Donut Pudding!

This weekend the Northeast experienced our first big snowstorm of the season. Snowed in and craving something sweet, I decided to make bread pudding for breakfast. Flipping through one of my favorite bakebooks - Jill O'Connor's Sticky, Chewy, Messy Gooey - I was inspired to to replace bread with donuts - thus Donut Pudding was born! I channeled my inner Semi-Homemade and just used some packaged Entenmann's donuts. (I was off the clock!)

The result was a dessert so sweet and filling, and just delicious. Perfect for a snowy day and elastic pants.

Here are some pictures and the recipe I used for the mixture to pour over the donuts. This recipe comes from one of my favorite Food Network ladies, Miss Paula Deen.

Ingredients
2 cups granulated sugar
5 large beaten eggs
2 cups milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 cups cubed Italian bread, allow to stale overnight in a bowl (I used donuts)
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened


Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13 by 9 by 2-inch pan.
2. Mix together granulated sugar, eggs, and milk in a bowl; add vanilla. Pour over cubed bread and let sit for 10 minutes.
3. In another bowl, mix and crumble together brown sugar, butter, and pecans.
4. Pour bread mixture into prepared pan. Sprinkle brown sugar mixture over the top and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until set. Remove from oven.