Nothing screams warm and cozy like reliving your afternoon brunch fix with a few leftovers. If the thought of a leftover omelet doesn’t sound appealing, it’s time to open your mind and your stomach to some new possibilities. In the ongoing quest to solve the Great Soggy Brunch Leftovers Debacle, Chicago Brunch Blog asked Rockit Bar and Grill Chef de Cuisine Amanda Downing for some ideas on how to salvage scraps:

“One of my favorites, from my childhood, in fact, was when my mother would make us hot oatmeal in the morning before school. Then, to our surprise, we had warm yummy oatmeal bread when we came home from school. My mom always had a way with adjusting recipes to work around extra things she had in the house.

“A few years ago at the restaurant, we served (and actually still do) chocolate bread in our bread baskets during brunch. There was a week when we had a couple extra loaves we didn’t use so [Executive Chef James Gottwald and I] played around with a chocolate bread pudding recipe. After some taste tests and a couple tweeks to the recipe, we ended up what is now a Rockit standby dessert that has been on the menu ever since.”

Downing’s Chocolate Bread Pudding recipe after the jump.

Rockit Chocolate Bread Pudding

1 loaf chocolate bread
7 whole eggs
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla bean extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Cut bread into 1” cubes, spread out on a baking sheet and toast in oven for 5 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature.  Whisk together remaining ingredients.

Grease an 8”x8” baking pan, add toasted bread cubes, and pour mix over top. Press bread down into mixture as the bread will stat to float. Allow to soak for 20 minutes, pressing the bread down every 5 minutes or so. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 30 minutes or until center is set. Allow to cool for 15 minutes and serve with vanilla bean ice cream and hot fudge sauce.

Can be made up to 2 days in advance, cooled and reheated.