Ingredients
1 loaf Challah bread
1 stick butter, melted
16 ounces of white chocolate chips (Nestle or Ghiradelli)
2 cups milk
2 cups heavy cream
2/3 cups sugar
1 vanilla bean, split or 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
8 large eggs
Cinnamon to taste, optional

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Cut the Challah loaf into 1 inch cubes.  Place the cubes in a 2 quart baking dish or a 13×9 inch baking dish.  Drizzle with melted butter.
3. Combine white chocolate chips, milk, heavy cream, sugar and vanilla in a large saucepan/pot and bring to a slow boil over medium heat, stirring frequently until white chocolate chips and sugar are dissolved.  Be careful not to burn the mixture.  In a separate bowl, whisk eggs until smooth.  Add hot milk mixture to eggs slowly and stir as you pour.  Do not whisk or custard will have a great deal of foam on the surface.  Skim foam from custard, if any.  Strain custard over bread cubes.  Let it stand for 10 minutes to allow custard to soak into the bread.  Sprinkle cinnamon on top, if you’d like to.
4. Place baking dish into another larger pan, like a roasting pan.  Pour hot water into the larger pan to reach about 1 inch up side of dish.  Bake the bread pudding for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, until custard is set and Challah is golden.  Be careful when removing the pan from the oven.
5. Let it cool for about 5 minutes and serve with Cool Whip.  You can also substitute the Cool Whip for your own sauce, such as Caramel Sauce, Bourbon Sauce or Spiced Cream.