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.

Microwave Mini Apple Cake

I read about microwavable single-serve cakes the other day at The Non-Dairy Queen, and I've been trying different variations ever since. It's been quite a while since I thought a dessert attempt was worth blogging about, but there's a lot to be said for creating a quick, healthy dessert with no leftovers! I checked out the other recipes she referenced, but found hers to be easiest to follow, and re-portion (I wanted a smaller treat). Recently, it occurred to me that I could really change the flavors if I wanted something fruity, and the single-serve apple cake was born.

Microwave Mini Apple Cake

1 egg OR 1 TBSP flax meal mixed with 3 TBSP warm water
2 TBSP flour (any kind, I've tried rice flour and coconut flour, and the original post has many more)
2 TBSP quick oats
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp apple pie spice (optional, pumpkin pie spice would also work)
2 TBSP applesauce (optional, or just use more juice)
2 TBSP apple butter
2 TBSP apple juice (more if necessary)
2 TBSP dried diced apples (I cut up some apple rings, but I'm considering Bob's Red Mill Diced Dried Apples for future use)
1-2 TBSP agave (or sweetener of choice)

Because I'm really lazy and don't want to wash anything extra, I start with the flax egg at the bottom of a mug, and mix the rest of the ingredients in. Your final product should have a paste-like consistency. Microwave the mug on high for 1 1/2-2 minutes, and enjoy!


I also tried my hand at a pumpkin variation, with Trader Joe's pumpkin butter, So Delicious vanilla coconut yogurt, and So Delicious vanilla coconut milk. Now I have some diced mango coming in, and mango juice/mango butter at home - I'm looking forward to some mango cake! I'm also considering some form of carrot cake, which I've always wanted to make....

Note that another reason I ended up halving the original cake recipe was that my mugs didn't seem big enough, but if you have some nice giant mugs feel free to double the portions above, as well as the cooking time.