Vanilla Bread Pudding with Rum Sauce - NO eggs, dairy, soy, or refined sugar

Bread pudding is one of those dairy-filled foods I tend to miss. Presented with a stale portion of Italian bread (which I'm sure could easily be swapped out for healthier/gluten-free bread), I started searching for recipes online to see if I could make bread pudding without dairy or soy, and preferably without eggs. I found this, which looked good... but then I realized I wanted a flavor more reminiscent of my childhood, so I went with the spices listed here, complete with a version of the rum sauce.



Bread pudding

2 1/2 cups cubed stale bread
1 single serve box of raisins (optional)
1 to 1 1/2 cups So Delicious Sugar Free Vanilla Coconut Milk
(if you don't mind the sugar, I suspect the Creamer would be amazing)
1/2 cup + 2 TBSP vanilla agave (or sweetener of choice)
1 1/2 TBSP rice flour (or arrowroot)
2 TBSP coconut oil or coconut butter
1 TBSP vanilla
1 TBSP cinnamon + ½ tsp nutmeg, OR ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice + 1/2 TBSP cinnamon
1-2 TBSP coconut rum

Use a mixing bowl for your cubed bread. On the stove top or in the microwave, melt the 2 Tbsps coconut oil/butter with 2 Tbsps agave and some rum, and drizzle the mixture over the bread. Mix to distribute evenly, then set aside.

Mix the milk with the rest of the agave, the spices, and the rice flour or arrowroot. Taste and add more agave if necessary. Pour over the bread, add the raisins, mix well, and let sit for at least 10 minutes. Pre-heat oven to 325. Pour mixture into ramekins or small baking dish, and bake for 30-35 minutes. Serve with Rum Sauce (below, optional) or agave.

Rum Sauce

1/2 cup coconut syrup
1/4 cup coconut rum
1 TBSP coconut oil or butter

Combine and heat in microwave in 15-second increments (stirring in between to make sure the oil/butter is melted) for a quick, flavorful pudding topping.