This pretzel bread pudding with salted caramel sauce is absolutely divine! It's unlike any other bread pudding and it's amazing when topped with vanilla ice cream.
Why You'll Love it
3 words - Pretzel Bread Pudding!
If that alone doesn’t sell ya, picture this: You’ve got King’s Hawaiian Soft Pretzel Bites—already soft, salty, and buttery perfection—now baked into a warm, gooey bread pudding.
Yep, I went there. We’re taking those pretzel bites and turning them into something magical.
First off, the texture is next level. The bites soak up a rich, creamy custard, making each spoonful soft and velvety inside, but with that perfect golden crust on top.
And just when you think it can’t get better, you drizzle a luscious salted caramel sauce over everything. Sweet, salty, and buttery—what more could you ask for?
Oh wait, ice cream! We can’t forget that.
Scoop a big, melty spoonful of vanilla ice cream right on top, and let it ooze into every nook and cranny of that warm bread pudding.
The contrast of cold ice cream with hot, gooey pretzel-y goodness is just pure heaven.
Whether you're serving this for a cozy family night or treating yourself (because you deserve it), this skillet pretzel bread pudding is the ultimate comfort food mashup. It’s sweet, savory, and insanely satisfying in every way. You won’t want to share—I promise.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Soft Pretzel Bites: I'm using King's Hawaiian Soft Pretzel Bites and they are perfect for this recipe!
- Heavy Cream: No substitution for heavy cream.
- Eggs: Same goes with eggs - sorry!
- Vanilla: If you are not a fan of vanilla, you can leave it out or use another flavor extract.
- Cinnamon Sugar: If you don't have cinnnamon sugar, you could just mix together about ½ cup of white sugar with 2 teaspoon of cinnamon - or more - depending on your liking.
- Brown Sugar: You could also use white sugar but brown is recommended.
- Salted Butter: If you're using unsalted butter, just add an extra pinch of salt.
- Flaky Salt: You could also use coarse sea salt if you don't have flaky salt.
- Ice Cream: ice cream is totally optional but adding a scoop to this incredible pretzel bread pudding recipe is amazing! There's something magical about the hot and cold mingling together that you will love.
How to Make it
Make Custard: In a large bowl, whisk together heavy cream, eggs, vanilla and cinnamon sugar and set aside.
Soak Cut Up Pretzels & Soak: Cut the soft pretzel bites in half and toss them in the custard mixture - submerging and coating each piece. Let this mixture sit for at least 2 hours (up to overnight).
Bake: Once ready to bake, preheat oven to 350F degrees. Grease a cast iron skillet with butter and add the pretzel mixture. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until set.
Make Caramel Sauce: During the last ten minutes of baking, melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat the add the brown sugar. Stir the mixture until the sugar has melted into the butter and begins bubbling. Let the mixture bubbly for a few minutes or until it becomes the same color. Set aside,
Add Toppings & Serve: Once you pull the pretzel bread pudding out of the oven, immediately drizzle the caramel sauce evenly across the surface of the skillet. Add flaky salt before serving with ice cream if desired.
What goes with Pretzel Bread Pudding?
This pretzel bread pudding with salted caramel is an incredible dessert that is super versatile. Here are some of the things i'd serve it with:
- The Ultimate Trader Joe's Ravioli Recipe Roundup.
- Butternut Squash Lasagna Soup with Kale & Mozzarella
- Crispy Parmesan Crusted Brussels Sprouts Recipe
- Dutch Oven Beef Stew Recipe with Lipton Onion Soup Mix
- Lemony Boursin Chicken Meatballs with Cheesy Asparagus Orzo
Recipe
Pretzel Bread Pudding with Salted Caramel
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups Heavy Cream
- 2 medium Eggs
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- ¼ cup Cinnamon Sugar
- 1 pack King’s Hawaiian Mini Soft Pretzel Bites (about 4 cups)
- ¾ cup Brown Sugar
- ¾ stick Salted Butter plus more for greasing skillet
- ½ teaspoon Flaky Salt
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together heavy cream, eggs, vanilla and cinnamon sugar and set aside.
- Cut the soft pretzel bites in half and toss them in the custard mixture - submerging and coating each piece. Let this mixture sit for at least 2 hours (up to overnight).
- Once ready to bake, preheat oven to 350F degrees. Grease a cast iron skillet with butter and add the pretzel mixture.
- Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until set
- During the last ten minutes of baking, melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat the add the brown sugar. Stir the mixture until the sugar has melted into the butter and begins bubbling. Let the mixture bubbly for a few minutes or until it becomes the same color. Set aside,
- Once you pull the pretzel bread pudding out of the oven, immediately drizzle the caramel sauce evenly across the surface of the skillet. Add flaky salt before serving with ice cream if desired.
Marilyn
This bread pudding was beyond delicious! My DIL called it was restaurant worthy. We’ll definitely be making it again!