Breakfast Banana Bread Pudding in the Slow Cooker

By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by National Honey Board and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.

Honey is one of my favorite sweeteners. I talked about my love of honey in this post for my Honey Whole Wheat Sandwich Buns, but it goes back to my childhood and fond memories of being at my grandmother’s table. I use honey in my tea, on my toast, as part of marinades and of course in baking. Honey is really versatile and lends such a wonderful flavor to food. It is a great choice for baking as it adds a golden color and moistness.

So naturally I jumped at the chance to create a recipe for the National Honey Board’s Nature’s Sweet Substitute Challenge for members of the Recipe Redux. For a while I have been wanting to create a slow cooker French toast recipe. However, after several attempts I decided that calling it French toast wasn’t quite accurate. It just won’t have that crispness one expects from the dish. And this version, which I created this past week after staring at a counter full of overripe bananas, is more akin to a bread pudding, though a much healthier version that can be eaten for breakfast. I was going to make banana bread, but just didn’t feel like turning on the oven and going to that much trouble. My favorite part of this dish besides the taste is how simple and fast it is! I threw it together late at night and we woke to a wonderful smell coming from the kitchen. The whole family loved it and it was nice to have a quick breakfast on a school morning different from our usual oatmeal, eggs, cereal or yogurt.

This would also be a perfect breakfast for a holiday or special celebration. All of the work is done the night before and it is ready when you wake. I set mine to cook for 6 hours and then it automatically switched to warm for another 2 hours or so before we ate breakfast and it was the perfect consistency. I think it is has just the right amount of sweetness and moisture but you could drizzle with honey or syrup on top if desired. Better yet, mix equal parts maple syrup and honey, warm in the microwave for a minute or two and add a dash of cinnamon for a real treat.

Enjoy!