Vegan Bread Pudding with Cashew Vanilla Icing (Holiday/Christmas Inspired)
The perfect "quick & easy" breakfast or dessert item this holiday season! Bread pudding is such a classic, and I've put my own vegan twist on it! Sweetened with dates, and creamy from cashews... this is definitely a decadent treat!
Ingredients:
BREAD PUDDING:
✘ 1 large loaf of bread (cubed and left covered on the counter overnight)
✘ 2 flax eggs (2 tbsp ground flax seeds + 6 tbsp water)
✘ 2.5 cups cashew milk (or any plant-based milk of your choice)
✘ 2 tsp vanilla extract
✘ 2 tbsp fresh orange juice
✘ 1 tsp orange zest
✘ 5 pitted medjool dates (or use 1/4 cup liquid sweetener)
✘ 3 tsp cinnamon
✘ 1/4 tsp ground ginger
✘ pinch of nutmeg
✘ 1/2 cup crushed pecans
✘ 1/2 cup raisins
ICING:
✘ 1/4 cup soaked cashews (soak overnight or for 2 hours in hot water)
✘ 1 tbsp maple syrup
✘ 1/4 cup cashew milk (or any plant-based milk of your choice)
✘ 1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions:
1. The night before, slice your loaf of bread into cubes. Try to pull off as much crust as possible. Then leave covered in a large bowl on the counter overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine together ingredients for the flax eggs and set aside.
3. In a blender, combine cashew milk, dates, vanilla, and spices, and blend on high until very smooth.
4. To the bowl of cubed bread, add the date mixture, orange juice, zest, flax eggs, raisins, and pecans. Stir gently to get everything coated. Then allow mixture to soak for 10 minutes.
5. After the bread mixture has soaked long enough, transfer into a large baking dish. Bake for 1 hour.
6. As the bread pudding is baking, combine all ingredients for the icing in a blender. Blend on high until smooth.
7. Serve bread pudding warm, with a drizzle of the vanilla icing! Alternatively, you can serve this as a dessert with ice cream, or cold with just a drizzle of maple syrup!