lightened up punkin bread pudding w/ bourbon spiked whipped cream

last year for thanksgiving i made the un-lightened version of this dish and it was out of this world.. as in crazy good.. but this year i thought i would lighten it up a bit.. i have given you both recipes do don't worry.. but no matter which one you use i guarantee your guests will love it!!

 

lightened up punkin bread pudding

prep time: 20 minutes
cooking time: 40 minutes
servings: 4

1/4 cup unpacked brown sugar
1 tblsp. water
cooking spray
5 honey whole wheat hot dog buns, torn into pieces
1 egg
3/4 cup 2 % milk
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tblsp. of punkin yumminess (recipe below)
now if you don't want to make the punkin yumminess I happened to have it left over from my mini hand held pies. (that recipe here) you can just use (2 tblsp. pure canned pumpkin; 1 tsps. pumpkin pie spice;and an additional  1/2 tsp. of cinnamon)
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
salt
powdered sugar (for garnish)

preheat your oven to 350 degrees (f).. in a small saucepan melt brown sugar and water over medium low heat, stirring, until smooth and melted.. about 1 minute.. set aside.. take a small casserole dish and coat with cooking spray.. take your ripped up hot dog buns and fill your casserole dish.. pour brown sugar mixture over and stir incorporate.. in a medium mixing bowl whisk together your egg, punkin yumminess, milk, vanilla, cinnamon and salt until well combined.. then pour evenly over bread.. bake uncovered for 40-50 minutes or until it's a a pale golden color... remove casserole dish from oven when bread pudding is done and serve warm or at room temperature.. sprinkle with powdered sugar and a spoon full of the whipped topping.

 

punkin yumminess:

3/4 cup canned pureed pumpkin (like libby's but not the pumpkin pie filling)
1 large egg
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup sugar

in a medium mixing bowl combined all of the above ingredients.  cover and keep in the fridge until ready to use..

 

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bourbon spiked punkin whipped topping

1 small carton of heavy whipping cream
2 tblsp. of bourbon
1 tblsp. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tblsp. canned pureed pumpkin

pour heavy cream, vanilla, bourbon and sugar into a medium cold bowl (i put my bowl and mixing blades in the freezer for about an hour before making my whipped cream)... using a hand mixer on low speed, whisk heavy cream mixture until soft peaks form.. do this right before serving.. not ahead of time..

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the un-lightened version  and larger quantity:)

overnight pumpkin bread pudding

prep time: 20 minutes
cooking time: 45 minutes
servings: approx. 12

10 croissants, ripped into small pieces
1/2 cup butter, melted
6 large beaten eggs
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups half-half
1 cup pure canned pumpkin
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 tsps. pumpkin pie spice

topping

1 stick of unsalted butter, melted
1 cup coursley chopped pecans
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup light karo syrup

melt butter and pour into a 9x13 casserole dish.  put ripped up croissant pieces into buttered casserole dish.. in a large bowl add milk, half and half, beaten eggs, sugar, pumpkin, vanilla and pumpkin pie spice. mix well.. pour mixture over the croissant pieces.. gently press down croissant pieces so the milk and egg mixture is absorbed.. cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

when you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees (f).  to prepare topping, mix melted butter, brown sugar, pecans and karo syrup in a small bowl.. pour over top of croissants.. bake uncovered for 45 minutes.. serve immediately with the spiked whipped topping!

enjoy and get cook'n!!