Honey Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce

“A cold January day is a perfect time to turn leftover bread into something worth looking forward to! It’s an inexpensive dessert made with pantry items I always have on hand. If you still have dried cranberries from the holidays, sprinkle in some of those instead of raisins… or not. The creamy custard and drizzle of honey is sweet enough without them altogether. Then, if you want to really gild the lily, make this super simple vanilla sauce. I’m a teetotaler, but if you have it on hand, a tablespoon or two of brandy, rum or bourbon turns this sauce into a New Orleans-style hard sauce. Cold days (and if we’re lucky enough in Alabama for snow days) suddenly feel a lot more welcoming when this dessert comes out of the oven.”

Bread Pudding with Raisins

1(16-oz) loaf French bread, torn into 1-in pieces

3 1/2 cups whole milk

3 large eggs

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup raisins or dried cranberries

1/3 cup melted butter, divided

1teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup honey

Vanilla Sauce

½ cup butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup whole milk or half and half

1 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon water