Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce

Embrace fall with a bowl of warm Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread Pudding drizzled with caramel sauce.

Now that it is October, there is no denying it – Fall is definitely here. In Manitoba, a lot of the leaves have turned yellow or fallen already, the farmers are turning their soil in preparation for next spring, and the garden has been cleaned out. Fall also means that my Mom shares her pumpkin harvest with me. She has a large garden and planted only 3 pumpkin seeds, but those 3 plants grew so big, they stretched out over half of her garden. Hidden under those huge leaves were a sea of little pie pumpkins.

There is a difference between the pumpkins you use to carve jack-o-lanterns and the pumpkins you use for pie. Although you can use large pumpkins to make pumpkin puree, the flesh is much stringier and wetter than that made with pie pumpkins. Get your hands on some pie pumpkins, and then make some pumpkin puree with it. The flavour is so good compared to store-bought pumpkin puree. I baked a few pumpkins so I have a stash of pumpkin puree on hand now. You never know when you might need a Pumpkin Pie or a serving of this delicious gluten free Pumpkin Bread Pudding drizzled with warm caramel sauce.

Disclosure: I received this beautiful 4-piece CW by CorningWare bakeware set and have been selected to participate in a recipe campaign for CorningWare. I also received monetary compensation by World Kitchen to develop this recipe (although, like always, the opinions expressed are my own).

Since I’ve been using CorningWare casserole dishes in my kitchen for the past 17 years (we received them as wedding gifts), I was happy to partner with them. When I saw the beautiful baking dishes that they provided, I knew I wanted to make an autumn inspired bread pudding. And since I knew that I would have a lot of pumpkin puree on hand, due to my Mom’s abundant harvest, I decided to make a gluten free Pumpkin Bread Pudding and drizzle it with an easy-to-make caramel sauce.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce

Yield: 8 servings

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Embrace fall with a bowl of warm Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread Pudding drizzled with caram

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Ingredients

Pumpkin Bread Pudding:

• 8 cups (2 liters) cubed gluten free bread (older, stale bread works great. I used a loaf of day old Gluten Free Millet Bread
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) unsalted butter, melted
• 2 cups (500 ml) half & half cream (10%)
• 2 cups (500 ml) pumpkin puree
• 3/4 cup (175 ml) brown sugar, packed
• 3 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) whiskey or bourbon (optional)
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml) teaspoon salt

Easy Caramel Sauce:

• 1/2 cup (125 ml) brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) heavy (whipping) cream
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
• pinch of salt

Instructions

Pumpkin Bread Pudding:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Lightly grease a 3 quart baking dish.
2. Drizzle the melted butter over the bread cubes, and gently stir to distribute. Pour the bread cubes into the prepared baking pan.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the cream, pumpkin puree, brown sugar, eggs and yolk, maple syrup, whiskey, spices, vanilla, and salt. Pour this mixture over the bread cubes, pressing them down to ensure they are all coated.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, or until the custard has set up. If it is still a little jiggly in the middle, that is OK, it will set up as the bread pudding cools.

Easy Caramel Sauce:

1. White the Pumpkin Bread Pudding is baking, you can prepare the Caramel Sauce.
2. In a small saucepan, over low-medium heat, combine the brown sugar, butter, and maple syrup. Stir until the butter has melted, and the brown sugar has dissolved. You do not want the mixture to boil at all though, so watch it carefully.
3. Once the sugar has dissolved, add the cream, vanilla, and salt. Keep warm, or reheat slightly, when you are ready to drizzle it over the top of the Pumpkin Bread Pudding.

Interested in winning your own CW CorningWare baking dish? Here’s your chance! Open to residents of Canada only (including Quebec). Leave a comment here telling me what YOU would bake if you had one of these beautiful CorningWare dishes.