I love recipes that allow me to clean out my fridge, freezer and kitchen cabinets — and bread pudding is perfect for that.

All the bread that’s about to mold over, all the raisins sitting in the pantry, all the milk that’s about to expire — throw it in a pan and bake it with butter! There’s nothing better than that!

So I made it the other day, after frantically cleaning out the freezer — is there any way to clean out the freezer? — and pulling everything out of the kitchen pantry.

Then I had another idea.

Why not bake it in a cupcake pan?

Not only are they ready in individual servings, but if you like edges — and I love edges! — every piece has ’em.

So that’s what I did.

And after I posted a photo of it on Instagram, I got a dozen requests for the recipe. So here it is!

(If you don’t want to use a cupcake pan, this recipe calls for an 8-by-8-inch pan. You can double it for a 9×3 pan instead.)

Happy baking — and cleaning!

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Here’s the recipe:

Old-Fashioned Bread Pudding

Ingredients:

2 c. milk (whole milk, if possible)
5 c. bread, cubed
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 to 3/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2-1 tsp cinnamon (or more, if desired)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. raisins (if desired)
3 T. butter (or more, if desired)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350ºF. Heat milk and butter over medium heat until butter is melted and milk is hot. In large bowl, mix eggs, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Stir in bread cubes and raisins. Stir in milk mixture. Pour into greased 8×8 pan — or a cupcake pan!

Bake uncovered 40 to 45 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch from edge comes out clean. Serve with ice cream.