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Apple Pie Bread Pudding

Apple Pie Bread Pudding Recipe

Cozy, warm, delicious bread pudding piled high with a homemade apple pie filling and buttery streusel on top.

This post is sponsored by King’s Hawaiian.

Apple Pie Bread Pudding

Now THIS is the ultimate bread pudding! Made with sweet melt-in-your-mouth , brown sugar, FOUR eggs for a custard-like texture, homemade cinnamon-spiced apple pie filling, and a buttery cinnamon streusel to top it all off.

It makes a large 9×13 dish FULL of apple pie and ooey-gooey bread goodness.

Apple Pie Bread Pudding

Remember how we talked about the magic that happens when you bake King’s Hawaiian bread? All that real butter goodness inside makes them become ridiculously soft and pillow-like. These Sticky Buns made with Sweet Rolls are unreal. They literally melt in your mouth.

Same thing with this bread pudding. The layer of egg-y, custard-y bread at the bottom is so sweet and soft, it really feels like it just melts in your mouth.

Apple Pie Bread Pudding

You’ll start by cubing the bread. I used the big loaf of , but you could also cut up King’s Hawaiian rolls or buns if you have those on hand. Make the custard and pour it over the bread, and just let the bread soak it all up while you move on to making the pie filling and streusel topping.

Apple Pie Bread Pudding

The pie filling is SO easy (no stovetop required)! It’s simply sliced apples coated in a sugar/flour/spices mixture.

Apple Pie Bread Pudding

Next, you’ll spread the bread pudding in the prepared baking dish, and then layer the apples on top of the egg-y bread.

Now the streusel topping! Do you love streusel as much as I do? What’s not to love?? Brown sugar, cinnamon, and lotsa butter. It really takes this bread pudding to the next level. Cut the COLD butter into the other ingredients until it’s nice and crumbly and sprinkle over the apples.

Apple Pie Bread Pudding

Bake it all up until it’s golden delicious and a little bubbly on the sides. You can top this with whipped cream, ice cream, or even some caramel sundae sauce. No matter how you eat this, it’s going to make you feel all warm and cozy from head to toes!

Apple Pie Bread Pudding

Strawberry Shortcake Donuts | www.somethingswanky.com @driscollsstrawberries #strawshortcake

Strawberry Shortcake Donuts Recipe

 Dricoll’s has been the strawberry in everyone’s shortcake for more than 100 years, which makes them the perfect inspiration for this recipe! I worked in collaboration with Driscoll’s Strawberries to develop a unique strawberry shortcake recipe and have received compensation accordingly. Opinions expressed are always my own.

Strawberry Shortcake Donuts | somethingswanky.com @driscollsstrawberries #strawshortcake

Summertime is practically here! Can’t you just feel it?? This time of year is just so intoxicating, so full of sunlight and flower buds. It’s like walking into a big hug after a long and dreary winter, followed by a very wet spring.

In between packing what must be thousands of boxes (okay… it’s closer to, like, 12) and move prep, we’ve been trying to soak up every moment of this new found sunshine! We’re taking nature walks, catching butterflies, running in the sprinklers, and eating lots and lots of strawberries.

Like…. gazillions of strawberries.

Strawberry Shortcake Donuts | somethingswanky.com @driscollsstrawberries #strawshortcake

I think strawberries may be the real reason I fight to get through the winter at all. And when strawberry season comes, I’m eating them with every meal and every snack in between.

Like every other strawberry lover on the planet, I’m pretty crazy about strawberry shortcake. Besides being utterly delicious and a versatile flavor combo, strawberry shortcake is also classic and timeless. It’s an iconic American dessert, and I find the sheer patriotism of it as appealing as anything else. Did you know that Americans have been feverishly eating strawberry shortcake for over 100 years? And Driscoll’s has been growing beautifully plump, ruby red strawberries for just as long!

Strawberry shortcake has taken on many forms throughout the decades. Sometimes the variations are as simple as switching up the cake part and using a spongecake (like the ones you see in the grocery stores by the strawberries) or pound cake instead of a traditional sweet biscuit. Others are more creative and incorporate the flavors into desserts like ice cream or crepes!

Strawberry Shortcake Donuts | somethingswanky.com @driscollsstrawberries #strawshortcake

I wanted to get a little creative with this recipe but also incorporate some tradition at the same time. Classic, old-school, southern-style strawberry shortcake is made with a biscuit (sort of like this blueberry shortcake I posted). Using biscuits happen to be my favorite way to eat this dessert, so I knew I didn’t want to deviate from that route.

As I started thinking about the different ways you can use biscuits in dessert-making, strawberry shortcake donuts became this blaring, neon sign in my mind as the perfect way to combine both tradition and creativity! By simply frying the biscuit dough, instead of baking, a classic strawberry shortcake goes rogue and becomes a donut. You can fry made-from-scratch biscuit dough or use refrigerated biscuit dough like I did for a delicious shortcut!

One more thing before you head to the kitchen… it’s a little obvious, but it’s worth saying anyway: be sure to buy the very best strawberries for the very best tasting donuts. Driscoll’s has been the strawberry in everyone’s shortcake for over 100 years, and there’s a reason– they’re the best!

Horchata is THE drink to make this summer! It combines rice, almonds, cinnamon, and a little natural stevia for a refreshing, family-friendly summer drink.

Horchata Recipe

Horchata is THE drink to make this summer! It combines rice, almonds, cinnamon, and a little natural stevia for a refreshing, family-friendly summer drink.

This post is brought to you by Wholesome Organic® Stevia.

Horchata is THE drink to make this summer! It combines rice, almonds, cinnamon, and a little natural stevia for a refreshing, family-friendly summer drink.

Hands up if you’re ready for summer vacation?! We SO are.

More than anything, I can’t wait for lazy summer afternoons that don’t involve waking up my napping toddler to rush out the door and drive 25 minutes to get to carpool. It may not sound very glamorous, but it’s what I’m looking forward to the most. Hands down.

Horchata is THE drink to make this summer! It combines rice, almonds, cinnamon, and a little natural stevia for a refreshing, family-friendly summer drink.

Speaking of lazy summer afternoons.. I can’t think of a better way to spend one than poolside with an ice cold glass of homemade horchata in hand.

And by poolside, I obviously mean the little round, plastic, blue monstrosity in my backyard that currently holds as many popsicle wrappers and dirt piles as it does actual “pool water.” But whatever.

Horchata is THE drink to make this summer! It combines rice, almonds, cinnamon, and a little natural stevia for a refreshing, family-friendly summer drink.

Back to ice cold homemade horchata.

Have you ever had horchata? And have you ever made horchata? I was shocked at how easy the entire process is. Really, the most important part is just remembering that you’ll need to start about 12 hours ahead of when you actually want to serve it.

Which isn’t as crazy as it sounds. Just start soaking the rice and almonds before you go to bed. By the time you wake up, here’s what you’ll have left to do:

Blend everything up.

And strain out the pulp. All you really need is a sieve and a cheesecloth. I actually didn’t even use a cheesecloth– I used a flour sack towel that I always have on hand. It does the job just as well.

This is what my setup looked like:

As you can see, I simply placed the cloth over the my pitcher and placed the sieve over it.

As I went through the straining process, things moved around a little bit, but nothing major changed. I eventually liked holding the sieve in my hand better than fitting into the top of the pitcher. And I actually switched to a slightly bigger sieve as well.

Overall, it was SUPER easy. Much more doable than I ever knew horchata could be!

One of the best things about making your own horchata is that you can control the sweetener. Instead of using regular sugar (you’d need about 1/2 a cup in this recipe!), I used 3/4 tsp of Wholesome Organic® Stevia.

Stevia has always been kind of a hit or miss thing for me. I really can’t tolerate most brands, quite honestly. But Wholesome Organic® Stevia doesn’t have that bitter aftertaste that a lot of other stevia sweeteners do. It has no calories and no glycemic impact, which makes it great for people who are watching their calorie intake or controlling blood sugars.

Horchata is THE drink to make this summer! It combines rice, almonds, cinnamon, and a little natural stevia for a refreshing, family-friendly summer drink.

It’s important to remember that stevia does not equal sugar cup for cup. You can use a LOT less stevia when subbing for sugar. I like about a teaspoon of Wholesome Organic® Stevia for every half cup of sugar. I think you have to play around with it a little, just to find out what YOU like best.

Enjoy this recipe (be poolside or otherwise ;)!

And be sure to visit Wholesome Organic® Stevia to say hi and grab a coupon.