Salted Caramel Croissant Bread Pudding
A holiday classic loaded with a hefty dose of luxuriously sweet salted caramel!
Ingredients
- 8 ounces torn/cubed croissants
Salted Caramel:
- ½ cup water
- 1 ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons corn syrup
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
Custard:
- 1 ½ cup milk
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Scatter the torn croissants evenly in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake until dry and toasted, about 10-12 minutes. Allow croissants to cool while you prepare the custard.
- Make the Salted Caramel: Pour the water into a medium saucepan. Pour the sugar into the center of the pan, making sure none of the sugar crystals hit the sides. Add the corn syrup.
- Place pan over medium heat, leaving it alone for the first 5 minutes or until it the color begins to turn yellowish. Once you see some color, gently swirl the pan around occasionally as it boils. Continue boiling until the caramel reaches a golden amber color, about 8 to 10 minutes.
- Remove pan from the heat and carefully whisk in the heavy cream. Caramel will sizzle and bubble up. Stir in the salt, and continue whisking until caramel is smooth. If needed, return pan over medium-low heat, stirring until caramel is smooth. Transfer to dish or glass measuring cup to cool completely. Caramel will continue to thicken as it cools.*
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, egg yolks, egg, brown sugar, and vanilla. Pour 1 and 1/4 cups of the slightly cooled salted caramel into the custard and whisk until combined.
- Transfer cooled croissants to an 8-inch square baking dish. Pour custard over croissants, let stand, occasionally pressing down on the croissants until fully saturated, about 40-50 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350ºF degrees. Sprinkle granulated sugar evenly over bread pudding. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes, or until the custard has just set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes.
- Serve with reserved salted caramel sauce.
Notes
* Recipe makes 1 and 3/4 cups caramel sauce.
*If caramel sauce has thickened too much, reheat in the microwave in 10 second intervals until it reaches the desired consistency.