Thanksgiving Dessert - Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce

With Thanksgiving about a week-and-half away its time to start looking for recipes for the big day. While watching Bobby Flay prepare a Thanksgiving dinner, he spoke about a Pumpkin Bread Pudding that his pastry chef was bringing to the dinner in place of a traditional pumpkin pie. I was intrigued so I started hunting around for Pumpkin Bread Pudding recipes and found this one published in Bon Appetit in November 2000. Using hints from Marlene Koch's "Eat What You Love" I altered the recipe to make it a little lower in sugar and fat.

For the actual bread pudding I substituted in Splenda Brown Sugar Blend, because of the sweeter nature of Splenda, I used the conversion chart provided and halved the sugar measurements. I also substituted in fat-free half-and-half. For the actual Caramel sauce you will have to use regular dark brown sugar as caramel sauces need actual sugar for texture. Reviews from other individuals said the original recipe made too much sauce, so I halved the recipe in an effort to cut the sugar a bit. I suppose if you are really worried about the sugar from the sauce you could hunt down a low-sugar caramel sauce from the ice cream aisle.

The original recipe stated this recipe made 6 servings, only its in a 11x7 pan which would suggest really big portions - I've portioned it into 8 portions which brings the point value to 8 per serving. Yes, this is kind of high in points, but you are making it for a special occasion and not eating it every day it should be ok :)

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

2 c fat-free half-and-half

15 oz canned pumpkin puree

1/2 c Splenda Brown Sugar Blend

1 tbsp Splenda Brown Sugar Blend

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

10 oz egg bread (perhaps challah) 1/2-inch cubes

1/2 c golden raisins

Caramel Sauce

3/4 c dark brown sugar, packed

1/4 stick unsalted butter

1/4 c heavy whipping cream

Powdered sugar (~1 Tbsp)

For bread pudding:

Preheat oven to 350F. Whisk half-and-half, pumpkin, brown sugar substitute, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and vanilla extract in large bowl to blend. Fold in bread cubes. Stir in golden raisins. Transfer mixture to 11x7 glass baking dish. Let stand for 15 minutes so bread absorbs liquid mixture. Bake pumpkin bread pudding until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes (remember that low-sugar baked goods will bake more quickly).

For caramel sauce:

Whisk brown sugar and butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until butter melts. Whisk in cream and stir until sugar dissolves and sauce is smooth, about 3 minutes.

Sift powdered sugar over bread pudding. Serve warm with caramel sauce.

*If you omit the Caramel Sauce you can have 8 servings at 5 points each or 6 servings at 7 points each.