This Bread Pudding Uses A Favorite Childhood Snack

What if I told you that for your next dessert, you should venture down the snack aisle or swing by the gas station and pick up some snack cakes? What if I told you that the final result would be a decadent, cinnamon-y bread pudding loaded with spice and pecans?

That should make you want to stop—at least, it makes me want to.

A few weeks ago, I bought a pack of Little Debbie Pecan Spinwheels. It had probably been a dozen years since I had enjoyed one of these swirly snacks. These used to be a favorite in high school, when we'd run to the nearest gas station between school and band practice, grabbing up any snack we could get our hands on.

I nibbled on one while I worked, and the next thing I knew, I forgot them, opened, in my desk drawer. The cakes turned hard and stiff, and I was sad for my missed snacking opportunity.

Then, a genius idea hit me: What if I could use these somehow? After all, they're just glorified bread, and that's all that's needed for several great dishes, like bread pudding and even French toast.

I asked the Southern Living Test Kitchen if they thought my idea for turning the stale Pinwheels into a dessert could work. They dove head first into the idea, and the result is this glorious bread pudding.

One tester wrote, "I did not expect to love this dish as much as I did. Turning them into bread pudding was a huge improvement—it’s rich, moist and custardy, nutty and cinnamon-y."

Pre-toasting the Spinwheels helps dry them out slightly so that they can better absorb the custard since they are fairly syrupy and sticky inside. (And you don't have to leave a package sitting open overnight like I did.)

We really like the balance of the final dish, which has loads of spice flavor and fruitiness from the apple, as well as a bit of tang from a cream cheese drizzle. It's truly going to surprise you when you take your first bite. If it does, leave us a review, and let us know what you think.

Editorial contributions by Kimberly Holland.