Panettone Bread Pudding with Amaretto Sauce

Recipe adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

This recipe is too good not to share! I made it for dessert for my family's Christmas dinner. It was delicious and so easy to make! Enjoy!

Ingredients

Sauce:
* 1/2 cup whipping cream
* 1/2 cup whole milk
* 3 tablespoons sugar
* 1/4 cup amaretto liqueur (or if you don't cook with alcohol, you can substitute 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon almond extract for 2 tablespoons amaretto)
* 2 teaspoons cornstarch

Bread Pudding:
* 1 (1-pound) loaf panettone bread, crusts trimmed, bread cut into 1-inch cubes
* 8 large eggs
* 1 1/2 cups whipping cream
* 2 1/2 cups whole milk
* 1 1/4 cups sugar

Directions

To make the sauce: Bring the cream, milk, and sugar to a boil in a heavy small saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently. In a small bowl, mix the amaretto (or almond extract) and cornstarch to blend and then whisk into the cream mixture. Simmer over medium-low heat until the sauce thickens, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes. Set aside and keep warm. (The amaretto sauce can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm before serving.)

To make the bread pudding: Lightly butter a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish. Arrange the bread cubes in the prepared dish. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, cream, milk, and sugar to blend. Pour the custard over the bread cubes, and press the bread cubes gently to submerge. Let stand for 30 minutes, occasionally pressing the bread cubes into the custard mixture. (Recipe can be prepared up to this point 2 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Bake until the pudding puffs and is set in the center, about 45 minutes. Cool slightly. Spoon the bread pudding into bowls, drizzle with the warm amaretto sauce, and serve.

Addicting, Fake, Key Lime Pie

1 small box lime jello- Use half the water recommended
2-6oz (Regular single serving size) Key Lime yogurts
8 oz cool whip (Half of a regular sized container)
1 prepared graham cracker crust or 4-6 of the mini sized ones.(Or homemade if you feel up to it.)

Mix the Jello and water, again, only using half of the water that it says on the box. Do not wait for it to set.
Add in the yogurt, blend together until incorporated.
Add cool whip and blend until smooth.
Pour into shells.
Chill 4-5 hours.
Decorate with cool whip or limes, but who has time for that?
Eat them like they are good for you. They are not*. I could eat seven of these without even breaking a sweat. Just saying.

* I've made this with non-fat yogurt and low-fat cool whip and it is still good. The tangy nature of the flavor covers a lot. But it is sooo much better with the regular ingredients.

Holiday treats?

So with Thanksgiving coming up and Christmas right around the corner I was thinking it would be cool to post your fav holiday treat recipe! Don't forget to label your recipe Holiday treats. I'll go first...

I love bite-sized food and I love pumpkin pie. A couple weeks ago I made Mini Pumpkin Pies! It's so simple. Just use your fav pumpkin pie filling recipe. Here's mine:

• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 egg whites

In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, and egg yolks. Stir in 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. In a large glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites until soft peaks form. Gently fold into pumpkin mixture.

Putting Your Mini Pies Together

Preheat the oven to 425. You will not be baking at this temperature. However, you want to make your oven nice and hot. Line your cupcake tins with cupcake liners.

I use ready-made pie crust to make my life easier. Remove half of the dough from the fridge and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick. Use a 3 1/2 inch diameter circle cookie cutter to cut the dough into circles. Press the center of your circle into the bottom of a cupcake liner and work the rest into the bottom of the liner and up the sides. It should come about 3/4 of the way up the side.

Pour the pumpkin pie filling into the pie dough cups. Each cup should be slightly more than halfway full.

Lower the oven temp to 375. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the pie is set (doesn't wiggle around when you touch it.)

Enjoy!