Holiday Traditions: Red, White and Blueberry Bread Pudding

I wanted to make a staple from Daddy D’s all American childhood to celebrate the upcoming holiday. 4th of July is filled with holiday traditions in our family, and adding this Red, White and Blueberry Bread Pudding to the celebration seemed like a great idea! This bread pudding recipe is filled with white chocolate chips and blueberries, then covered in a chunky strawberry sauce. It’s festive and decedent. I thought I hit a home run. Especially since Walmart had asked us to celebrate this patriotic holiday with them, I thought for sure it was the perfect reflection of all my family’s flavors coming together.

After Daddy D cleaned every last morsel off his plate, I proudly said, “sooo…. did it take you back to your younger days? Like your mama used to make it”? And do you know what that man said to me…

“My mom never made bread pudding. I grew up eating banana pudding. But this stuff is good too.”

AHH! Strike out for the Latina wife! This whole time I thought the dessert he remembers his mom so lovingly making is a pudding with bread, not banana. The only time I ate bananas was as a side to picadillo or arroz con pollo! The game of bicultural living never ceases to amaze me. In any case, we’ll be chowing on this yumtastic blueberry bread pudding with white chocolate chips and strawberry sauce on America’s birthday…. perhaps for the first time, but not the last!

Blueberry Bread Pudding Ingredients

– 3 eggs

– 4 cups milk (I used a combination of Vitamin D and Low Fat)

– 2 cups sugar

– 3 teaspoons vanilla extract

– 2 cups fresh bluberries

– 1 package of Hershey’s Premier White Chocolate Chips (these are SO yummy!)

– 1 loaf of French Bread (I used Walmart’s $1 loaf)

Strawberry Sauce Ingredients

– 1 pint fresh strawberries, cleaned and quartered

– 1/3 cup sugar

– 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Blueberry Bread Pudding Directions

Preheat oven to 350° and grease a 13 x 9 baking dish with butter and flour.

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients and incorporate well. Be sure not to over mix. Let sit for 5 minutes or so, until the bread has adsorb most of the liquid. Transfer bread mixture to baking dish and cook for 60 minutes. Use a fork to check if it’s done.

For the strawberry sauce, cook the strawberry, sugar and vanilla on medium-low heat until the juices begin to form and coat the spoon. Squish some of the strawberries as it cooks. You can puree it for a smooth sauce, but I liked it chunky.

This blueberry bread pudding recipe didn’t last long in our house. Daddy D chose not to add the red stripe (what a rebel) and stuck to the white chocolate and blueberry flavors alone, so we had plenty of strawberry sauce left over. The kids gladly took charge of it this week as they enjoyed their almond butter and homemade strawberry sauce sandwiches. Another classic all-American food tradition, but with a twist. But I digress…

Happy 4th of July everyone! I hope you all enjoy the sweet desserts of your youth (whether of banana or bread!) and make more food traditions as you build your family legacy.