Best Ever Bread Pudding - cooking recipe

Ingredients

10 cups stale bread cubes, left out to air dry
3/4 cup raisins
4 tablespoons butter, melted
5 cups skim milk
8 eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line a 9\"x13\" glass ovenproof pan with the stale bread cubes (You can leave them out on a tray overnight to air dry).
Sprinkle the raisins over the bread, pushing some between the cubles.
Drizzle cubes with the melted butter.
Using a medium size bowl, mix together the milk, eggs,sugar cinnamon, and vanilla. Pour the mixture over the cubes.
Press the cubes down into the mixture;and, let sit for 10 minutes to let the bread absorb some of the liquid.
Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Pudding will become quite puffy.
Sprinkle with 2 Tablespoons of sugar and return to the oven 5-10 more minutes or until center of the pudding is firm and top is brown.
Optional: Top with Lemon Sauce. Recipe #21838 works well.