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 3-ingredient brown-buttered vanilla sauce, or this vanilla sauce for bread pudding, to drizzle on top!
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 3-Ingredient Brown Sugar 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 3-Ingredient Brown Sugar Sauce:
You’ll need the following, everyday ingredients:
- butter (I used salted but unsalted butter works just fine!)
- brown sugar
- 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, I add in a tablespoon or so of brown sugar, and a teaspoon of vanilla extract.
Stir to combine and remove from heat. Let rest about 1-2 minutes, use the whisk to mix up the brown sugar and butter mixture and pour on top of the cooked bread pudding.
The little chunks of brown sugar candied and let a bit of a crunch, which was the PERFECT addition to this soft texture that the bread pudding has. (You can see how it turns out with the sauce, in the image below.)
How to Make Vanilla Sauce for Bread Pudding
Get the creamy vanilla sauce recipe if you prefer a creamier option, instead of the buttery vanilla 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 Sauce
- 3 tablespoon butter salted (but unsalted is ok too!)
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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.
- Then, I add in a tablespoon of brown sugar, and a teaspoon of vanilla extract.Stir to combine and remove from heat. Let rest about 1-2 minutes, use the whisk to mix up the brown sugar and butter mixture and pour on top of the cooked bread pudding.The little chunks of brown sugar candied and let a bit of a crunch, which was the PERFECT addition to this soft texture that the bread pudding has.
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, although using both may be incredible!
- 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.
Candice Hall says
Hey I’m getting ready to make your bread pudding I like your recipe but I notice there’s no rasins? I was wondering why I’ve always had it with rasins and I have ended up with a lot of dried cranberries do you think they would be a good twist or maybe not so much?
Jessica says
Hi Candice! I don’t actually like raisins in bread pudding that much but there have been a lot of readers still put them in, and it turns out great. I believe there have also been others who have used cranberries and they’ve loved it too! Go for it!
Carmen says
I made this last night using Pepperidge farm cinnamon bread and I think it’s the best bread pudding I’ve ever made! I didn’t make any sauce, I just had it with whipped cream and my daughter had it with ice-cream. Deliciousness! Thank you for the recipe!
Jessica says
You are so welcome! I know it… the bread pudding doesn’t even need a sauce, it’s that good!
Daniel Leys says
Grew up in a big farm family where stale bread was readily available, so this bread pudding was a regular event, but haven’t had it for ages. This delicious treat brought me back to my childhood, and oooh those kitchen smells! Thanks for the trip down memory lane! Wonderful!
Jessica says
Oh I’m so glad that this recipe brought back memories! Thank you so much for sharing!
Rebecca Ramirez says
A friend made this bread pudding recipe for my family and we loved it. She was kind enough to share this recipe she used.
Jessica says
Awww, please tell your friend thank you for sharing, and I’m so glad that you all loved it!
Jill Guest says
I am making this tonight using stale cinnamon buns so far smells delicious I am letting them sit overnight so we can have it for breakfast tomorrow morning I will let you know how it works out
Jessica says
Hi Jill! That would be fantastic! Thank you!
Steph says
I just love this recipe 😋 apart from tasting yummy it helps use up my stale bread and the last of my eggs before I go shopping again
Jessica says
YES!! Isn’t that great!? I’ve used so many different types of bread for this recipe! Thank you for sharing.
Ess Ess says
I had a bunch of brioche hamburger buns that expired yesterday so I decided to find a fast and easy recipe for bread pudding. Many recipes that I found looked really bland without any spices in them at all. This looked perfect.
It cooked up beautifully. I decided to give it about 7 extra minutes because it was still looking a little wet in the middle and I think it turned out exactly right. I intended to make the brown sugar sauce, but my husband and I ended up just diving right in and eating it plain. I didn’t think he liked bread pudding so I was planning to enjoy the whole thing, but he grabbed the first piece and raved about it. Definitely a keeper. Maybe next time it will last long enough to make the sauce topping.
Jessica says
This is so great to hear, thank you so much. I’m glad you liked this bread pudding recipe too!
Alyssa says
I have never made bread pudding before, and I made this recipe with trader joe’s pumpkin cinnamon challah bread and thinly sliced fresh peaches. It was absolutely delicious and super easy. Thanks!!
Jessica says
Woah… using pumpkin cinnamon challah bread sounds incredible. Thank you for sharing!
Linda Turner says
I used Challah bread that has raisins in it. I want to leave it in the fridge overnight and bake right when I get up in the morning around 7am. Never made bread pudding a little concerned leaving it overnight will make it to mushy when it cooks. Can you give me any advice?ty.
Jessica says
Hi Linda! So sorry, just seeing this! I hope it turned out great for you. I don’t see why it would be bad, doing that. 🙂
Magymae says
I made it and my family and I loved it. Sorry I didn’t notice I could have added bourbon but will do next time. Loved it!❤️ I made the brown butter sauce and added chopped walnuts to it, it was yummy,
Magymae says
I made it and my family and I loved it. Sorry I didn’t notice I could have added bourbon but will do next time. Loved it!❤️
Jessica says
I’m so glad that you all enjoyed it! I’d love to hear if you add bourbon next time!
Sandie Sharp says
I am sorry. I am 57 years old and every where I have ever went and they say we have cold bread puddin’ I have to ask how di ya make it? When they say sliced bread, I say I am sorry, not to be rude but I will pass. I was raised on cold bread puddin’ home made with the biscuits, home made from breakfast that mornin’ I can’t tell ya measurements cause I didn’t learn any. Just a pinch here a dash there. But that is real bread puddin’ you should try it you wouldn’t go back to any other bread slice. Thank you
Jessica says
Hi Sandie. You can absolutely use different types of bread, as I mentioned in the post. 🙂 Have a great day!
Maryann says
Can I add chunks of apple to this.
Jessica says
Hi Maryann! I haven’t tried this yet but I’d love to hear if you do. I’m not sure how long it would take for the apples to become soft… in case that’s something to consider.
Maren says
Just used our stale pumpkins doughnuts in place of the bread and lessened the sugar and might I say this is a new fall favorite! Thank you!!!
Jessica says
Oh yum!!! Reducing the sugar was a great idea, since you used already sweetened bread!Thank you so much for sharing!
Alicia says
Absolutely divine!!! I’ve always loved bread pudding but never found a recipe that was so easy and simple like this on. This was my first time making bread pudding and it came out perfect and it’s so delicious. Thank you so much
Jessica says
Oh I’m so happy that you liked this bread pudding recipe too! Thank you so much for taking the time to share that you did!
Donna Hernandez says
Can you add pureed/canned fruit? Banana, blueberries, strawberry..etc
Would the cooking time vary?
Thanks
Donna
Jessica says
Hi Donna! I haven’t personally added pureed/canned fruit to this so I don’t want to tell you for sure. However if you take a stroll through the comments, you may find that someone else has tried this – as so many try different variations of this bread pudding a lot!
Janet says
I always use fresh fruit. As an example, blueberries, raspberries, any fruit you wish. I use 1 1/2 cups of milk instead of the 2 cups the recipe calls for. I also add a few more tablespoons (little daubs,) of butter. I use 1 cup of brown sugar as well. I love it this way.
Jessica says
So wonderful to hear, Janet! Thank you for sharing!
Sammie says
Can I use an 8×8 glass baking dish?
Jessica says
Absolutely! That’s what I use!
Lori says
I made this after seeing it yesterday! It’s already gone, and hubs is bringing home more bread and eggs today 🤣 Sooooo good!!
Jessica says
Haha, I love this so much. Thank you for sharing!
Jackie says
Absolutely delicious and so easy to make! Thai recipe is perfect
Jessica says
Hi Jackie! Thank you so much for sharing that you liked this bread pudding recipe. Thank you for sharing!
Nancy says
It’s in the oven now.