Brown Sugar Pecan Bread Pudding

Ingredients

2 large eggs, room temperature

2 cups whole milk – or non dairy milk – we love oat creamer in this recipe!

1/4 cup butter, cut in small cubes – or Earth Balance or another non dairy “butter”

2/3 dark brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4-1/2 to 5 cups soft bread cubes (about 9 or 10 slices)

3/4 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350

Grease an 11×7″ baking dish.

Place the bread cubes in the baking dish and sprinkle with the pecans. Drop cubes of butter over top of the bread. 

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla.

Very gently pour the custard mixture into the baking dish. Try not to disturb the butter too much. Use a fork or spoon to redistribute butter/raisins/chips as necessary. Give it a nice grating or sprinkle of nutmeg on top of the custard. If your bread is stale or toasted you can put the baking dish in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour to let the custard soak in. Otherwise, place in the preheated oven and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick or knife comes out mostly clean.

Easy Eggnog Sauce

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter – we used Earth Balance non dairy  butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 cup commercially prepared eggnog – we used a dairy free eggnog

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cinnamon

In a medium sized saucepan, combine butter, both sugars, and the eggnog. Cook, stirring, over medium/low heat until sauce comes to a boil.

Stirring constantly, allow the sauce to boil for around two minutes or until the mixture visibly thickens. Lower the heat if necessary to avoid boiling over.

Once thickened, remove the sauce from heat and stir in the spices. This sauce takes on a new dimension with freshly grated nutmeg, and a splash of rum or brandy is heavenly. Serve over bread pudding and devour!