Chocolate Bread Pudding with Bourbon Pecan Sauce

Make this fabulous, rich dessert only if you have at least 30 minutes to dedicate to it. The caramel sauce requires a watchful eye, because your sugar-water-cream mix takes about ten minutes to become a caramel, but once it does, it will quickly harden into a hard sugar coating on the bottom of your pan if you've not removed it from the heat. But the result is worth the time!! Another reviewer said that she found the dessert dry. To avoid this, simply let the bread cubes sit in the pudding mix for more than 30 minutes, thereby soaking up more of the chocolate pudding. Use the time to fix supper, take a shower, or reverse the directions on the recipe: make the pudding first, and then make the caramel sauce while the Challah bread cubes soak in the pudding. The only modification I make to this recipe is that I cook it for almost an hour, instead of 45 minutes, and I ALWAYS let it sit for at least 10 minutes before serving because the dessert is quite souffle-like and will cave in if it does not sit for a while. Fortunately, it is equally delicious both warm and at room temperature, so don't hesitate to make it early. The rich, buttery sauce is complimented by dark coffee and by a nice whisky.

This pudding tasted good, but it is time consuming to make it. I also think that it called for a little too much bread because my pudding turned out pretty dry. I will make it again because my husband loved it, but next time I will add less bread and watch it more closely while it is in the oven.

My husband requested bread pudding so I tried this recipe and he loved it. I used Southern Comfort instead of bourbon. He wants me to make this for Thanksgiving instead of pumpkin pie!

When we had eaten our fill, I poured the remaining sauce over the leftovers and put it in the fridge. The leftovers were even better than the original.

This is the best Chocolate Bread Pudding. The recipie seemed daunting when read but was really simple once I got started. The sauce turned out perfect with good ole Jack Daniels and some Amaretto. It was really pretty with the pecans. The bread pudding was so moist and just the perfect amount of chocolate. I can see why chocolate lovers would add chocolate morsels to the top, but to stay true to a bread pudding taste, I don't think there is anything that needs to be changed with this recipie. Thanks SO much. A great fall dessert!

People were asking to take some of this home with them. I added the bourbon earlier in the instructions in order to reduce the strength of the taste.

I like another reviewer added more chips on the top for an even more chocolately flavor. I have also made it with cinnamon raisin bread. Pretty tasty also.

I made this recipe for New Year's Eve since my husband said it was his all-time favorite dessert. Oh My!!! This was the best thing I've ever eaten...ever! That sentiment has been repeated by everyone who was lucky enough to sample Saturday's fare. I followed the recipe exactly with the exception of adding Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate morsels sprinkled on top of the pudding before baking. Thank you!!!

Whole family enjoyed it. After it was in the pan I added a few handfuls of chocolate chips on top because the pudding didn't taste chocolatey enough. The chips helped, but next time I think I will reduce the amount of bread I used (3/4 lb) and increaes the amount of chocolate. I used 1% milk instead of whole, and the pudding was still rich. Will definitely make again, and will use the leftover pecan carmel sauce on icecream.

Omigosh! This is a truly decadent dessert. Worth every minute of your time and effort! I received rave reviews with many wanting a second serving in spite of the calories.Thanks Jack!

I made this to bring to a family party, and it was kind of a last-minute decision. I'd never made bread pudding before, so I wasn't sure what to expect for results. But THIS was a winner. We had a loaf of really nice walnut sourdough bread from our CSA that we needed to use up, so that was the basis for this dish. I didn't make any changes to the recipe other than adding a little more chocolate than was called for (an ounce seemed too little). I poured the sauce over the top of the bread pudding when it came out of the oven so that I could transport it all together, we drove an hour to the party, and it was another three or four hours before we touched this, and yet it was still warm. People RAVED about this. It was seriously the hit of the party. Even people who claimed to have aversions to bread pudding liked this, and everyone asked for the recipe. It may not be healthy, but a little bit goes a long way and it's sure to be a crowd-pleaser!

I made this for the first time Thanksgiving 08. It was the rave. It was so good people ate it without the Bourbon sauce. The sauce was excellent by the way. I'll make it again...

This dish is heavenly! I halved the recipe, using a 9"X9" dish instead. Since I didn't have the chocolate squares on hand, I used a cup of semi sweet chocolate chips instead. The only change that I would make is to the caramel sauce, I would omit the bourbon, just a personal preference. Very rich and chocolately!

This bread pudding was so tasty! Definitely takes a lot of time to prepare, but is well worth the effort. For those who don't care for bourbon, it does cook out and the flavor isn't extremely strong (in my opinion anyway) but it most definitely adds more depth than serving the pudding on its own. The pudding is great, the pudding served with the sauce is out of this world. A new favorite, definitely.

I made this for work and was not able to make the sauce but the bread pudding was stil great. There was even someone who does not like bread pudding a lot said she liked this.

Wonderful recipe - will definetly make again. The pudding was perfect consistency - thick and rich. Altered the sauce recipe a bit - substituted dark rum for the bourbon and omitted the pecans. Called it "hot buttered rum sauce"

I thought this was good, but mine did not turn out as fabulous as others. I used a bit less bread, as some talked about, but I felt the pudding was too squishy in the middle when served. It didn't have any texture, just sort of sponge-like. Next time I would prepare exactly as instructed. I also had a hard time getting all the bread and pudding to fit into a 9x13 pan, and would not try to make it all fit. Finally, I didn't feel the caramel sauce was worth the effort. Sorry, but it was no better than a jar of Dove caramel sauce, and next time I wouldn't bother with that. Overall a good recipe, and well received, but not super out of this world. Will try again though, for sure.

This is a very rich pudding. It has been a favorite of my family and friends for some time. The sauce is my favorite. I like making a big recipe so there are leftover for a couple of days.

Delicious bread pudding! I didn't make the sauce, and I used only whole milk in the pudding. Turned out great, thanks for the recipe.

This was decadent and rich. I added chocolate chips--yum--but did think the sauce was (while cool to make) a bit too sweet. The combination of the super rich sauce and the super rich pudding was maybe just too much.

fantastic!

I have sad this same recipe for several years and recently lost it. I was excited to find it hear. It is always a favorite. The only negative is that is time consuming, but well worth it. It is great for special occassions and dinner parties.

I made this for a Cajun dinner party and it was a huge hit. Like others, I added some chocolate chips and pecans to the pudding. You do need to let the bread & custard mixture sit a while before baking, to let it really soak in. The caramel sauce was very good, but a little runny for my personal taste - I added some butter, salt, more cream and more bourbon to give it more ooomph, but next time, I'll just use another caramel sauce recipe that I like better. We just ate it at room temp and everyone loved it. Definitely will make again!

This stuff will make a chocolate lover crazy.....I made it with Mexican chocolate for a slightly different character.

I used chocolate chips instead of squares, I had about a 1/4 cup of chocolate syurp left in a jar threw that in the chocolate mix. Put the pecans in the pudding not the sauce. Use about 3 or 4 TBSP of Amaretto instead of Whiskey in the caramel sauce. I will make this again and again and again! I took some to work. (I work in the culinary arts department at a local tech collage) Everyone that tried this Raved! Thank you for this recipe!

I made this for my sister-in-law's birthday dinner in lieu of a cake. She loves bread pudding, and this one is a hit! Thank you for sharing it, Jaclyn

I made this to celebrate a coworker as she said it was her favorite dessert. I was told not to being it ever again because it was so addictive! Well worth the time!

The sauce was excellent. The pudding was good but maybe needed more chocolate flavor or some apples or something. I will certainly make this again with some modification