Hungree Girl: Banana Nutella Bread Pudding

MIDTERMS ARE OVER! Yes, this deserves to be in all caps, for two reasons. First, because it means Spring Break is right around the corner and that I can finally stop being a zombie and staring at my computer screen and might even be able to get some color besides the shade of white, and second, because it's time to celebrate. Every stressful event needs to be required by a de-stressing one and what other way to de-stress then bake up a dish that is literally comfort summed up into a bite. For me, the most comforting dessert on the planet is bread pudding. Its gooey, its warm, it can be chocolatey, and its everything you want to taste/feel after you've had a rough week. Tonight, I decided to try a new rendition and bake banana nutella bread pudding. I threw together a rough recipe, baked it up, and am watching as it not-so-slowly disappears. Ya, midterms SUCK, but eating this makes me forget they ever even happened.

Banana Nutella Bread Pudding

Ingredients
1 loaf of white bread, preferably slightly stale
1 jar nutella
4 ripe bananas
2 cups half and half
1 cup heavy cream
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tbs vanilla

Recipe: Preheat the oven to 370 degrees. The bread is preferably stale and slightly crusty, so if you have time let it sit out over night, but if not, bake in oven at low heat for about 15 minutes until it dries up a bit. Smother each piece in bread with a generous amount of nutella and then sandwich two pieces together. Roughly chop or tear the sandwiched pieces into bite sized ones. Butter a casserole or deep dish pan. Chop the bananas into rounds. Put a layer of torn nutella bread pieces in the pan, cover with banana, and repeat until you finish with bananas on top. In a separate bowl, combine half and half, cream, eggs, sugar, and vanilla, and whisk until well combined. Pour this slowly and evenly over casserole dish with bread and banana pieces. Let soak for at least 30 minutes, or up to 3 hours in the fridge so the bread can really absorb the liquid. Put in oven and bake for about 25 minutes, until the top is crusty and the bread is fluffy and liquid no longer shakes when pan is touched.

Serving Suggestions: Serve warm with ice cream, plain, or whipped cream. Eat, inhale, and DE-STRESS.

Sandwich bread with TONS of nutella and tear into pieces.