This dessert embraces two beloved southern ingredients, biscuits and pecans, and features our family’s Chapel Hill Toffee. It comes together quickly and bakes like a traditional casserole.  I use a combination of biscuits and brioche bread as I like the combination of textures. If you’ve only got one or the other on hand, feel free to use what you’ve got!

The bread pudding itself is not overly sweet, so the caramel sauce drizzle is a perfect accent. Serve with a scoop of Butter Pecan ice cream and you have a decadent southern delicacy.

As a special holiday surprise, the first two people to email the word “toffee” to ali@wchl.com will win a free box of Chapel Hill Toffee to make this delicious dessert with!

SOUTHERN TOFFEE BREAD PUDDING WITH CARAMEL SAUCE

By: Christy Bray Graves

Serves 8

INGREDIENTS

For the Bread Pudding

  • 5-6 medium biscuits (8 oz.)*
  • 8-10 slices brioche bread (8 oz.)*
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 1 ½ tsp vanilla
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp nutmeg
  • ½ cup (6 squares) Chapel Hill Toffee, chopped
  • 1/2 cup pecans, chopped

For the Caramel Sauce

  • ¼ cup unsalted butter
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • Pinch of salt**
  • ¼ cup heavy cream

To Garnish

  • Chopped Chapel Hill Toffee
  • Chopped pecans

INSTRUCTIONS

For the Bread Pudding

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
  2. Slice the biscuits and brioche into ½ to 1 inch cubes. Set aside in a large mixing bowl.
  3. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, heavy cream, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla extract, salt and nutmeg.
  4. Pour the egg and cream mixture over the bread cubes, tossing gently to combine.
  5. Allow the bread mixture to sit and soak for 20 minutes, stirring gently once or twice to allow the bread to soak evenly. If after the 20 minutes the mixture is too dry, add additional milk as needed.
  6. Spread half of the bread mixture into a greased 9” x 13” casserole dish. Top the bread with half of the toffee and half of the pecans.
  7. Repeat the layers with the remaining bread, toffee and pecans.
  8. Bake at 350° for 40-50 minutes until golden brown.

For the Caramel Sauce

  1. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Stir in the granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla and salt until combined.
  2. Slowly pour in the heavy cream, whisking constantly. Gradually increase the heat to medium low and continue whisking.
  3. As you stir and the heat increases, the liquid will turn a pale tan color and will begin to foam. Keep stirring the whole time and keep the heat around medium low, but warm enough to maintain a simmer with foaming bubbles. Keep stirring, as the mixture can quickly bubble over if not attended to.
  4. Let the mixture simmer for 8-10 minutes then remove it from the heat. If the sauce is not yet thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, put it back on to simmer for another 2-3 minutes. Repeat as needed until the sauce has reach a texture slightly runnier than your desired final thickness. The sauce will thicken as it cools.
  5. Serve the bread pudding alone or with butter pecan ice cream. Drizzle with caramel sauce and garnish with additional chopped toffee and pecans.

NOTES

*Plan to use about 16 oz. of bread for this recipe. I use a combination of biscuits and brioche because I like the differing textures. But if you only have one type on hand, use all biscuits or all brioche.

**If you’re using salted butter, you may want to omit the salt. If you want more of a salted caramel sauce, feel free to add salt, ½ teaspoon at a time until your desired flavor is reached.

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