Apple, Honey & Challah Bread Pudding

Eating apples or challah dipped in honey is a common practice during the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, meant to ensure a sweet and prosperous New Year.  Which is perfectly tasty (at least a lot more so than jarred gefilte fish), but also a little boring, no?  That’s why we’ve combined those traditional foods into one delicious dessert… a honey-drizzled, apple-studded Challah Bread Pudding, guaranteed to get your year off to an extra sweet start!

Challah Bread Pudding
(Serves 6-8)

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of butter for greasing
2 cups of milk
5 large eggs
1¼ cup of sugar
Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean
5 cups of challah, cut into ½-inch dice
2 cups of peeled apples, diced
Honey to drizzle

Directions:
Preheat an oven to 350° F.

Grease a 9- x 13-inch baking pan with the butter. Prepare the custard by whisking together milk, eggs, sugar, and vanilla bean seeds in a large bowl. Add challah and apples, and mix well.

Let sit for 10 minutes to allow challah to absorb the egg mixture. Place the challah mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until golden. Drizzle honey over the top and serve.