Recipe for Whole-Grain Fruit and Nut Bread Pudding: A Guilt-Free Comfort Food

When temperatures fall and days are short, there’s no comfort food like a spiced, warm dish from the oven. This Cold Weather Spiced Fruit and Nut Bread Pudding meets the criteria, and it’s healthy, too! With whole grains and less sugar, it’s designed to support more stable blood sugar and energy levels. 

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Whole-grain bread adds hearty carbs that you may be craving in winter. Sweet pears or apples, combined with bananas, add fiber and natural sweetness without added sugars. Spice it up with cinnamon, ginger, or cloves, and let it set in a high-protein base of eggs, milk, and yogurt. Before you know it, you’ll be taking your new favorite comfort food from the oven!

Variations and Serving Suggestions

• To make the bread more stale, leave it out overnight before using it. 
• For a dairy-free version, use 2 cups of unsweetened soy milk. Skip the yogurt. 
• For a gluten-free version, use gluten-free, whole-grain bread instead of whole-wheat bread. 
• For a one-dish breakfast, serve bread pudding in a bowl with a scoop of cottage cheese or plain yogurt on top. You’ll get fiber and protein. 
• For extra color, add blueberries or sliced strawberries. 
• This dish is great to serve at, or bring to, a holiday or weekend brunch.
• For a seasonal pumpkin flair, swap a mashed banana for ½ cu of canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling).
• For a kid-friendly or dessert-like option, stir in ¼-½ cup of mini chocolate chips. 

Recipe for Whole-Grain Fruit and Nut Bread Pudding: A Guilt-Free Comfort Food

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

• 8 ounces (about 8 slices) of stale whole-wheat bread, cut or torn into cubes
• 2 large eggs
• 1 ½ cups of skim milk or unsweetened soy milk
• ½ cup of plain Greek yogurt
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1 ripe d’Anjou or Bartlett pear, diced
• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon of nutmeg
• Dash of ground cloves
• Dash of allspice
• Dash of salt
• ½ cup of chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9 x 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray. 
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Add the milk, yogurt, and bananas, and mix thoroughly. Beat in the vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and salt. The mixture should be smooth. Add the whole-wheat bread cubes, and stir to submerge. Let the bread soak for 10 minutes. Stir in the walnuts or pecans. 
3. Pour the mixture into the baking dish. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the pudding has set and the edges are slightly browned and crisp. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean. 
4. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. 

Nutrition information per serving: 270 calories, 9 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 70 mg of cholesterol, 250 mg of sodium, 36 grams of carbohydrates, 13 grams of sugar, 5 grams of fiber, 12 grams of protein

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