Pumpkin-Kahlua Bread Pudding

This is a pretty rich dessert recipe, but it’s worth every calorie. Since most people are probably following through with New Year’s resolutions right now, you may want to file it away for a special occasion.

I would have never guessed that pumpkin and Kahlua go well together, but luckily they do. You can pretty much use a liquor of your choice for this. I think Bailey’s would make a nice alternative, or maybe even whiskey.

Ingredients:

• 6 large croissants, torn into pieces and left to dry out overnight
• 1 can of pumpkin pie filling
• 3/4 cup Kahlua
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream


The Prepped Croissants

• 1 cup milk
• 7 eggs
• 1/2 cup sugar
• Pinch of salt
• Butter, for greasing the dish

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Grease a 9×13 baking dish with butter.


Croissants in the Pumpkin-Kahlua Custard

3. In a large bowl, whisk the pumpkin pie filling, heavy cream, eggs, milk, sugar, salt and Kahlua.
4. In the greased baking dish, place in the croissants then pour in the pumpkin mixture. Press with the back of a spoon until the croissants are moistened.
5. Bake for 40 minutes or until the center is set.
6. Remove from oven, let cool and serve.

One of the keys is to let the croissants dry out over night. They will maintain their butteriness, but will absorb more liquid if you do so.

This is a simple recipe that will disappear very quickly. It’s also kid-friendly (despite the Kahlua) since the alcohol cooks out while it’s baking. Of course, you can drizzle with some extra Kahlua to give it an adult kick.