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.
- 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.
Roeann says
I made your recipe yesterday and it is a fantastic hit with the family, specifically my 95-yr old mother. Instead of making a sauce with the brown sugar and butter, I crumbled it together and put it on top of the bread pudding mixture before baking, much like a “crisp”. Excellent and really enjoyed, thanks for sharing.
Jessica says
Oh yum!! Doing this as a crumbled topping for the bread pudding, sounds delicious! Thank you so much for sharing!
Katie says
It was absolutely a!!! Made it last week, making it again this week!!!
Jessica says
Yay!! I’m so glad that you liked this bread pudding recipe too! Thank you so much for sharing!
DebbieT says
Splendid recipe! Thank you for sharing. I doubled, tossed in some toasted pecans, and baked in a 9×13 glass pan. Baked likely 1 hour total, kept checking so it didn’t over brown. Just delicious! Served to guests, then took some to friends. Used leftover homemade sourdough bread and stale hawaiian rolls
Jessica says
Using leftover sourdough and buns sounds like a great combo for this bread pudding, thank you for sharing!
Amy says
Made this with old Italian bread and kings Hawaiian rolls. It was to die for!
Jessica says
Oh my gosh, using Hawaiian rolls and Italian bread sounds amazing!! Thank you so much for sharing!
PSchafer says
I needed to clean out all my old “1” piece bread I freeze for stuffing. I used french, bagels, english muffins and croisants. I replaced 1/2 cup of milk with heavy whipping cream and 1/2 cup of milk with almond milk…wanted to get rid of that stuff too. It tasted great. The sauce..didn’t quite turn out I used “dryed out brown sugar”. It clumped but I dumped it on top anyhow. Now all we need is ice cream, but I am out!
Jessica says
So glad that you liked the bread pudding and I’m glad that you were able to use all of those leftovers to make it!
Beth Hessi says
I want to make this to take to a party, I also want to make the vanilla sauce to put on it before, can I do everything in advance, or do I have to add the sauce warm? If I have to do it warm, can I make everything in advance, including the sauce?
Jessica says
Hi Beth! You can definitely make this bread pudding in advance, and honestly… the sauce isn’t a must. It’s just an addition that I made for those asking for a sauce on top but it’s delicious even without it. So I’d say if you really want to make the sauce, you can make it and put it on when you make the bread pudding but it will more than likely just soak in. I hope that helps!
Sunny says
Absolutely yummy, I used clearanced out rolls from the local grocery store instead of stale bread and quadrupled the recipe as I was cooking for 9 people.
Jessica says
Sunny, this is such a great idea to grab the bread/rolls on clearance to make bread pudding!!
Joy says
I made this last and am making it again today, it’s a phenomenal recipe. I use panettone bread and cut the sugar be half. Oh and I added a little whisky to the sauce. So yummy!
Jessica says
Oh yum!! This all sounds like great additions to bread pudding! Thank you!
Jennifer says
This turned out GREAT! I used 6 left over Hawaiian rolls and About 9 slices of white home style sandwich bread slices. I cut the bread first, spread the pieces on a large cookie sheet, then dried in the oven on “keep warm” setting, tossing the pieces about every 10 min until lite and dry. After placing pieces in baking dish i made sure all the pieces were saturated with the sugar, milk, egg mixture.
Will definitely make again! Thank you for the recipe!
Jessica says
Hi Jennifer! So happy to hear that you liked this bread pudding recipe too. Using Hawaiian buns for this recipe sounds INCREDIBLE!! Thank you for sharing!
Caitlin says
Used half a cup of heavy cream to replace half a cup of milk. Added really creamy texture 🙂 also used almond extract
Sheryl says
Made this as written for Christmas dinner dessert. It was absolutely delicious; everyone loved it!
Sarah says
This was soon good! I have never made a bread pudding I was so happy with. My family devoured it. I doubled it, used almond milk and threw some frozen blueberries on top of the bread. I had to cook a little longer and put tin foil on top to keep the top from burning. It was perfect!
Jessica says
This sounds so delightful!! I love the addition of blueberries that you used. Thank you for sharing!
Dawn says
Hi there! Has anyone made this with plant milk and plant butter? I have guests who are lactose intolerant, but would love to try this recipe!
Sarah says
I made it with almond milk and real butter. It was amazing. Generally, I substitute nondairy butter no problem. I’m not sure how well it would work with the vanilla sauce though.
And make sure you are using unsweetened nondairy or you would need to use less sugar.
Jessica says
Thank you for sharing how you made this bread pudding, Sarah! So great to hear how others can make it how they need!
Jackie says
This tasted great! I’m giving 5 stars even though mine didn’t come out just right. I used a round casserole dish and I think it was too deep so the top started burning before the middle was done. But it still tasted really good even though the middle was soggy.
Sandy says
Oh my goodness! This smells so good cooking! It’s delicious. Just like my momma used to make!
Jane says
How would I double this recipe?
Manda says
Really? Literally just double the ingredients…
Jenna says
Rude
Jackie says
Not so fast. See my comment above about using the wrong size Pan. I would use at least a 13×9 if I were doubling it. And maybe cook it longer. There are no stupid questions. But there are stupid answers.
Teri says
I really enjoyed this bread pudding. I had pecans on hand and sprinkled about half a cup or a bit more over the bread before pouring the egg mixture over.
Jessica says
Adding pecans to bread pudding sounds delicious! So glad that you liked the recipe, thank you for sharing!
Celeste says
We all LOVE this recipe!!!! Thank you!!!
Jessica says
You are so welcome, and I’m so glad that you like the bread pudding too!! Thank you!
Katie F says
Made this tonight trying to replicate my favorite dessert which I get at a local restaurant, sweet potato bread pudding a la mode. I followed the recipe exactly, except that I roasted a whole red sweet potato and then cut half of it into small chunks, and added it as a middle layer between the bread chunks. I must say I was so pleased because now this recipe is my favorite dessert, even better than the restaurant’s version! Couple things I did were use sliced brioche bread. It was fresh from the store so I tore it up into small 1 inch pieces (not chopped into perfect cubes; I found this made a difference in absorption and texture) and baked at 350 degrees F for approximately 15 minutes, just once they’d stiffened and before they turned golden. Once I poured the custard over it all, I really pressed down on the bread so it was saturated. I followed another, more complicated recipe a couple nights ago trying to achieve the same thing and it was terrible, so to have absolutely nailed it with this one, I’m so so grateful to have found this super simple, easy, and trusted recipe! Thank you!!!
Jessica says
Wow!! Katie that’s so exciting to hear that you loved this bread pudding recipe and were able to use it to replicate your favorite!! Thank you for sharing and for the review!
Jill says
I baked a pan of it for Thanksgiving. It was so good. I’m making some more tonight!! I used sliced brioche bread. It was amazing.
Jessica says
So happy that you liked this bread pudding recipe, Jill! Thank you for sharing!
Joyce Zulkosky says
Followed the recipe for Vanilla Sauce but don’t know what went wrong. Butter browned, took off heat, added brown sugar n vanilla and mixed. Stayed lumpy and didn’t mix together. 🥲
Jessica says
Hi Joyce. It doesn’t sound like anything went wrong really! We like the bits of brown sugar that it has, to help contrast the softness of the bread! But the sauce is definitely optional, and the bread pudding without the sauce is delicious too!
Beth says
Can you make the sauce way ahead and pour on the pudding or put it on the bread pudding when serving?
Jessica says
Hi Beth! Absolutely! Honestly, we’ve made this bread pudding a lot without the sauce too. So that may be a good solution to see if the sauce is something you do/do not want!That way you can decide what you like better. 🙂