Pumpkin, Chocolate Bread Pudding W/ Walnut Caramel Sauce

Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• Servings: 12
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 2 large eggs
• 1 (16 ounce) can pumpkin
• 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 10 cups french bread (toasted 1/2-inch cubes)
• 8 ounces chocolate chips
• 2 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup toasted walnuts, rough-chopped
• 3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
• 6 cups vanilla ice cream (12 scoops)

Recipe

• 1 to make pudding: whisk half-and-half, eggs, pumpkin, dark brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon and vanilla extract in large bowl until well blended.
• 2 fold in bread cubes.
• 3 stir in chocolate chips.
• 4 transfer mixture to 2 (7-by-11-inch) glass baking dishes.
• 5 let stand 20 minutes.
• 6 preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake 40 minutes until set.
• 7 to make sauce: whisk brown sugar and butter in heavy saucepan over medium heat until butter melts.
• 8 stir in cream slowly, whisking 4 minutes until sugar dissolves and sauce is smooth.
• 9 add walnuts and stir to combine.
• 10 to serve: sift confectioners' sugar over bread pudding.
• 11 serve bread pudding warm with cinnamon ice cream and sauce.