Easy Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce & White Chocolate Chips

Pumpkin Bread Pudding is the best thing I make for Thanksgiving every year. People love my recipe. And, year after year since the last 10 years, I have been getting rave reviews from my colleagues, my friends, my neighbors, my family, and of course, my sweet husband. I thought I might as well, share it with you guys so that you can make it at your home and enjoy your Fall and Thanksgiving. It's a rich, creamy, and delicious dessert.

Fall Bread Pudding

When I serve this with some White chocolate chips, toasted pecans, some whipped cream, my homemade caramel sauce, and last but not the least, some grated nutmeg, within minutes, this recipe takes a new avatar! It turns into something so amazing that I can promise you, people would ask for a second (or third) servings. 🙂

Basically, this is a very easy recipe. I guess, if you have made puddings before, you know that it's utterly tasty and so easy to make. Such as this Chocolate Pudding cake 

But, where people go wrong is in the quantity of ingredients. After all, baking is a science! We ought to measure our ingredients and then get baking. However, trust me, if you follow my recipe, word by word, you will make nothing but an excellent, super-delicious, and perfect-for-fall Pumpkin Bread Pudding. Because my recipe is tried and tested. I have made it so many times that by now, I know the recipe like the back of my hand.

Why Bake this Pumpkin Bread Pudding?

• Ease of baking. This step uses just 2 steps. Making the Wet Custard and Pouring it over bread.
• The mind-blowing taste of it.
• The Spices: Seriously there is something so wonderful about these spices that you just cannot imagine to ignore it. It is these spices that take this fall dessert from okay to "Wow! What a dessert!"
• You can serve this as your Fall and Thanksgiving Breakfast and you can also serve this as your Thanksgiving dessert.

What do I need to make this recipe?

• Granulated Sugar & Light Brown Sugar. I have seen that a combination of both these sugars brings in a beautiful sweetness to our Thanksgiving dessert.
• Fall Spices - Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ginger, Cloves. These four spices are like my go-to spice when it comes to fall recipes. If you haven't got these, then just go for plain and simple Pumpkin Pie Spice.
• Egg and Egg Yolk - Yes! You would need both of these for the perfect Pumpkin Bread Pudding!
• Evaporated Milk
• Whole Milk
• Pumpkin Puree
• Vanilla Extract (Can replace with Bourbon or Rum)
• 1 Crusty French Bread loaf cut into 1-inch cubes

To Make Caramel Sauce:

• 1 Cup Sugar
• 7 Tablespoons Butter
• 1/2 Cup Cream
• 1 Teaspoon Sea Salt

How to Make Pumpkin Bread Pudding?

• First, grab a french loaf of bread which is at least a day old. Cut it into 1-inch cubes. You can also tear it apart. I used a bread knife. Don't worry, you don't have to cut a perfect piece. If your bread isn't stale, chop it up and pop it in the oven while your oven is getting pre-heated. This little trick will do all the magic in making your Pumpkin Bread Pudding just perfect 🙂
• Now grab a bowl and mix sugar and spices. In the same bowl add egg and egg white, vanilla, pumpkin puree, evaporated milk, whole milk, and heavy cream.

• Prepare a baking tray with cooking spray. Throw in all the bread cubes. Pour the wet custard mix over the bread. Toss it well so that the custard mix coats the bread. Compress it down lightly. Let it sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes. Let the bread soak in all the juices. of the pumpkin before it gets baking.
• Bake this in a preheated oven at 350F for at least 50-55 minutes. Before popping it in the oven, I grate some more nutmeg on the bread pudding.
• Cool it down. Cut a piece and do the frosting. I prefer to do the whipped cream frosting. You can also do a cream cheese frosting. (read the notes section in the recipe card below on how to make a cream cheese frosting). Lastly, sprinkle some white chocolate chips, pour some caramel, and again grate some more nutmeg for a better flavor and fragrance.

How to Make Caramel Sauce?

• In a saucepan, heat sugar on medium-low heat. Keep stirring at every 10-second interval and keep a close eye on it. It will start to form clumps and then eventually melt.
• As it melts pour it out in a clean bowl immediately. Stir in butter. Your sauce will be violently bubbling at this point in time.
• Now, pour in cream and salt. Stir well and take it out in a container. Let it cool down completely before using it.

What Kind of Bread is best for this recipe?

You can use a Crusty French Loaf bread or a challah bread or brioche or Pumpkin Yeast Bread or plain white bread or Texas toast for this recipe.

It is best to use 2 days old or 1-day old bread. In case you are using fresh bread then you can dry it out in a 350F preheated oven for at least 7-8 minutes.

What are the Spices that we use in this recipe?

The answer is pretty simple. As you can see in the ingredient list above or in the video below, I use these five spices.

1. Ground Cinnamon
2. Ground Cloves
3. Grated Nutmeg
4. Ground Ginger
5. Pumpkin Pie Spice

These spices play a huge role in the making of this recipe. Every spice has its own importance. Cinnamon & Nutmeg brings in a beautiful fragrance, while cloves and ginger adds a little spice and earthy tone to this dessert. Lastly, a pinch of Pumpkin Pie spice makes this absolutely perfect for Fall and Thanksgiving.

Other Variations of this Recipe:

• If you are making this for the holidays, then you can add 2 tablespoons of rum or bourbon while adding milk to your Wet Custard Mix.
• You can substitute Heavy Cream with Half and Half. What is half and half? Half and Half is basically half whole milk and half heavy cream. Half and Half is known as Half cream in the UK.
• You can also add fresh or frozen cranberries to this recipe. Cranberries add a fruity and juicy touch to this recipe.

How to Reheat this?

This dessert is best served fresh from the oven. But, if you have any leftovers then you can cover it up with a foil and heat it in the oven for at least 15-20 minutes or until completely warmed through.

How to Freeze It?

Before freezing make sure it has cooled down completely. Now wrap it with a foil and follow it up with another layer of plastic wrap. Make sure you don't leave any space for air to go in. Thaw in the fridge overnight and then you can freeze it for up to 3 months.

Baking Tips to Master this Bread Pudding Recipe:

• Remember you can use both fresh Pumpkins and make a puree out of it or canned pumpkin puree for this recipe. But, make sure you don't go for pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin Pie filling is already sweetened enough and therefore is not suitable for this recipe.
• If you have fresh bread then just pop it in the oven for 10-minutes at 350F it will dry out and will be ready for use. Or else, just buy your bread at least one day in advance and wrap in a plastic bag.
• Give some time for the bread to soak up all the wet mixture. You don't have to keep it in the fridge or freezer. Just let it sit on the countertop for about 10-minutes.
• Sprinkle some grated nutmeg before baking and after baking for a much fragrant and flavorful pudding. Or else, mine tasted too eggy!

More Pumpkin Desserts to try this season:

• Soft Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Pumpkin Cheesecake Fudge 
• Easiest Pumpkin Earthquake Cake
• Cinnamon Streusel Pumpkin Muffins
• Maple Glazed Pumpkin Blondies

If you are making this recipe, then please provide a rating to this recipe below. Also, if you can take a picture and share it on Instagram with #recipemagik it would be great. Don't forget to tag @recipemagik on Instagram.