Bread Pudding Recipe: An easy old fashioned recipe is the BEST, and this recipe resembles the old-fashioned dessert recipe that we all love! It’s basic, and uses everyday ingredients and an optional brown-buttered vanilla sauce, or this vanilla sauce for bread pudding, to drizzle on top!
If you're looking for more desserts that work well for sharing, you'll find my favorite potluck desserts here.
Looking for quick and easy dessert recipes to add to your Pinterest boards? Then you’ll also LOVE this peach cobbler made with Bisquick, the BEST Banana Bread, and this easy pound cake recipe!
Jump to:
- What is Bread Pudding?
- Where did bread pudding come from?
- Ingredients for Bread Pudding
- What Kind of Bread is Best for Bread Pudding?
- How to Make Stale Bread
- How to Make Bread Pudding from Scratch
- How Long to Bake Bread Pudding
- FAQs and Expert Tips:
- Old-Fashioned Bread Pudding
- What to Serve with Bread Pudding?
- Amazing Bread Pudding Vanilla Sauce
- How to Make Browned Butter Sauce:
- How to Make Vanilla Sauce for Bread Pudding
- Related Recipes:
- Recipe
- Comments
I’m so glad that you’re here for this bread pudding. It may just change your decadent dessert life.
But if this is your first time here, you’re going to find tons of quick and easy recipes around here!
What is Bread Pudding?
Well it’s not the “pudding” you’re probably thinking of. Rather it’s a recipe that uses old, stale bread, combined with a creamy custard that consists of things like sugar, butter, milk, eggs, cinnamon, vanilla, and then bake it all. The outside edges may have a slight crisp, while the middle is a soft, custard-like texture.
Where did bread pudding come from?
New Orleans is famous for its bread pudding! However, bread pudding originated in England (UK) and was actually created as “poor man’s pudding” since it used very little ingredients. Since then, other ingredients were added to enhance the flavor.
I found out about it because my grandma used to make this old-fashioned dessert and I fell in love with it from the first moment I had it!
When I wanted to make this for the first time, I found a few good recipes for bread pudding in my old cookbooks, but they all had something that didn’t tickle my fancy. (Such as raisins – although you can add these if you like.)
So… I gathered all of the recipes up and came up with my own plan and I have to admit, using simple ingredients helped make this the BEST bread pudding!
Ingredients for Bread Pudding
This bread pudding is made with easy-to-find ingredients. Here are a few notes on some of the key ingredients. See the recipe card below for the measurements.
- Bread: Stale bread is best so it really soaks up the custard mixture, instead of it settling in the bottom and cooking the eggs separately.
- Butter: I’ve used salted and unsalted for this recipe and it turns out great each time.
- Milk: Feel free to try half & half or heavy cream if that’s what you have!
- Sugar: I use white granulated sugar for this but brown sugar for the optional sauce.
- Vanilla extract: If you can use pure vanilla, that’s the best. But I’ve used imitation vanilla in a pinch.
What Kind of Bread is Best for Bread Pudding?
French bread is a great bread for this recipe although I’ve used leftover sandwich bread, hot dog buns, hamburger buns, and more, and it always turns out great! (Or if you have stale donuts, you may want to make this donut bread pudding recipe!) Check out all the different types of bread readers have used over the years, in the comments!
How to Make Stale Bread
If you’re craving bread pudding, but don’t have the leftover bread or the stale bread to use for it, no worries!
Grab some fresh bread and either pop it in the toaster for a bit, or cut in to bread cubes (about 1-inch pieces) and bake it in the oven on 350° for about 5-10 minutes. (Don’t burn it or turn it brown. You’re just removing as much moisture from it as you can.)
I love this recipe, and I really do think it’s the best because it only includes items I usually have on hand, resembles the old-fashioned recipe that we’ve all known to love, and I had it all put together and in the oven in a matter of minutes.
How to Make Bread Pudding from Scratch
- Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees.
- Then you’ll start by buttering your 8×8 baking dish (or 9×13 casserole dish if doubling the recipe) and breaking up the bread into about 1-inch cubes.
- Toss the bread into the buttered dish.
- Melt your remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, and drizzle melted butter over bread pieces and set aside.
- Next, in a large mixing bowl, mix together the eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla.
- Next, simply pour the egg mixture over the bread pieces and make sure each piece has been covered or submerged to let that bread soak up that amazing custard mixture!
Oh my… doesn’t that photo of the egg mixture just make you drool!? It does me, every stinking time I look at it.
How Long to Bake Bread Pudding
- Toss that baby in the oven and let it bake the bread mixture uncovered for 40-45 minutes at 350º.
FAQs and Expert Tips:
Just like almost any dessert, or bread that you’re baking, insert a clean knife into the center and see if it comes out clean!
Well, it’s stale bread. Not super hard, and crispy… but bread that just wouldn’t be your favorite to use to make your favorite sandwich.
The reason you want day-old or stale bread is because you’ll want the bread to soak up the batter/custard of the bread pudding mixture.
Yep! It’s actually a great idea to make some of this ahead of time in case you need a last-minute dessert idea or to take a care package to a friend in need!
Just bake it as normal, and once cooled, place in the freezer for up to 2 months. When ready to thaw it, place it in the refrigerator to thaw it out.
You can enjoy bread pudding cold or warm, but if you prefer it warm after freezing/thawing, gently warm it to reheat.
Absolutely! I love make-ahead meals about as much as anyone, especially when entertaining! So if you want to make this ahead of time, feel free to!
You can either mix it all together and refrigerate it overnight before baking, or bake it, let it cool, and then refrigerate.
For best results, if you have left-over bread pudding, cool it until becomes room temperature and store in an airtight container (or cover the dish with plastic wrap) for up to 5 days, in the refrigerator.
Old-Fashioned Bread Pudding
That golden-brown bread pudding will remind you of grandma’s old-fashioned recipe as soon as you pull it out of the oven.
Serve it warm alone, with ice cream, or top it with the super-easy bread pudding sauce that I tell you about below…
What to Serve with Bread Pudding?
If you’re looking for a little something extra to serve with your new, easy bread pudding recipe, you might consider:
- raisins – as shown above
- chocolate sauce
- caramel ice cream topping
- ice cream
- whipped cream
- candied nuts
- dried fruit
- powdered sugar
- or this crazy-easy and delicious bread pudding sauce I whipped up for you…
Amazing Bread Pudding Vanilla Sauce
For years I shared this recipe without a sauce or a drizzle. But there have been tons of you who have made this recipe and left so many amazing reviews and comments below saying you’ve made a bourbon bread pudding, caramel sauce, or vanilla sauce, and I must say… you’ve inspired me.
So when I remade this recipe to take new photos for the blog, I decided to whip up a quick buttery vanilla sauce to see how it would taste, and have also provided a creamy vanilla sauce recipe that you can top it with.
The bread pudding is great as a stand-alone, but I’m a fan of this addition now, in a BIG way!
How to Make Browned Butter Sauce:
You’ll need the following, everyday ingredients to make this drizzle, that is more nutty, and a little less sweet than the custardy vanilla sauce option below:
- butter (I used salted but unsalted butter works just fine!)
- brown sugar
- milk or heavy cream (or even water)
- vanilla
It’s super easy. Grab a small saucepan, and melt (on high) 3 Tablespoons of salted butter.
Once melted, turned it down to medium heat and wait a bit to let the butter brown. (Browned butter is my JAM!)
Then, reduce heat to a simmer, and add in brown sugar, milk or cream, and then whisk for 1-2 minutes.
Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla. Pour on top of the cooked bread pudding.
How to Make Vanilla Sauce for Bread Pudding
Get the creamy vanilla sauce recipe if you prefer a sauce that is more “custard” like, rich, and also called “crème anglaise,” instead of the browned butter sauce that I’ve made above.
Bourbon Bread Pudding
If you love the taste of bourbon in your bread pudding, you can easily add bourbon to the vanilla sauce recipe above by adding in a tablespoon of bourbon (less or more, depending on your taste) when you add in the sugar and vanilla.
Related Recipes:
We have a major sweet tooth and are HUGE fans of bread pudding recipes so make sure you check out our chocolate bread pudding recipe, donut bread pudding, sweet potato casserole bread pudding, and banana bread pudding to see which one is your favorite! Or, you may even love trying this croissant bread pudding!
So tell me… did you make this bread pudding? Did you like it? Let me know below in the comments with the others, and give this a rating to let others know how much you love it!
Recipe
The BEST Bread Pudding Recipe
Video
Equipment
- 1 Mixing bowl
- 1 Saucepan Only if making sauce
- 1 Whisk Only if making sauce
Ingredients
- 6 slices stale bread (Or about 4-5 cups of broken bread pieces or cubes. Some ideas to use are: french bread, buns, rolls, donuts, challah, toast or another type of bread.)
- 3 tablespoons of butter 1 Tablespoon + 2 Tablespoons
- 4 beaten eggs
- 2 cups milk
- ¾ cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- raisins optional
Optional Creamy Vanilla Sauce
- vanilla sauce get my vanilla sauce recipe
Optional Brown Sugar Butter Drizzle
- 3 tablespoons butter salted (but unsalted is ok too!)
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-2 tablespoons milk or heavy cream – optional *see notes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and use 1 Tablespoon of butter to coat the inside of your 8 inch square baking dish.
- Break your bread (I made larger pieces, rather than crumbling it up) in to the buttered baking dish.
- Melt your remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, and drizzle over bread pieces.
- In a bowl, mix remaining ingredients (don't forget to beat your eggs first) until mixed well.4 beaten eggs, 2 cups milk, ¾ cup white sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- Pour this mixture over the bread, making sure to evenly coat each piece.
- Bake for 45 minutes, or until the top of the bread pudding springs back after lightly touching it with a fork.
Optional Buttery Brown Sugar Sauce
- Grab a small saucepan, and melt (on high) 3 Tablespoons of salted butter.Once melted, turned it down to medium heat and wait a bit to let the butter brown.
- Turn down to a simmer. Then, add in a tablespoon of brown sugar and the 1 to 2 tablespoons of milk/cream.Whisk to combine and simmer/whisk for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla.Serve over entire bread pudding in dish before serving or over individual servings.
Notes
- Which sauce to make? This bread pudding is great even without an optional sauce. However, if you want a sauce, I recommend picking one of the two. The browned butter sauce is more of an “accent” drizzle, and less rich/sweet than the vanilla sauce. I’ve recently added heavy cream as optional ingredient to help smooth the sauce out. If you prefer the older method, simply leave the cream out. The vanilla sauce is rich, more creamy, and more of a major topper for the bread pudding. Both are optional and not necessary for a delicious bread pudding.
- If your bread is really stale, soaking before baking is ideal, so it allows time for the bread to soak up the mixture. If the bread is older but not crusty, you can bake it right away.
- How do you know when bread pudding is done? Just like almost any dessert, or bread that you're baking, insert a clean knife into the center and see if it comes out clean!
- Can you freeze bread pudding? Yes! Bake it as normal, and once cooled, place in the freezer for up to 2 months. When ready to thaw it, place it in the refrigerator to thaw it out.
- Can I prepare bread pudding the night before? Yes! You can either mix it all together and refrigerate it overnight before baking, or bake it, let it cool, and then refrigerate.
- How to store leftovers For best results, store it in an airtight container for up to 5 days, in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
Wanda says
How many yeast dinner rolls would I have to use to equal the six slices of stale bread called for in the recipe? Thanks! : )
Jessica says
Hi Wanda! I would say if you have about 4-5 cups of broken bread pieces, that will be close to the six slices of bread. I hope that helps!
Haley says
Hi do you happen to have a measurement of the amount of bread in cups or oz? What size slices ? Thick?
Jessica says
Hi Haley! Yes! You’ll want about 4-5 cups of bread pieces, loosely measured. I hope that helps. Enjoy! 🙂
Kristen says
I always make some kind of “French toast” bake around Christmas using the traditional panettone bread (sold around the Christmas holiday-sweet bread with raisins and candied orange peel). It never disappoints and makes an excellent holiday breakfast-with syrup on top!
Jessica says
Oh yum! What a great idea, and we’ll definitely have to try that panettone bread sometime. Thank you!
Joanie says
I made this bread pudding using Cinnamon Raisin bread by Pepperidge Farm. It was delicious. I Served it with whipped cream and Ialso served it with Warm maple syrup. It was a big hit!!
Jessica says
Oh wow!! That sounds delicious!! I think you may also love this cinnamon roll casserole too, since it has similar ingredients!
Elizabeth Detschermitsch says
I would love to post a photo but..
If it tastes as good as it looks I will love it. I added 1 diced Honey Crisp apple and some dried cranberries. I will make a vanilla sauce to go with it.
Jessica says
I’m sure it will taste as good as it looks/sounds! Love that you added apples and cranberries to this bread pudding. I bet it looks festive too!
Paula says
First attempt at bread pudding and I’m a fan! So easy and such a nice flavor. I’ve always steered clear as when I’ve had it in restaurants, there is generally liquor and I am not a fan of liquor in desserts. (I know, I’m weird.) Next time I think I’ll soak some raisins and add them. Great recipes!
Jessica says
Hi Paula!
I’m so glad that you liked this bread pudding recipe too! It IS so easy… you’re right! Thank you for taking the time to share with us!
Gloria says
Can you use whipping cream instead of milk.
Jessica says
Hi Gloria! I don’t see why you couldn’t!
Dulcinea Catlett says
Absolutely love this recipe. My family loves it so much, I’ve had to make it again and again. So easy to make. Delicious
Jessica says
Awww, yay! I’m so glad. Thank you so much for sharing and for leaving a review. I love that you keep coming back for it!
Kristin says
Made this for my dad and he loved it!! I added raisins for his preference and I did 2 Tbs of brown sugar in the sauce. I don’t even like bread pudding (it’s a texture thing for me) but even I enjoyed some of it 🙌🏽
Jessica says
Awwwww, that’s so great to hear Kristin! Thank you so much for sharing, and I’m so glad that you and your dad liked this bread pudding too. Thank you for the review!
Shirlie says
This is a favorite of my family and I I make it somewhat frequently:
It’s easy and almost foolproof. It is especially good with Panettone
Bread and I add about 2/3 c. Walnuts or Pecans. I have added
diced Apple as well. Yummy!!
Jessica says
Hello Shirlie!! I’m so glad that you like this bread pudding too! The additions you’ve made sound wonderful too, thank you for sharing!
Catherine says
Hi! Made this today and it’s super yum! I had to add less sugar though. I made almond butter chocolate sauce and sprinkled sugar powder before digging in. Just a note, I substituted apple sauce for 2 eggs as 4 is too much for my husband and myself. Still, I had your recipe as base and I will definitely make this again. Thank you very much, it really was delicious.
Jessica says
Hello Catherine! This is wonderful! I’m so glad that you liked it, and it’s so interesting to hear what you changed/added. That’s what I love about this recipe… it’s so versatile. Thank you so much for taking the time to share!
Karim says
First time making it and my bread pudding was the first to be finished at the holiday party. As dumb as I am, if I can do it, so can you 👍.
Jessica says
Awww, I’m sure you’re not dumb but I am so glad that you liked it and it turned out great for you!
Essess says
I had a bunch of dinner rolls left over from Thanksgiving dinner that were getting stale so I turned them into bread pudding. I was concerned because I really didn’t know how much volume “6 slices” would translate into dinner rolls. Fortunately, I just crumbled up some of them, then poured the egg mixture into the pan and just kept crumbling until the mass looked thick enough. (Note — for me, 6 slices = 10 dinner rolls).
I did find that I needed to cook this about 10 minutes longer that directed. It is possible that I just like my egg custard to be a little more set before I take it out. The flavor was very good. The texture was a little more egg-fluffy than I usually associate with bread pudding but that could be based on the fluffy rolls or just needing more bread. I ate half of the pan on the first night I made it. 😀
Jessica says
Hi there! Thank you SO much for sharing how you used leftover rolls for this bread pudding recipe and how many it took! So helpful for others I’m sure! I’m so glad that you liked it!
Leigh says
Just made this today and really love the flavors! My only problem was I ended up with some scrambled eggs at the bottom of the pan. I made sure to mix the egg and milk mixture really well and even used a stick blender. Wondering if I didn’t use enough bread? I used very dried out crusty French bread but I’m not sure I had enough. Any ideas on this? Still the flavor is great and the sauce is yummy too, and didn’t make it too sweet.
Jessica says
Hi Leigh!
Thanks for leaving a note! I would say if you ended up with scrambled eggs at the bottom, it may be because the bread didn’t “crowd” the baking dish enough. (As in, it may have been too spread out??) Did you happen to use an 8×8 baking dish?
Vivi says
Hands down this is the BEST bread pudding recipe I’ve tried. I wanted to surprise my husband and decided to try this one. Directions were very clear, THANK YOU. I made the secret sauce for the top, and I think it really added a nice bonus. And it wasn’t too sweet (I did wonder before if it might be!).So I highly recommend including it.
A funny backstory-part of the reason why I decided to make it today is because he bought a loaf of whole wheat bread which I don’t care for. So I decided to use it for this so it wasn’t wasted. I figured all the good stuff will cover up the whole wheat flavor. And let me tell you, If it was THIS good with bread I don’t care for, I can’t WAIT to try it using the bread I do love! 😉
Jessica says
Hello Vivi!! Oh my goodness how I love this story! Thank you so much for sharing, and thank YOU for the kind words about the bread pudding recipe. I’m thrilled that you love it too!
Donna Marie says
Can I use almond milk instead of regular milk??
Jessica says
Hi Donna! I don’t see why not! 🙂 Enjoy!
Susan Stevens says
This was very easy and delicious! I used hotdog buns and added 1/2 cup golden raisins. The vanilla sauce was perfect to give it that extra flavor! Will definitely make this again.
Jessica says
Thank you so much Susan! I am so glad that you liked this too! Isn’t it so fun that you can use something like leftover hot dog buns for this? I do that too! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review, too! It means a lot!
Martine says
This is a super yummy recipe, I’m making it for a second time now. I haven’t made the sauce as it was so good without it I didn’t think it was necessary. I used a vanilla Brioche Loaf from aldi as the bread which was phenomenal and I really recommend.
Jessica says
Hello Martine!
Oh yes, the sauce for the bread pudding is definitely not required for it to be good!! So glad that you liked it. Thank you so much for letting me know. 🙂
Joy’s says
I used sweet Hawaiian leftover hamburger buns this time.
I added some nutmeg too, w/a 1/2 cup less sugar.
Delish!!
I also use a can of sweetened condensed milk warmed, w/a 1/2 of stick of butter melted in it for the sauce on top.
So good!
Thanks! I’ve made your recipe many times & it’s always a winner. 🙂
Jessica says
Hi Joy! Oh yum… what a great way to use up leftover hamburger buns! Thank you for sharing what you did, and for the sweet words about the bread pudding recipe!
LM says
You saved my sauce tonight it just wasn’t working until I got that sweetened condensed milk in there
Karen says
When freezing do you wait until it’s thawed to use the sauce or do you freeze with the sauce?
Jessica says
Hi Karen!
It’s totally up to you! If you freeze after pouring the sauce on, it will more than likely cook in to the bread pudding when reheating. However if you add it on after freezing, and after reheating, it will have a more pronounced sauce texture. I hope that helps!
Melinda says
My son brought home a loaf of chocolate and fig bread. It was a lil odd but made a wonderful bread pudding with your recipe. Thanks so much!
Jessica says
Oh I’m so glad to hear that the fig bread worked for this too! What a great way to use it. Thank you for sharing!
Joanne says
Very delicious. The recipe was easy to make. I decided to add soaked raisins and not make the sauce.
Jessica says
Hi Joanne! So glad that you liked this bread pudding. Was there something you’d do differently or would like more, that would make it a 5-star recipe?
Rick Sakane says
This is a great recipe that is very easy to make. I paired it with a sauce made from 1/2 cup each of sugar, cream, butter and 1/4 cup whiskey. Just combine and boil slowly for about a minute to dissolve the sugar and burn off the alcohol. Pour over individual slices before serving.
Thanks for the recipe.
Jessica says
Hi Rick! Thank you so much for sharing what you used to make a sauce with whiskey! I’ll have to try that! 🙂
Pamela says
This is a good recipe everyone loves it. Thank you ❤️
Jessica says
Oh good!! Thank you so much for sharing that everyone loves this bread pudding recipe too!