Table Talk » Sweet Onion Bread Pudding

Last week when I was planning menus, I came across this Onion Bread Pudding from Cooking Light. It came up in a search for southern side dishes. I was looking for something to pair with Creole Cod. I've never had a savory bread pudding and it sounded good, so I decided to add it my client's menu to go with their cod.

Of course, I had to tweak it. The first problem was that I needed it to be no more than 3 Weight Watcher POINTS per serving. The original recipe is made in an 8x8 pan, serves 4, and weighs in at 8 POINTS per serving. My first task was to reduce the serving size. One quarter of an 8x8 pan is a huge serving, so cutting cutting the serving size in half was not unreasonable. OK, so that got it to 4 POINTS per serving. I decided to use a whole grain bread rather than french bread and nonfat milk instead of 2% milk. I also wanted to add more onion. Those changes brought it down to 3 PTS per serving.

The recipe calls for slicing the onions into 1/4-inch slices and cooking the onion slices, while keeping them intact. The intact onion slices are placed over the bread mixture and topped with cheese. Cooking the onions while trying to keep the slices intact seemed like too much work to me. I decided to slice the onions and caramelize them, then add half of the onions into the bread pudding mixture and spread the other half on top of the bread pudding.

For the whole grain bread, I used one of my favorite loaves from the supermarket bakery. I trimmed off the crusts and cubed the bread.

I also let it sit for 30 minutes to let the bread absorb the milk and eggs before baking it. It filled the house with a wonderful aroma while it baked.

This is a pretty bad picture of it. I just got a new digital camera and I haven't had time to figure out the best settings for food photos.

Sweet Onion Bread Pudding
adapted from Cooking Light
Serves 8

1 teaspoon olive oil
2 vidalia onions, sliced
2 cups skim milk
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped
2 eggs, lightly beaten
8 ounces whole grain bread, cubed
3 ounces Gruyère cheese, divided
olive oil spray

Preheat oven to 425°.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil and heat until shimmering. Add onion slices and cook, stirring, for about 10 minutes or until onions are caramelized.

Combine milk, salt, pepper, thyme, and eggs in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add the bread cubes, half of the onions, and 2 ounces of the cheese; toss mixture well. Place the bread mixture in an 8-inch square baking dish coated with olive oil spray. Arrange remaining onions on top of bread mixture. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Let sit for 30 minutes before baking.

Bake at 425° 35-45 minutes or until set and golden. Let cool for 5 minutes before slicing.

Posted July 16, 2008 9:38 PM in Cook Dates, Recipes

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4 Comment(s)

Cindy Barnard said… (on July 17, 2008 at 09:57 AM #)

This sounds GOOD, Patti.
I have a client w/Alzheimers. She is currently in a mode of wanting all foods to be creamy....craving lots of dairy. I think I'll try this.
How do you think this will be reheat?
Thank you again for creating this blog.
It is FULL of good recipes and tips.

Kris said… (on July 18, 2008 at 10:36 AM #)

This looks delish! In my experience, savory bread puddings reheat just fine. Bake in foil in oven, or micro - it's all good! Thanks Patti!

Amy said… (on July 18, 2008 at 21:49 PM #)

I love bread pudding and this one with vadalia onions sounds amazing. I can see it as a side dish with many entrees.

Patti said… (on July 18, 2008 at 22:01 PM #)

This made 8 servings and I needed just 6 so I had 2 servings to take home. I heated one in the toaster oven today. 400 for about 10 minutes. It was delicious and heated beautifully. The other piece went in the freezer for freezer testing.