Before I get into the recipe, this is not light or diet in any way! There are substitutions you can make to lighten it, but this is bread pudding…it should be warm and decadent! And, incredibly yummy!

Ingredients (pudding):
1 French baguette (Think airy and chewy but not as airy as Zipp or Leidenheimer’s)
7 eggs
3 cups 1% milk
3 tbsp. butter, melted
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
¾ Splenda or granulated sugar
½ cup dark chocolate chips

Ingredients (sauce):
1 can condensed milk or light condensed milk
Juice of one large naval orange
Zest of one large navel orange
1 jigger (or more) spiced rum

For the bread pudding:
First, tear the baguette into bite size chunks and arrange in a buttered/sprayed 8×11.5 (or 2 quart) glass baking dish. Sprinkle the chocolate chips throughout as you layer the bread.

Second, drizzle melted butter over the bread in pan.

Third, mix together remaining wet ingredients and spices, making sure that the eggs are fully beaten and the yolks are incorporated. Pour this mixture over the bread. Make sure all of the bread is coated and poke with a fork to fully submerge if need be.

Once the bread has absorbed most of the egg mixture, bake in a 350 degree oven for 35-40, or until golden brown.

For the sauce:
In a small sauce pan, combine all ingredients then simmer until heated through.

Feel free to add more orange juice/zest and rum to suit your tastes. Drizzle some of the sauce over the pan of bread pudding after it cools, then reserve the remaining sauce to add to individual slices as served.

Serves up about 10-12 pieces with sauce, depending on how large you cut’em.

Enjoy!!