Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Johnny got the recipe from someone at work who brought the bread pudding in. He has been talking about how great it is for a week. I was skeptical, I must admit, because I don't like bread pudding at all. This, however, is more akin to a great pumpkin pie filling with a super sauce on top. It was my breakfast this morning.

Johnny made the whole entire thing himself! I only supplied a little bit of basic cooking knowledge, but he did all of the work. We will definitely be making this again.

Note: The original recipe calls for 1 cup of toasted pecans to be added to the caramel sauce. We left these out. Also, it called for the pudding to be baked in 11 6-oz ramakins. This is totally not practical for our family, though would be great if I were hosting a holiday dinner and wanted individual portions. Instead, we baked it in a 9x13 dish.

Carmel Pumpkin Bread Pudding
adapted from Southern Living, via My Recipes

Bread Pudding
4 eggs
1 29 oz can pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup half & half
1 cup white sugar
1-2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 (approx 12 oz) loaf french bread, cut into 1-inch cubes

Caramel Sauce
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 T light corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla

To make the bread pudding: Whisk together the first eight ingredients in a large bowl until well combined. Add the bread, stirring thoroughly to coat. Cover, and refrigerate overnight (8 hours) or up to 24 hours.

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease a 9x13 dish, and spoon bread pudding into it. Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil, and bake 15 minutes longer.

During the last 10 minutes of baking, make the Caramel Sauce by cooking the sugar, butter, and corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring often, until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla (and pecans if you are including them).

Remove the Bread Pudding from the oven, and pour the Caramel Sauce evenly over the top. Return it to the oven for 5 minutes more, until the sauce begins to bubble.

Serve warm, or refrigerate and serve cold. It's even better with Cool Whip, but then again, what isn't?