pin…Well, I could not find the rolling pin!  Then, I remembered it’s in one of the 10 boxes I have yet to unpacked!   Don’t ask me why it’s in the box.  It’s a long story .  That’s another story to tell at a later time.  There is no way I’m going to go through all those boxes for a rolling pin. I mean the dough is ready! Lesson number one:  Always check!

I don’t know what you would have done, but I just pressed down the dough and pushed the edge like making a pizza until it formed a rectangle.  I tried that trick of throwing the dough in the air (once) like a pizza maker  would…and… splat!  The flour on my work surface went flying. Now, you know why I said “once” in parenthesis.  Ha ha…never again!  I was glad my family was still asleep or they would have a good dose of laughter. 😀 I was glad it landed on the working surface.  Or, it would have been a disaster.   Lesson number two:  You can roll the dough even without a rolling pin. You just need patience and love. 😀

I made a total of 10 Cinnamon Rolls.  By the time my family woke up, the rolls were already in the oven.  Aahh…the smell of cinnamon!  It’s intoxicating; not to mention therapeutic!  The best part of baking.  I didn’t mind all the hard work I put in in making these rolls, especially when it turned out well. The rolls were so soft with a crusty top; very delicious!  Lesson number three:  No matter how difficult the process and the time involved in making bread, never judge before you even start.  Just go ahead and try it! 😀  Take it from M.F.K. Fisher:

“The smell of good bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, is indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight…

[Breadmaking is] one of those almost hypnotic businesses, like a dance from some ancient ceremony. It leaves you filled with one of the world’s sweetest smells… there is no chiropractic treatment, no Yoga exercise, no hour of meditation in a music-throbbing chapel. that will leave you emptier of bad thoughts than this homely ceremony of making bread.”
― M.F.K. Fisher, The Art of Eating: 50th Anniversary Edition

Now, I know why my sister bake bread.  I tell you, she is really good at it.  She can start her own bakery business if she wants to.  It’s one of her many amazing talents.

I have no idea that a piece of Cinnamon roll costs over $3.  I tried not to eat it often because it’s overly sweet for my taste.  And I dislike the icing they used. So, I used cream cheese to iced these rolls.

Of course, an endless compliments from my family, especially my little ones.  My son’s craving was satisfied.  It was a very good morning. 😀

I took advantage of the fact that I finally made homemade Cinnamon rolls, because I knew it wasn’t going to last long. So, I saved four Cinnamon rolls for the recipe I had in mind: Cinnamon Rolls Bread Pudding.  I have been meaning to make this recipe, but I never get around to making it because I wanted to make it all from scratch.   I made this recipe the same day I made the Cinnamon rolls.  These Cinnamon rolls were large, so the recipe called for the sauce is perfect.  The outcome was out-of-this-world Cinnamon rolls bread pudding 😀

Look at it. It’s bursting with flavor! It’s crusty on top and has that satisfying crunch when you take a bite.  And it’s perfectly moist on the inside.  The best bread pudding I’ve ever had. ❤

A great variation to this amazingly delicious pudding is to add pumpkin and I am so making it comes Thanksgiving as an alternative to making traditional pumpkin pie. Oh, ideas! 😀

Ingredients:

• 4 jumbo Cinnamon Rolls with Cream cheese icing
• 5 large organic eggs
• 1/3 cup organic 100% Maple syrup + 1 Tablespoon; divided
• 1 1/2  cups heavy whipping cream or half and half
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Madagascar vanilla bean
• 1-2  Tablespoons butter, melted
• 5 dashes cinnamon
• 5 dashes nutmeg
• 2 Tablespoons white or dark chocolate chips
• about 4 Tablespoons or more leftover homemade cream cheese icing

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Break Cinnamon rolls with icing to medium pieces and place into a deep glass pie baking dish.  Add the cream cheese icing over and under the bread rolls.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, heavy cream, vanilla, 1/3 cup Maple syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg until well-combined. Pour half of the mixture over bread.

Lightly push down with a spatula until the bread is covered with the egg mixture.

Pour the remaining sauce over the bread.  Try to make sure all chunks of bread rolls soak up the sauce because it will affect the texture of the pudding. Lift the bread chunks to let the sauce in. Add the white or dark chocolate chips.  You can add raisins and nuts at this time if you desire.  I would have added pistachio or pecan nuts if my children were not allergic to tree nuts.  My husband doesn’t like raisins.

Refrigerate for 2 hours allowing the bread to soak up the sauce.

Remove from the refrigerator and drizzle with melted butter and the remaining Maple syrup.

Let stand for 10 minutes at room temperature.

Bake for 40-45 minutes depending on your oven. If you have a smaller oven, you might want to reduce the baking temperature to 300 degrees. This will help ensure even baking.  You want the center to be fully cooked; not soggy.  The bread pudding rises as it bakes and falls as it cools.

Allow to cool about an hour before serving if you want it warm.  Refrigerate if you have any leftovers.

Look at the cinnamon, syrup and the cream cheese caramelized together. Oh, it makes me want to make another batch. 😀

You can now devour what you work so hard on.  Mmm…so delicious!  😀

Notes:

• Baking times varies depending on your oven; adjust accordingly.
• A great addition to this recipe is pumpkin. You can serve for breakfast on or after Thanksgiving.
• I was going to drizzle salted caramel on top of the pudding, but I wouldn’t be able to appreciate the Maple syrup.
• It was almost dark when I finished making this recipe, so I had to take pictures at different times.

Thank you for reading this post.  I’m sure this recipe will be adapted.  Please be kind and considerate and provide a link back and give credit where credit is due. Thank you.

Happy Labor Day! ❤

~Anna

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