This isn’t your typical bread pudding, the old-fashioned kind made to use up leftover bread, with raisins, cinnamon, and maybe even nuts. This is the kind of bread pudding that you crave and make an extra trip to the bakery to buy a loaf of bread just to make it. This is the kind of bread pudding you take with you to special events, pulling it out of the oven just before you walk out the door. This is the kind of bread pudding where people who have sworn off bread pudding for life will ask you for the recipe. No one will be able to resist the buttery golden edges, the rich brown sugar custard base, or those gooey butterscotch chips. Serve it hot with fresh lightly sweetened whipped cream on top that slowly melts over the pudding and drips down the sides.
Ingredients
- 1 loaf (about 12–14 ounces) day-old Italian or French bread
- 4 cups whole milk
- 3 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1½ cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
- ½ cup butter, melted
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butterscotch chips, divided
- Lightly sweetened whipped cream
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 13" × 9" baking dish.
- Cut or tear the bread into bite-size pieces and place them in a large bowl.
- In a blender, combine the milk, eggs, vanilla, brown sugar, butter, and salt. Blend until smooth and well combined. Pour the custard mixture over the bread and stir gently to make sure all the bread is coated. Add ½ cup of the butterscotch chips and stir gently. Pour the mixture into the baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup butterscotch chips over top of the bread pudding. Bake for 1 hour, or until golden brown and puffed up (it should jiggle when you touch it in the center).
- Slice into squares and serve warm with lightly sweetened whipped cream on top.
