A delicious cranberry eggplant bread pudding. There's no actual bread in it. Eggplant is used instead and you'd never know it by taste!
I was overloaded with eggplants a couple weeks ago. Not only did we get some fresh from our garden, but I was given a couple extras as well. Food just seems to find you when you're a known foodie.
Last week, I posted a recipe for low carb eggplant Parmesan which was absolutely delicious. I also put together a collection of low carb eggplant recipes to give me some ideas for cooking them.
While searching for low carb eggplant recipes, I discovered a "bread" pudding by Maria Emmerich. You can see the original recipe at Maria Mind Body Health. I was blown away by the idea of using eggplant in place of bread in the pudding. So, I decided to give it a try!
Maria made her pudding with rhubarb. I decided to make a more traditional recipe. The result is this cranberry eggplant bread pudding. And, it's a perfect dessert to serve during the upcoming holidays. The cranberry and cinnamon flavor is a great compliment to either Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner!
So, it may be a bit early to be thinking about the holidays. But, it's a great time to be thinking about eggplant recipes. And, you are sure to love the taste of this sweet cranberry eggplant bread pudding.
I was pretty impressed at how the dessert came out. It looked gorgeous and was a cinch to make. In fact, it was pretty tough to detect that eggplant was the secret ingredient. Now, it obviously didn't taste like bread, but it didn't taste like eggplant either.
This bread pudding was so delicious. I'm already planning to make it for my family during the upcoming holiday season. I won't tell them what's in it, either. Let's see if they can figure it out!
I'd like to try a few different variations on this bread pudding. I'm sure the original recipe with rhubarb is delicious. But, I may try it with strawberry and rhubarb.
After making this yummy bread pudding, I'm wondering what other sneaky things you can do with eggplant. Could it be hidden in other low carb desserts?
There's not much taste to eggplant so it's pretty easy to add into a dish without being detected. It contains a lot of moisture, so maybe it could be grated and added to baked goods like zucchini.
I've got a couple more eggplants to use up. If I don't come up with a new low carb recipe, I wouldn't mind eating this bread pudding again.
It's difficult to get my kids to eat new vegetables. What's your favorite way to sneak low carb veggies into desserts and treats?
Low Carb Cranberry Eggplant Bread Pudding - Gluten Free
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Recipe
Cranberry Eggplant Bread Pudding
Video
Ingredients
- 2 cups eggplant peeled and cubed
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
- 4 eggs
- ½ cup Sukrin Gold
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch nutmeg
- pinch salt
- 3 cups almond milk
- ¼ cup sugar free dried cranberries
Instructions
- Place eggplant pieces in an 8x8-inch or similar baking dish.
- Drizzle the melted butter over eggplant.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until soft at 350F. Drain off any extra liquid.
- In medium bowl, blend together the eggs, Sukrin Gold, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
- Add the almond milk, and blend in until combined.
- Pour milk mixture over eggplant.
- Sprinkle cranberries on top, pressing into the liquid.
- Bake at 350F for 45-55 minutes.
- Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream if desired. Store in the refrigerator.
Notes
Low Carb Sweeteners | Keto Sweetener Conversion Chart
Nutrition
Additional Info
Notes on Nutritional Information
Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts as it has been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.
Copyright
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DVB
Love eggplant. Parmesan, casseroles, et,. This recipe looks like something I want to try, BUT, I am not a low carb person, so will try using brown sugar. Should I use 1:1 ratio to Sukrin Gold?
Lisa MarcAurele
Yes. Brown sugar is a 1 to 1 substitute to Sukrin Gold.
Christina
It doesn’t appear the carbs for the dried cranberries are included as they have about 30 net carbs. Have you ever tried walnuts?
Lisa
The dried cranberries are included. 30 net carbs are if you use sugar sweetened dried cranberries which are not used in this recipe.
DeclitterMe
I personally was super excited to try this recipe but even following the recipes every detail mine turned out terrible.
I have never had eggplant outside of eggplant parm which I love, so I was looking forward to tasting eggplant elsewhere.
There was a ton of liquid in the bottom and it wouldn’t set up for me at all. The flavor was really bitter and texture chewy.
Perhaps sweating the eggplant first would help but I’m not going to test it to find out. Too much money for a possible flop.
Lisa
It does depend on the freshness of the eggplant. I can add a note to salt the eggplant and that will remove liquid and may also help with the bitterness. Some may also prefer more sweetener.
Soraya
I make this ALL THE TIME!!!! So so so yummy!!!
Emily
I just made this and it turned out absolutely delish! I made a few substitutes for what I had or didn't have on hand: half and half instead of the almond milk, and I only had 1 1/4 cups so that's what I used- the amount of liquid seemed perfect actually! I only have plain erythritol so I added about 2 tsp of blackstrap molasses to it. No cinnamon in the house, but cardamom is one of my favorite spices so I used that. And finally I used strawberries instead of the dried cranberries, about a half cup because they were whole frozen (I baked them with the eggplant in the first step and then chopped them up and stirred in once they defrosted). 10 out of 10 would make again! The texture of the eggplant is pleasantly soft and a little chewy.
Lisa
Thanks so much for sharing your version Emily! Sounds like a keeper.
Sabina Madden
I used cashew milk instead of almond milk, I also added 2 tbsp of heavy cream. I would like to mention that with a custard if it's cooked to long or at too high a temp it will weep liquid and separate. I enjoyed this recipe but I had to leave the house and cooked it in the toaster oven for the specified length of time in a Pyrex dish. Although the temperature on the oven shut off the temp of Pyrex dish continued to cook the custard. SO my lesson learned don't leave it to cook the whole time. Check it frequently for doneness. I might even use an aluminum pan next time and put it into a ice cube water bath to cool it quicker. The flavor was great, the eggplant was truly interesting in its role as bread substitute and I would definitely use this recipe again but I agree with lowering the amount of liquid to 2 cups for the amount of eggplant used.
Lisa
Thanks for the feedback. I do think less liquid is appropriate.
Allison Coulson
This was very tasty! However, I found 3 cups of almond milk to be way, way too much. After it cooked for the stated time, I had to remove a third of the liquid and cooked it another 20 minutes. It still had not set so I put it in a slightly larger pan and cooked it for another 20 minutes before it set. I think 1.5 -2 cups would have worked better.
Regardless, it is very good and the flavors of vanilla and cinnamon are just right.
Lisa
Thanks for the feedback. Mine did thicken with 3 cups, but maybe less will work better.
Patti Simon
What can I use in place of Surkin Gold?
Lisa
Any low carb brown sugar substitute or a mix of granular sweetener and a tiny bit of blackstrap molasses.
Sabina Madden
I didn't use any brown sugar substitute personally, I doubled the cinnamon and used liquid vanilla stevia drops, 3x (1/3 of the droppers), came out delish.
Alice B
I wonder if eggplant could make another substitute for apples, like some folks use jicama or squashes?
What an interesting idea as bread pudding. I want to give this a try!
Thank you, Lisa!
Lisa
Based on the texture I got in this recipe, I think eggplant could work as an apple substitute. It is very similar to the squash when cooked.
joanna schupp
Oh this looks great! I've seen some recipes for eggplant french toast but none for bread pudding yet. I have been too nervous to try eggplant in a sweet dish but you've convinced me. How much butter did you use to cook the eggplant??
Lisa
Oops! Forgot to mention that. I used about 2 tablespoons, maybe a tad more. And, I forgot about French toast. I'm going to make that tomorrow with the remaining eggplants.