Chocolate Banana Bread Pudding … on the Grill!

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Baking On The Grill

Chocolate Banana Bread Pudding … on the Grill!

Dessert

I was in the middle of baking cookies when our fairly new range decided to call it a career. SIGH.

While deciding on a replacement range, we turned to our dependable Weber gas grill and Weber’s Ultimate Grilling cookbook by Jamie Purviance. Love this cookbook! We have made many delicious recipes out of here and it is great for tips on grilling. Jamie has a dessert section, which I have to admit, other than grilling fruit, I never considered using the grill to bake a dessert. After reading the recipe for Chocolate Banana Bread Pudding I knew we had to give it a try, so on a recent Sunday morning, we fired up the grill and made dessert … for breakfast! What??

Couple of tips, day-old stale croissants are your friend. I left ours uncovered overnight to be sure they were no longer fresh.

Unlike when making banana bread, where the blacker the banana the better, the bananas need to be ripe, but still firm in order to caramelize just right while baking. Cut them into ½-inch slices, again for perfect caramelization.

I used a 12-inch Lodge cast iron skillet. The recipe recommended a 10-inch cast iron skillet or a round griddle but 12-inch worked just fine.

This recipe took an hour from start to finish including preheating the grill.

The croissants where lightly crunchy on the bottom, the bananas deliciously caramelized (did I mention that?) and the chocolate chunks gooey and yummy. I was thinking of serving with vanilla ice cream but the whipped cream was a good call.

We loved this recipe, and it was fun to watch Tom make breakfast for a change!

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
½ cup semisweet chocolate chunks or chips
2 ripe but still firm bananas, peeled and cut into ½-inch slices
3 or 4 large croissants, at least a day old, torn into bite-size pieces
¼ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
2 large eggs
¾ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup whole or 2% milk
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Ingredients for Whipped Cream:
1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream, well chilled
1 tablespoon good quality pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons sugar

Whipped Cream Directions:

If you have time, chill the bowl for 15 to 30 minutes before you start … the colder the cream, the fluffier it will whip. In a chilled bowl, combine all ingredients and whip at medium-high speed until medium soft peaks form, about 2-3 minutes. Careful not to overbeat. Cover and chill for up to an hour before serving. I used my trusty immersion blender with whisk attachment or you can use a handheld beater or your stand mixer if you want to drag that out.

Directions:

Preheat your grill for cooking over medium-low heat (350F). Grease the cast iron skillet with the butter, including the sides.

While the grill is heating, in a large bowl, combine the torn croissants, sliced bananas and chocolate chips. In a medium bowl, whisk the sugar, salt, eggs and vanilla together. Add the milk and cream and continue to whisk until combined.

Reserve ¼ of the egg mixture and pour the rest over the croissants. Using two large spoons, gently toss to combine. Pour into the prepared cast iron skillet and using the spoon, spread to the edges. Pour the remaining egg mixture over the top making sure there are no dry spots.

Place the bread pudding on the grill over direct heat and bake, with the lid closed, for 10 minutes.

Continue baking over indirect heat (in our case we just turned the middle burner off but you may need to move the pan) until puffed and brown and set, about 25 to 35 additional minutes. Watch the temperature as you may need to open the lid or turn down the heat to keep it at 350F. Turn the pan every 10 minutes or so for even baking.