Can you believe I did not even have pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving this year?  That’s almost unheard of in my personal history.  This year something was different…well, frankly, every year for the past few years there has been some kind of food or mindset change, so it’s not that surprising, really.

This year I actually wanted to choose foods that were delicious and made me feel better (physical and mental).  Such was the mindset when I offered up to make a dessert: Vegan Bread Pudding.  Yup, no cream, eggs, butter and very little sugar.

Buy boy, oh, boy, what a tasty treat.  This high fiber meal ender will have your guests humming with delight…but maybe running to the bathroom.  It’s err….packed with a LOT of fiber.  Who doesn’t need more fiber, especially on a holiday!  You could always use less whole grain bread, but what fun would that be!

VEGAN BREAD PUDDING

8 cups whole grain bread cubes (I used homemade bread, but you use whatever works), chopped into 1″ pieces
4 cups vanilla Almond milk, pref. unsweetened
1/2 cup dried cranberries (I went for T. Joe’s orange sweetened cranberries)
1/2 cup – 3/4 cup whole cranberries
1/2 cup agave, honey, turbinado or ‘brownish’ sugar
1/2 cup chopped almonds2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp each: nutmeg, allspice, ginger
1 tbsp oil

Mix the nuts, cranberries, spices together in a LARGE bowl.

Add the 8 cups of chopped bread and mix together.

In the meantime add the oil to the almond milk.  Add to the bread and mix.  It won’t look pretty.  Don’t worry.  Set it aside for 15 minutes to ‘saturate’.  Make sure all bread pieces have some moisture on them.  While the pudding is setting you can clean the kitchen, call your mom, pay some bills, hug your kids (or your dog, or your husband, or whatever).

After 15 minutes, pour into either individual ramekins for baking, or a bread loaf pan, or whatever you want.  Make sure the pan you use is greased/ buttered since there isn’t a lot of fat in this dish.

Cook at 350 for 25 (ramekins) to 45 minutes (bread loaf pan).  Cook uncovered so the tops brown.  Serve warm or cold, for dessert or breakfast, or both!

My next venture is to make this with pumpkin bread, which I just got from my in-laws!