Why “Secret”? For those of you who are familiar with Mae‘s Cook’s Mission, you’ll know why!
Ingredients
4 large, soft pretzels, left out overnight (the “secret” ingredient!)
2 eggs
1/2 cup apricot jam
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup dried apricots
3/4 cup milk
Nuts of choice (optional)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp butter or margarine, melted
The pretzel recipe can be found in Peter Reinhart’s Artisan Breads Every Day, using King Arthur white whole wheat flour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Break the eggs into a large bowl and stir briefly. Add apricot jam and vanilla and stir to combine. If you’re hard-core like Peter, you can use the vanilla extract that you made yourself a year ago.
Chop the dried apricots and add to the egg mixture.
(What’s the expression? Speak softly and carry a big … knife? 😉 )
Tear the pretzels into pieces and add to the mixture.
Stir to combine, then pour milk over all.
Try to ignore the little doggle who’s waiting for you to drop anything edible.
A few chopped hazelnuts for crunch:
Add cinnamon and melted butter, and pour into greased pan.
I went for the “4-quadrant” look, which is a great way to try out different toppings:
Clockwise from upper left: whole apricots, plain, oatmeal, and, of course, chocolate.
Bake for 25 minutes, or until nicely browned on top (my whole apricots got a little too toasty).
You can guess which section I went for first.
Verdict? Try it! This unique version of bread pudding is sure to please any apricot lover you know 🙂 Of course, you can always replace the apricot jam and/or dried apricots with your favorite kind of jam or dried fruit.
If you like the look of this recipe, vote for it on the Cook’s Mission website by clicking on this link and leaving a comment under my recipe (Edit: The recipe is up!). Of course, there are some delicious looking recipes on the Cook’s Mission website, so please do vote for the one you like best!
I’m excited to be having lunch at one of my favorite restaurants tomorrow. Which one? Stay tuned to find out! Have a nice evening!
Q: Have you ever made your own bread? How did it turn out?
Oh Peter Reinhart, how I love you!
I don’t have Artisan Breads Every Day, but I love the Bread Baker’s Apprentice and I have Whole Grain Breads coming in the mail sometime next week. Wahoo!
So far, the Cinnamon Buns from the BBA book are a Slam Dunk.
Ooh, we have Bread Baker’s Apprentice. Peter’s copy is signed by Mr. Reinhart himself – one of Peter’s favorite possessions 😉
Oh lordy, I bet one bite into that and I’d think I’d died and gone to heaven!! YUM!! So creative, I’m impressed!! Love your 4 quadrants, I totally would’ve carved out the chocolate one first!! 🙂
Oooh, that looks like a unique recipe, very creative! Mmm, comfort food 🙂 It’s a greyish day today and when I get home I want to eat something just like that 🙂
oh my sweet tasty goodness! this sounds amazing! the pretzels… the pudding… gahhhh!
i’ve actually never made my own bread (assuming muffins/banana bread doesn’t count). i really need to give it a go!
That looks awesome! Bread pudding is one of my favorite desserts and i’m sure the pretzels as “bread” would give it a whole new dimension.
I’ve never made my own bread and have to admit I’m initmidated by tthe thought.
Your favorite restaurant? I know! Taco bell! am I right?!! ;-p Haha, just kidding.
Man, you should have entered my Cooking Challenge!!! You are one creative missy, and that pudding looks freaking fantastic!!
oooh bread pudding is one of my favorite desserts. and big pretzels used in place of bread is just genius! i love eating big pretzels just plain but your version knocked the socks off of me (if i was wearing any…teehee). i’ll definitely look for the link to be posted and vote for your recipe! oh and can you tell Peter to come and teach my hubby a thing or two in the kitchen? even makes his own vanilla…wow! you lucky girl you 😉 your dog is cuuute.
Haha, I sure am one lucky girl! 🙂
Jessie this is so creative and delicious! I love love love the idea to make a pretzel bread pudding with apricot! When I heard about Mae’s challenge ingredients, I was trying to come up with something dessert-y but I couldn’t come up with anything! You’re such a great inspiration! Love this, I’d love to try it!
You are one creative lady! 🙂
My husband has recently started making bread, and it is AMAZING!
I love bread pudding, it’s one of my favorite desserts!!
I make my own banana bread and you just saw my first attempt at Irish Soda Bread on Friday Firsts. Other than that I’ve never made any other bread. I’m a nervous baker. hehe
I love the bread knot………………
That looks fabulous!
I have made gluten free sandwich bread before and it turned out really well. Other than that, I have not experimented much with making bread.
Yum! I am not a baker so I have yet to attempt to make my own bread.
I have made bread, but never pretzels! I think they look too hard! I’ve seen the people at Auntie Anne’s whip those pretzel dough pieces around, and I’m just not that savvy yet! 😉 It looks wonderful – I’ll bet the pretzels make the texture!
Have a great weekend hun!
Have a wonderful trip, Nicole! 🙂
This bread pudding looks great! I love that you did the 4 quadrant with the toppings. That is a really great idea. Sometimes I want to try something different but I don’t want the whole recipe to not taste good cause of my experimentation.
Have a great weekend!
I followed over from Mae’s blog. Your dish looks yumilicious!! 😀
Thanks for stopping by!
I have a huge soft spot for soft pretzels, so I would love to try this! Your toppings all look delicious too!
i love this recipe! it reminds me of something from a top chef challenge!
Jessie thanks so much for sharing this on Friday Firsts! 🙂
I just recently started making bread, and I love it! I have a Baking with Julia book with some great recipes, and there are tons of good ones at the King Arthur Flour website…check them out!
My most recent success was a Cinnamon Raisin Swirl bread…yummmmm
http://www.suzysgoodies.com/post/Cinnamon-Raisin-Bread-Round-2.aspx
I’ll check it out! Thanks!