Want to enjoy bread pudding on a diet? We've got you! This healthy bread pudding recipe is healthier than a traditional bread pudding recipe, while still retaining the great taste we all know and love. This is a great recipe to make for dessert throughout the week, or to bring to a party! Let's take a look.
Ingredients:
For Bread Pudding:
10 slices whole wheat bread
3 egg whites
1 1/2 cups skim milk
1/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon clove
Vegetable oil spray, as needed
For Apple Raisin Sauce:
1 1/4 cups apple juice
1/2 cup apple butter
2 Tablespoons molasses
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon orange zest (optional)
Directions:
To prepare bread pudding:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Spray 8- by 8-inch baking dish with vegetable oil spray. Lay slices of bread in baking dish in two rows, overlapping like shingles.
3. In medium bowl, beat together egg, egg whites, milk, the 1/4 cup of white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Pour egg mixture over bread.
4. In small bowl, stir together cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and the 2 teaspoons of white sugar.
5. Sprinkle spiced sugar mix over bread pudding. Bake pudding for 30–35 minutes, until it has browned on top and is firm to touch. Serve warm or at room temperature with warm apple-raisin sauce.
To prepare apple-raisin sauce:
1. Stir all ingredients together in medium saucepan.
2. Bring to simmer over low heat. Let simmer for 5 minutes. Serve warm.
Yield for bread pudding: 9 servings
Yield for apple-raisin sauce: 2 cups
Serving size: 1/2 cup Each serving (with apple raisin sauce) provides:
Calories: 233
Total fat: 3 g
Saturated fat: 1 g
Cholesterol: 24 mg
Sodium: 252 mg
Total fiber: 3 g
Protein: 7 g
Carbohydrates: 46 g
Potassium: 390 mg
How to Make Your Favorite Foods Healthy
Being on a diet doesn't have to mean giving up your favorite foods. By making some simple adjustments to your favorite recipes, you can put yourself on a diet plan that you'll love to be on. Enjoying your diet plan is key to being able to stick with it over the long term.
With this bread pudding recipe, you'll notice that we used skim milk instead of whole milk. That simple change cuts down on the fat content in bread pudding a lot. If you wanted to adjust this recipe even further, you could substitute out the white sugar for an artificial sweetener. By making small changes like this, you'll change the nutritional profile of a recipe to make it healthier.
You can use this strategy with pretty much any recipe that you enjoy. Use leaner ground beef for hamburgers, lowfat cheese for pizza, or crushed protein chips instead of cornflakes for chicken tenders. All of these changes will make each of these foods healthier, and more suitable for a diet.
Of course, balance is key. You should still be eating fruit and vegetables, and avoid overeating. Sticking to a reasonable and effective exercise plan is also key to losing weight and keeping it off. Keeping all of this in mind, however, it's also important not to obsess over your weight. Obsession can quickly spiral into an eating disorder. If you start to notice an unhealthy relationship forming between you and your weight, talk to a doctor as soon as possible.
The image featured at the top of this post is ©MSPhotographic/Shutterstock.com.