This bread and butter pudding is made in the slow cooker but don’t worry you can still get a nice brown top when it’s cooked. It’s cheap and a great way to use up bread, leaving no food waste.
Those who know me (and even those who don’t) will know that I love a bargain! So you could imagine I was very pleased when Skint Dad walked in from the shop with a loaf of bread, usually priced at £1.49, for just 25p!
It wasn’t a cheap loaf either, it was one of the nicer brands! The store had reduced the bread as there was just one day left on the best before.
It didn’t matter though as we’d use it for toast and any of the bread left over would get turned into breadcrumbs.
But…Ricky decided to wander back to the shop (which is normally a very expensive corner shop with no bargains) and came home with another loaf of bread – this time reduced to just 10p!
There was no way we’d get through two loaves in one day and we didn’t really have enough room in the freezer.
So, to cut down on food waste I decided to make a bread and butter pudding. I mean, why not!
Slow cooker bread and butter pudding
As this is such an easy recipe, the kids were able to help every step of the way; they really love getting their hands dirty in the kitchen!
First off (and my favourite bit) is breaking up all the bread. This is really easy for little hands to practice using a (butter) knife or, easier still, just using their hands.
In the meantime, you can use the butter to grease the inside of the slow cooker. This will stop the bread and butter pudding sticking to the dish (and making it a nightmare to wash up!)
Once it’s all broken up, add in the sultanas and mix everything else together in a bowl.
Again, this is easy enough for the kids to do and can get them practising measuring out different ingredients.
Once mixed, just pour over the bread, making sure it all gets a good soaking by turning the bread over.
But how do you get it brown?
Using the slow cooker for bread and butter pudding gets a few raised eyebrows as no one believes you can get a nicely browned top but it is possible đŸ™‚
When you pop the slow cooker on, you just need to add a tea towel under the lid and it will stop all the condensation falling on the pudding.
Using a tea towel keeps the bread and butter pudding dry on top and lets it brown perfectly.
It takes around two hours to cook on high.
- 6 slices of bread (not fresh!)
- 100g/large handful sultanas
- 2 eggs
- 400 ml milk
- 3tsp white sugar
- 1tsp cinnamon
- 1tbsp butter/marg
- Grease the inside of the slow cooker well with the butter.
- Cut the bread up into pieces and add to the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Sprinkle the sultanas over the bread
- In a bowl, mix the other ingredients and pour over the bread, making sure it's fully coated.
- Place a tea towel under the lid and cook on high for 2 hours.
We ate ours with vanilla custard but don’t let that stop you having it with ice cream, double cream, on its own, or any other way you like to eat your pudding.
Looking for other ways to cut down on food waste? Check out these tips:
- What Does Use By and Best Before Mean?
- Use Your Loaf and Don’t be a Waster!
- 11 Easy Ways to Use Less During Zero Waste Week
Naomi knows the burden of living on very little and became debt free by learning from past mistakes and following her own money saving tips and tricks.
