I debated long and hard about the perfect finish to my New Orleans Super Bowl menu. I had intended to make Banana’s Foster, a very common dessert in New Orleans, but then remembered our good friend Rick Barrett back in Massachusetts. Before embarking on his own weight loss journey, one of his favorite things to do was torment me about this “wicked good” bread pudding that he’d make. “Way too unhealthy for you” Rick would say. He never happened to make it while we were around, so I only heard about the painfully delicious details. How convenient. As a little payback, I have made this decadent, melt in your mouth, creamy, caramelly, Bourbon Bread Pudding when Rick wasn’t around. To add to the eating pleasure, I topped it with butter pecan ice cream and homemade caramel sauce. I have lightened this recipe up, but there are just times that recipes shouldn’t be healthy. It takes away from the fun of it all. In cases like these, I go to the gym that morning and eat a smaller portion, making sure to savor every last bite.
Makes: 16- 20 servings
Prep Time: 1 hour 30 minutes Baking Time: 1 hour Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
10 cups egg bread (challah or brioche), cut into large cubes
1 cup chopped pecans
2 cups 2% milk
2 cups whole milk
1 cup half and half
5 eggs
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tbs ground cinnamon
1 tbs vanilla extract
2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp grated fresh nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup bourbon
1 pint (or 2) butter pecan ice cream
1/2 cup homemade caramel sauce (see recipe here)
- Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Lay half of the cubed bread down in an even layer.
- Mix the pecans, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, coriander, nutmeg, and salt together in a small bowl. Spread most of the sugar on top of the bread. Add the remaining bread on top of the sugar layer.
- Whisk the remaining ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the remaining pecan-brown sugar mix to the milk mixture and whisk until well combined. Pour the liquids over the bread, cover with foil, and refrigerate for one hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Bake the bread pudding for 50 minutes, or until the middle liquids start to bubble. Let the bread pudding sit for 10 minutes before serving.
- Serve each piece with a small scoop of ice cream and caramel sauce.
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Other Decadent Desserts You May Enjoy:
Cooking In Red Socks 