White Chocolate Bread Pudding

I have made this a couple of times now. It is super easy and super tasty! I have changed the original recipe up and decided that white chocolate ganache was best to drizzle on the top! It is da bomb!

INGREDIENTS:

1 loaf	french or italian bread
4 large	eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp	vanilla
2 c	granulated sugar
1 stk	butter, melted
4 c	half and half, or heavy whipping cream
1 tsp	ground cinnamon
3/4 - 1 c	chopped pecans
WHITE CHOCOLATE GANACHE:
8oz	white Chocolate
3oz	Whipping Cream
1 TBL	unsalted butter
DIRECTIONS:

1) Tear the bread into small pieces into a large bowl. Cover with paper towel or dish towel and allow to sit for 8-12 hours ahead of time (or overnight) to dry out.

2) For the Bread Pudding, preheat the oven to 350F.

3) In a medium bowl, mix lightly beaten eggs, sugar, half and half or cream, ground cinnamon and vanilla. Beat slowly until smooth. 

4) Melt butter in the microwave and beat it slowly into the sugar mixture.Pour this mixture over the bread pieces and stir gently to coat all the bread pieces. 

5) Pour mixture into a lightly greased 9 x 13 pan and press down gently to get rid of air pockets. 

6) Bake for 45 minutes at 350F or until lightly golden. Do not over bake.

7) To make the ganache while the pudding bakes, place the white chocolate chips and butter together in a separate bowl.

8)  Heat up the whipping cream in the microwave or on the stove. Right before it boils, take off the stove or microwave and pour the heated whipping cream over the white chocolate chips. Stir until all is melted and creamy. Set a side.

9) When the pudding is done drizzle the chocolate on top. Enjoy!