Bread pudding is a dessert that doesn’t get nearly enough attention, but it’s a star player for many reasons. It’s easy to make and it has a creamy, comforting flavor that’s easily enhanced with other flavors. Add a little cinnamon or some raisins or some orange zest and you’ve given the dish a whole new dimension.

With this salted caramel pretzel bread pudding (I know- it’s a mouthful) you get the familiar flavor of bread pudding but with a few extra flavors in there that make it truly irresistible.

For this dessert we are using soft pretzels, not the hard ones that are crunchy. If you can find fresh or frozen soft pretzels you can use those. If you can’t find either of those options then sometimes you can find pretzel rolls in the deli section of the grocery.

The pretzels add a little different texture and flavor to the pudding since they don’t absorb as much of the milk mixture as the bread pieces do.

To punch up the combo there’s also the salted caramel element. Caramel bits from the baking aisle are the easiest, but you can also chop up a 5 ounce bag of soft caramels as well. These will melt during baking to create a wonderful texture and flavor in the pudding.

A sprinkle of large crystal salt and a drizzle of caramel sauce make this pudding truly mouthwatering. I used salted caramel sauce for this recipe since it was on theme, but plain caramel topping will also work well.

This dessert pairs wonderfully with vanilla ice cream, too. You have to try it to understand how good it is.