Pioneer Woman’s Bread Pudding

Recipe at a glance:

For Bread Pudding:
2 eggs
2 tbs melted butter
2 1/2 cups milk (any fat content)
2 cups sugar
3 1/2 to 5 cups of sourdough bread from 1 large sourdough round
1/3 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped finely

For Whiskey Sauce:
1/2 cup sugar
1 stick butter
1/2 cup cream
1/4 cup whiskey or bourbon

Prep time: about 15 min
Cook time: about an hour
Utensil/bowl use: Moderate – knife, cutting board, mixing bowl, mixing spoon, small bowl, saucepan, measuring cups and spoons, pie plate
Difficulty: easy
Serve for: an indulgent, home style dessert.

This recipe for bread pudding is from the Pioneer Woman who got it from Tom Perrini. If you have not acquainted yourself with The Pioneer Woman, I highly recommend taking a few minutes (or a few hours) and doing yourself a favor. Her website is the major inspiration for mine. And by inspiration, I mean that I have completely cribbed her unique style of taking pictures of every single step of the cooking process and posting it to the web. Her work is fantastic and innovative and I hope she doesn’t mind that I am now adapting it for my own purposes.

I personally feel like step-by-step photography is one of the best ways to learn a recipe because you are able to see what each step in the process is supposed to look like. I also like pictures over other options, such as videos, because you can go at your own pace with pictures. (Conversely, my cooking pace is ridiculously slow while I take all these pictures!). Plus, if you are me, you are attached to your laptop at all times, your browser is always set to some cooking site, and you naturally use the internet as the giant recipe trove that it is. Incorporating online recipes with step-by-step pictures is the natural evolution of cooking for me. Don’t think this blog is just for you readers; I refer to it when I cook.

In tribute to The Pioneer Woman, I am sharing my favorite recipe of hers, the Perfect Bread Pudding. I admit, I haven’t tried all of her recipes, but of those that I have made (Pecan Pie, Bacon-wrapped Jalepeno thingies, Chicken Tikka Masala, and Bolognese Sauce to name a few) this one is very special. It has a drug-like quality to it where I begin to think that it just might be ok if I didn’t bring this dish to my friends that I made this for, and it would actually be ok if I don’t hang out with them at all and just savored the bread pudding by myself all evening instead, and it would definitely be ok if I fixed another bread pudding for myself tomorrow. It’s just that good. It isn’t particularly good for you though, so make sure you have some designated friends to help you eat it. If you lack friends, this recipe will help you make some immediately.

First, gather your ingredients for the bread pudding. The Pioneer Woman’s recipe calls for pecans but, here in the Midwest, walnuts tend to be extremely cheap, so I used them instead. Being from Texas where I had unlimited access to my grandmother’s huge pecan tree, I lament the substitution. However, it will not mar the tastiness of this dish in the slightest. Just go with your preference. Or you could leave them out entirely. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Melt two tablespoons of butter and let it slightly cool.

Grab a large sourdough round. The sourness of the bread contrasts the milky sweetness of the batter mixture amazingly well.

Grab your serrated knife. Cutting bread generally requires a serrated knife, and this particular dish is one where you can’t really fake it with another type of knife.

Cut off the ends of the round.

Slice the rest of the round into 1 inch thick slices. They don’t have to be pretty.

Pile up a few slices and then cut those into 1 inch thick strips.

Rotate the strips and then cut them into 1 inch cubes. Again, don’t worry if they aren’t perfect little cubes. This dish isn’t supposed to be a looker.

Continue chopping up the rest of the round. You should have about 4-5 cups.

Crack two large eggs into a medium mixing bowl.

Add the cooled, melted butter to the bowl.

Add 2 1/2 cups of milk.

My favorite part of the recipe: add two tablespoons of vanilla.

Mix it all together making sure that the eggs are well beaten.

Add the sugar and give the mixture a good stir until the sugar dissolves.

Arrange the bread cubes in the pie plate so that they are tightly packed. You want there to be as few gaps as possible. Near the edges of the dish, make sure that any crust pieces have the crust facing up. (I am not sure as to the reasoning behind this but I have not made it without this step.)

The whole thing should look similar this. But not nearly as flat looking because you used too much flash.

Pour the sugar milk mixture onto the bread cubes. Make sure to pour it all over the cubes so that each one gets wet. I will often compress the cubes around the edges into the mixture to make sure that they get well soaked.

Spread the chopped pecans (ahem, walnuts) all over the top of the bread.

Slide this beauty into the preheated oven and bake it for 55-70 minutes. It is done when the entire top is a crusty golden brown.

To make the whiskey sauce, add 1/2 cup cream, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 stick of butter, and 1/4 cup of whiskey to a medium sized saucepan while the bread pudding is baking. I have used half and half instead of cream because my store was out of cream. It turned out well, although I would still recommend full cream. If you are using half and half instead to cut a few calories I would just not make this dish

Here is the best, most delightful part about the sauce. Now the Pioneer Woman specifically says to use Jack Daniels Whiskey. While I have nothing against Jack Daniels, I have never used it for this dish. Jack Daniels just happens to be more expensive than some other brands and I have never been able to justify splurging on more expensive alcohol in my cooking. Actually, Jack Daniels is a splurge for any use in this household. That said, I have made this sauce with Evan Williams bourbon, Southern Comfort, and Seagrams 7. While all iterations of this sauce have been good, I think I like Seagrams the best so far. Southern Comfort made the sauce a little too sweet and the flavor of the whiskey was a bit muted with Evan Williams.

Stir the sauce constantly while it cooks over a low heat. Once it achieves a low boil, remove it from the heat and set it aside until the bread pudding is done.

Once the bread pudding is nice and brown, pull it out of the oven and drool. This is when your friend you designated to help you gobble this up is incredibly helpful.

Spoon a few of these beautifully gooey and toasted cubes into a bowl and drizzle a spoonful or two of the whiskey sauce on top. It will be so good.

Pioneer Woman’s Bread Pudding (from the Pioneer Woman)

Bread Pudding:
2 eggs
2 tbs melted butter
2 1/2 cups milk (any fat content)
2 cups sugar
3 1/2 to 5 cups of sourdough bread from 1 large sourdough round
1/3 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped finely

Whiskey Sauce:
1/2 cup sugar
1 stick butter
1/2 cup cream
1/4 cup whiskey or bourbon

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Melt 2 tbs of butter and allow to cool for a few minutes. Mix together eggs, milk, vanilla, and melted butter. Mix in the sugar until it dissolves. Cut sourdough into 1 inch sized cubes and tightly arrange in a 9 in pie plate or baking dish. Keep the crust facing upwards around the edges of the dish. Pour the liquid over the bread and sprinkle nuts over the top of the bread. Bake for 55-70 minutes or until the top of the bread is golden brown all over.

For the whiskey sauce, combine all ingredients in a saucepan.  Heat on low, stirring constantly until a low boil develops. Remove from heat. Pour a spoonful or two over servings of bread pudding.