buying and preparing bulk meals for large groupsbuying and preparing bulk meals for large groups

If you occasionally enjoy buying a loaf of raisin bread at your local supermarket, another baked good to try is Italian raisin bread. Browse your local bakery to look for a fresh loaf, and you'll soon have a product that your family can eat in several ways. While toasting Italian raisin bread and adding some butter for breakfast or even for an evening snack is a good way to use it, there are many other ways that you can enjoy this type of bread. If you have a sweet tooth that you're looking to satisfy, here are some ways that you can enjoy using Italian raisin bread.

Bread Pudding

Bread pudding might not have the most appetizing name to some people, but there's little doubt that this bread-based dessert can be delicious. There are many different recipes that you can find for bread pudding, but the common trait that they all share is the use of bread. Your Italian raisin bread will work well in this application because it already has sweetness from the raisins that are baked into it. Generally, bread pudding involves mixing pieces of bread with such ingredients as eggs, milk, sugar, raisins, nuts, or candied fruit.

Stuffed French Toast

When you buy a loaf of Italian raisin bread from your local bakery, you generally have the choice of sliced or unsliced bread. While sliced is convenient, there are benefits to slicing the bread yourself. Namely, you can choose how thick you want each slice. One good use for thick-sliced Italian bread is French toast, especially if you wish to stuff it. The general approach for stuffed French toast is to cut your bread thick, and then cut a small slice in the middle of it for extra ingredients. For example, you might add chocolate-hazelnut spread, jam, or other ingredients before you dredge the slice in milk and eggs and fry it in butter.

Ice Cream Sandwiches

A lot of people buy ice cream sandwiches from their local supermarket, but you might wish to try making this sweet treat yourself. There are many ways of doing so, but a good foundation to this dessert is sweet bread — which you have with a loaf of Italian raisin bread. Generally, you'll add some ice cream between two slices of bread. Given the type of bread that you're using, a flavor such as rum raisin may be a good complement.

Consider getting Italian bread next time you visit a bakery to try these sweet treats.