Salted Caramel Pretzel Bread Pudding Recipes

SALTED CARAMEL MONKEY BREAD

Steps:

• For the monkey bread: Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 10- to 12-cup Bundt pan with cooking spray.
• Mix the granulated sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl. Add the biscuit pieces and toss to combine.
• Place the pieces in the pan, sprinkling in the dates, raisins and walnuts. Set aside.
• Add the brown sugar and butter to a large saute pan over medium heat. Cook until the butter has melted and started to bubble, then add the heavy cream and salt and whisk until thoroughly combined.
• Remove from the heat and pour over the dough pieces in the Bundt pan. Put the pan into the oven and bake until golden brown and no longer doughy in the center, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn upside down on a large platter to remove the pan.
• Slice while warm, drizzled with the salted caramel sauce and dollops of whipped cream.

ALMOND BREAD PUDDING WITH SALTED CARAMEL SAUCE

Steps:

• For almond butter:
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread out almonds on a rimmed baking sheet; toast, tossing halfway through, until beginning to brown, 12-15 minutes. Let cool.
• Transfer cooled almonds to a food processor. Add butter, almond extract, if using, and salt, and process until mixture is the texture of coarsely ground peanut butter. Set aside.
• For caramel sauce:
• Whisk sugar, cream of tartar, and 3 tablespoons water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Cook, without stirring, until mixture begins to caramelize in spots. Using a heatproof spatula, stir mixture to ensure even caramelization. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is the color of honey, 10-12 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until caramel is a deep amber color, about 5 minutes longer.
• Remove caramel from heat; carefully whisk in butter (mixture will bubble vigorously), then cream and salt. Let cool slightly in pan, then pour into a small bowl. DO AHEAD: Caramel sauce can be made 2 weeks ahead. Let cool completely, cover, and chill. Rewarm before using.
• For pudding and assembly:
• Combine half-and-half and cream in a medium saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat; remove from heat.
• Whisk egg yolks, eggs, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl to blend. Gradually whisk hot cream mixture into egg mixture. Cover custard with plastic wrap and let stand for 30 minutes for flavors to meld. Strain custard into a large bowl; discard vanilla bean.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter cake pan; set aside. Using biscuit cutter, cut out circles from each slice of bread, reserving scraps. Arrange bread scraps in pan in an even layer and press lightly to compact.
• Spread each bread round with almond butter (you will have a little left over; save to spread on toast for breakfast). Place all but 1 bread round almond butter side down in pan (on top of scraps), overlapping slightly to create a shingled circle. Place the last round in the center (bread will come about 3/4"-1" above rim of pan).
• Pour custard evenly over bread. Sprinkle with almonds and raw sugar.
• Place cake pan in a large roasting pan. Pour hot water into roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of cake pan. Cover roasting pan with foil, tenting slightly in center if needed to avoid touching bread.
• Bake pudding until top no longer jiggles but center is not quite set, 25-30 minutes. Remove foil from pan and increase oven temperature to 375°F. Bake pudding until custard is set in the center and top is golden brown and crisp, about 25 minutes longer.
• Remove cake pan from roasting pan. Let cool slightly. Dust pudding with powdered sugar. Slice into wedges. Place on plates, drizzle caramel sauce over and top with a dollop of crème fraîche.

SALTED CARAMEL PRETZEL BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• For the bread pudding: Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Butter a 2-quart baking dish.
• Scatter the bread cubes on a baking sheet. Drizzle with the melted butter and toss to coat. Bake, stirring halfway through, until the bread is golden brown and crunchy, 10 to 15 minutes. Let cool completely.
• Meanwhile, follow the package directions for microwaving and salting the pretzels (don't use all the salt). Quarter each pretzel.
• Whisk together the milk, cream, sugar, vanilla, whole eggs and yolks in a medium bowl.
• Scatter the bread cubes in the prepared baking dish. Top with the pretzel pieces (turning some over to show off the nicely browned bottoms) and then nestle in the caramel candy halves. Pour the custard over the mixture. Cover with foil and set aside at room temperature for 20 minutes.
• Bake until the bread pudding is set with a slight jiggle in the center, 45 to 55 minutes. Let rest for at least 15 minutes before serving.
• For the caramel sauce: Meanwhile, combine the caramels, butter and cream in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave, stirring halfway through, until the caramels and butter melt together, about 2 minutes. Whisk until smooth and thick. (The caramel sauce can be made ahead of time and then reheated to loosen up for serving.)
• Drizzle the bread pudding with the caramel sauce and sprinkle with some pretzel salt before serving.