This Cranberry Butternut Squash Bread Pudding is a wonderful make-ahead Winter brunch dish. It’s great sweet or savory and I like it best served as breakfast, not dessert. In fact, this started as a very savory butternut squash bread pudding I made as a side years ago for Thanksgiving. Though it was good, it was too heavy for a Thanksgiving side. There was lots leftover and later that night, I caught my friend Anna digging it out of the fridge for a midnight snack. She had reheated it and was pouring maple syrup on it. We definitely agreed that it was better on its own than as a side. The next morning we centered the whole brunch around our late night discovery. Over time, it’s evolved. This version is a little on the sweet side to counter the very tart cranberries. Whenever you serve it, I know you’ll like it, and it doesn’t hurt that Cranberry Butternut Squash Bread Pudding is really beautiful on the plate.
8 oz cranberries
4 cups squash; peeled and diced
2 cups milk
4 eggs; separated
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup maple syrup
cinnamon
nutmeg
1 tablespoon molasses
vanilla
1 loaf baguette
butter
maple syrup and whipped cream to garnish
Dice stale bread or use fresh bread and toast it after dicing at 325° F for 10 minutes. 
Dice the squash so it’s similar in size to cranberries. Butter a 9×13 or two 8×8’s (I like the 8x8s; I make two and freeze one). Place the bread in the pan. Beat whites until soft peaks form. Add the granulated sugar and beat in well. Add the yolks, maple syrup, vanilla, molasses, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix into the whites. Add the milk. Mix until blended but as little as possible so as to keep the volume. 
Add the cranberries and butternut squash to the bread cubes. Toss well. Cover with the egg mixture. Let sit at least 30 minutes to absorb or overnight. 
Bake at 325° F for 50-60 minutes.
You can make it a couple of days early and just reheat it at 325° F for 30ish minutes. Serve with maple syrup and whipped cream.Want it even more savory? Skip the sugar. Precook 6 slices of bacon (the thicker the better) and crumble it in with the cranberries and squash. Serve it with maple syrup.