Cinnamon Roll Bread Pudding | What's Cooking Wednesday

Cinnamon roll bread pudding... do I even need a narrative for this post after typing those words? Or is it one of the 'drop the mic' situations? I'm feeling the latter, but since it's a blog and all, I'll still write a bit :) Where to begin? This dish is so many amazing things in one... 

First of all, it's a casserole which means it's HUGE! Easily can work as 2 dinners or serve up to 8 people, which is awesome. One less meal you need to make that week, right? We always have leftover night on Thursday, but this is one of those times that I'm not really dreading it! 

Second, it's SO easy!! Seriously, you just have to rip up some cinnamon rolls, mix together a few ingredients, pop it in the oven and then bam -- one hour later you have an amazing casserole ready to go. The recipe calls for 6-7 cups of cinnamon rolls; I like to buy 2 cans of Pillsbury Grands (Cinnabon variety, obviously) and bake them up the night before, leave them out overnight, and then in the morning they are perfect. You want the bread to be a little hard/stale because it will soak up the liquid mixture better, otherwise you may find it a little soggy. 

I mentioned it once here, but breakfast for dinner is the very best -- and this dish is no exception. You do have my permission to make it for breakfast/brunch though, if you wish :)

Cinnamon Roll Bread Pudding
Recipe by: Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients:
For the Bread Pudding:
6 to 7 cups cubed cinnamon rolls 
5 egg yolks
1 cup light brown sugar
2 cups heavy cream
⅔ cup whole milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed and chilled

For the Icing:
½ cup powdered sugar
4 teaspoons heavy cream
½ teaspoon vanilla
 
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Butter a 2-quart baking dish; set aside.
 
In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks, brown sugar, cream, milk, vanilla extract, ¾ teaspoon cinnamon and salt. Toss in the stale cinnamon roll cubes until evenly coated. Let the mixture sit until the bread begins to absorb custard, about 30 minutes, tossing occasionally.
 
Pour the bread mixture into the prepared baking dish. Cover the dish with foil, and bake for 45 minutes.
 
Meanwhile, mix the granulated sugar and remaining ¼ teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl. Using your fingers, pinch the butter into the sugar mixture until the crumbs are the size of small peas. Remove the foil, sprinkle with the butter mixture, and bake, uncovered, until the custard is set, 20 to 25 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 450 degrees F and bake until the top of the pudding forms a golden crust, about 2 minutes. Let the pudding cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes.
 
Finally, whisk together the powdered sugar, heavy cream and vanilla until smooth. If necessary, add a teaspoon of powdered sugar or heavy cream at a time to achieve a drizzling consistency. Using a spoon, drizzle the icing over the cinnamon roll bread pudding.

Let's just go ahead and zoom in on that...