Chocolate Chunk
Bread Puddings

Yield:2 servings

The following recipe for Chocolate Chunk Bread Puddings comes from Cooking Light Magazine. Since it's light and only makes two servings, it is a pretty guilt-free indulgence.

Try not to chop the chocolate too finely so you'll have good-sized chunks to bite into. Hawaiian bread is a soft, sweet bread found in the bakery section of most grocery stores. Leftovers are good for ham and Swiss sandwiches. I prefer the sandwich-slice Hawaiian bread to the rolls or the large round loaf as the sandwich-slice form makes a firmer bread pudding, more like a cake than a pudding. Sliced egg-bread or Challah or any sweet bread will also work.

1 3/4 cups (1/2-inch) cubed Hawaiian sweet bread or other sweet white bread (sliced sandwich bread, not rolls)
2/3 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 tablespoon Kahlúa (coffee-flavored liqueur, optional)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Cooking spray
1 ounce semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons frozen fat-free whipped topping, thawed (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°.

Arrange bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 5 minutes or until toasted. Remove bread from oven; decrease oven temperature to 325°.

Combine milk and next 5 ingredients (milk through egg) in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add bread, tossing gently to coat. Cover and chill 30 minutes or up to 4 hours.

Divide half of bread mixture evenly between 2 (6-ounce) ramekins or custard cups coated with cooking spray; sprinkle evenly with half of chocolate. Divide remaining bread mixture between ramekins; top with remaining chocolate.

Place ramekins in an 8-inch square baking pan; add hot water to pan to a depth of 1 inch. Bake at 325° for 35 minutes or until set. Serve each pudding warm with 1 tablespoon whipped topping.