If you’re a bread pudding fan, but don’t have time to prepare it, especially with the holidays coming, you will definitely want to try Slow Cooker Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Caramel Pecan Sauce. It’s moist, flavorful, and has plenty of yummy pumpkin without all the work. To make it, you simply fill a slow cooker with chunks of stale bread – you can use French bread, cinnamon raisin bread, whole wheat bread – whizz a milk, egg, pumpkin mixture in the blender, and pour it over the bread. It will cook quickly in the slow cooker without monitoring. The caramel sauce is simply caramel ice cream topping with pecans.

If you have time, toast the pecans in a 350° oven for about 8 minutes; it brings out their flavor. I recently served this pudding at a fall buffet, and not only did no one know that the caramel sauce wasn’t homemade, there were actually requests for the recipe. When my guests found out how easy this seasonal pudding is to make, they added it to their Thanksgiving dessert lists.

12 Servings

Pudding:
2 cups whole milk
1 15 oz. can pure pumpkin, (not pumpkin pie mix)
3/4 cup brown sugar
5 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

8 to 10 cups stale bread, cut into 1/2" cubes

Topping:
1 12 oz. jar caramel ice cream topping
1 cup toasted pecans

1. Spray the inside of a 3-4 quart slow cooker with noon-stick spray.
2. Place the milk, pumpkin, brown sugar, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla in a blender container and whizz until smooth. Alternately, whisk the ingredients together.
3. Pour the mixture over the bread cubes in the slow cooker. Use a spoon to press the bread down so it soaks up the liquid.
4. Cover the slow cooker, set it to high, and let cook 1 hour.
5. Turn the slow cooker to low, stir the mixture, and let it continue to cook 2-3 more hours or until the center is set. If the pudding has too much liquid, tilt the lid slightly during the last hour of cooking.
6. Mix the ice cream topping and pecans; spoon the sauce over each serving.

Amount Per Serving
Calories 473 Calories from Fat 132
Percent Total Calories From: Fat 28% Protein 10% Carb. 62%

Nutrient Amount per Serving
Total Fat 15 g
Saturated Fat 4 g
Cholesterol 97 mg
Sodium 501 mg
Total Carbohydrate 73 g
Dietary Fiber 2 g
Sugars 0 g
Protein 12 g

Vitamin A 161% Vitamin C 4% Calcium 0% Iron 20%