• Cooking spray: This is used to grease your baking dish and prevent the bread pudding from sticking.
• 1 loaf brioche: You can use brioche challah, French bread, or even sandwich bread. It's important that the bread is a bit stale, as it absorbs the eggnog mixture better.
• 1½ cup eggnog full-fat: Eggnog is the star of this dessert, providing a creamy and rich flavor that's perfect for the holidays.
• ½ cup evaporated milk: Evaporated milk adds creaminess and helps create a luscious texture in your bread pudding.
• 3 large eggs beaten: Eggs act as a binding agent in the pudding, helping to set it during baking.
• ½ cup salted butter 1 stick, melted: Melted butter adds a lovely richness to the dish, enhancing both the flavor and the texture.
• ½ cup granulated sugar: Sugar provides sweetness and helps balance the flavors in the pudding.
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract: Vanilla extract adds a warm and inviting aroma enhancing the overall taste.
• 2 teaspoons dark rum optional: Dark rum gives your bread pudding a delightful boozy twist. If you prefer a non-alcoholic version, you can omit this.
• ½ cup pecan halves roughly chopped: Chopped pecans provide a delightful crunch and nutty flavor, adding depth to your dessert.

Brown Butter Rum Sauce

• 4 tablespoons salted butter cut into cubes: This is the base for your rich and flavorful sauce.
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour: Flour is used as a thickening agent to give your sauce the perfect consistency.
• ⅓ cup brown sugar preferably dark brown: Brown sugar adds sweetness and a lovely caramel note to the sauce.
• 1½ cups eggnog: Eggnog makes a return here infusing the sauce with its creamy goodness.
• ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg or packaged ground nutmeg: Nutmeg brings a warm and spicy note to the sauce, complementing the eggnog flavor.
• ¼ cup dark rum optional: Similar to the bread pudding, the rum adds a boozy kick to your sauce. If you prefer it without alcohol, you can use a teaspoon of vanilla extract as an alternative.