Slow Cooker Banana Bread Pudding

This version of Banana Bread Pudding is rich with bananas, warm spices, and caramel sauce for a bread pudding twist on New Orleans dessert: Bananas Foster!

INGREDIENTS

For the bread pudding:

• 16-ounce French brioche loaf, cut into 3/4-inch cubes  (12 cups)
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter (softened)
• 8 large eggs
• 4 cups half-and-half
• 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup (100g) dark brown sugar, packed
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract (bourbon vanilla recommended)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 medium ripe bananas, mashed

For the caramel sauce (Makes about 1 cup)

• 1 cup (200 g) sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

METHOD

1 Get ready: Set the oven rack to the center position and preheat the oven to 300ºF for toasting the bread. Grease the inside of a 6-quart slow cooker with the softened butter.

2 Toast the bread: Spread the bread cubes in a single layer on a large sheet pan or two smaller pans. Bake for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through toasting. The bread should be lightly golden, dry, and crisp. Remove the bread cubes from the oven and let them cool for 10 minutes.

Once cool, transfer toasted bread to the slow cooker and arrange in an even layer. Serve your Banana Bread Pudding!

Source: Simply Recipes