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?
- 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?
I do believe bread pudding originated in New Orleans. (Or at least, New Orleans is famous for its bread pudding!)
But 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:
- chocolate sauce
- caramel ice cream topping
- ice cream
- whipped cream
- candied nuts
- raisins
- 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
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 Tablepsoons
- 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 in. 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.
- 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.
Video
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.
PJ Osborne says
I made a couple of alterations. I put 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup of white. I just like brown sugar. What made it over the top was when I added pumpkin bread. OMG I don’t think I can make it without that pumpkin yumminess now! It was fantastic! I made it a little larger so I also added another egg to keep it nice and moist. This will be my go to bread pudding from here on out.
Jessica says
This sounds delicious! Love the idea of using pumpkin bread. I may have to use this pumpkin bread recipe to use in the bread pudding next time!
Diana says
Can heavy cream be used in place of milk or can I do half heavy cream and half regular milk? This is my absolute favorite dessert, snack, meal or whatever u call it…..thanks for the recipe!
Jessica says
Hi Diana! I’ve heard of others using heavy cream and saying it turned out, so I’d say go for it!
Denise says
This is my Mothers recipe and she always made the best bread pudding ever. I have drizzled Carmel on the bread pieces before I baked the bread. Then on top after baking. Really good.
Jessica says
Drizzling caramel on top sounds amazing!! Thank you so much!
Peggy St Marie says
The absolute best if you like bread pudding the way my Mother made it because this tasted just like hers. Beyond delicious
Jessica says
That is so sweet Peggy, I love that, thank you!
Richard Infantino says
Delish! Made this last night with leftover italian ciabatta and sour dough pieces. Bread pudding is one of my favorites and this is now our go-to recipe. Thanks!
Jessica says
Excellent!! Thank you for sharing and for leaving a review. I’m glad that you liked it!
Lauryn says
Honestly so good. Definitely add the raisins. I used 5 cups of bread and it was still really soft on the bottom with some crunchier pieces on top. 4 cups of bread would probably make the whole thing soft if crunchy on top isn’t what you’d like.
Cassandra Rose says
Thank you for the recipe. Do you do brown sauce and vanilla sauce? Or is it one or the other?
Jessica says
The bread pudding doesn’t have to have a sauce or you can pick the brown or vanilla! I believe some have done both but definitely not a must!
Gary says
Would like to watch the video on how to make the bread pudding but the ads get in the way
Jessica says
Hi Gary! I’m sorry to hear this. Are you saying that ads are actually covering the video? Or they’re playing instead of the video? I definitely don’t want them in your way so I’d like to be able to have that fixed if possible. thank you for letting me know!
Allison A. says
I made this last night using a chocolate chip brioche loaf and it’s amazing! Thank you for the delicious recipe!
Jessica says
Oh yum!! That type of bread sounds amazing, thank you for sharing!
Jo murray says
I added the zest of an orange into my sugar, mixing that in with my fingers for a bit before adding it to the eggs. I also enjoy a sprinkle of cloves in with the cinnamon, as well as finely diced bits of a sad apple that I peeled. Thanks for the guidance on a classic dish that I think originated in Old World Europe before it came to New Orleans.
Jessica says
Yum!! Love the idea of adding orange and cloves! Yes! I’ve actually heard that recently about Old World Europe as well! 🙂 Thank you for sharing!
Joanie says
Absolutely delicious. I used sourdough, and drizzled maple syrup I’ve the top instead of brown sugar. Perfect!
Jessica says
Oh yum!! That sounds delightful and almost like a breakfast dish! So yummy! Thank you for sharing!
Theresa Holmes says
My husband is away hunting so I decided to make this. I ate it all by myself! Will probably be mistaken for the turkey at Thanksgiving!!!! Gonna make a double batch tonight but not for me this time. Will freeze for Thanksgiving ! It is SOOOOOOOOO delicious!!!!!!
Jessica says
Baaaaahahahaha!!! Your comment made me laugh so hard! Thank you! I’m thrilled that you liked this recipe too!
B Wood says
Excellent. I have made this several times and doubled it. My variations are apple with carmel sauce, sometimes raisins and nuts. For Christmas I did an orange-cranbetrry with orange glaze. Winner! Thx
Jessica says
YUM! Love these ideas for this bread pudding, thank you so much for sharing!!
Althea says
To double use 8 eggs? Thanks!
MELISSA says
Adding apples? Maybe apples tossed with sugar and cinnamon?
Jessica says
Sounds delicious!
Denisetr. Yt. That keeney says
Used raisin bread a whole loaf fixed it like the recipe said came out perfect. Roommate said it it was gone in 15 minutes.
Jessica says
So happy to hear that you loved this bread pudding recipe too, thank you!
Michelle says
I only have a 9×9” baking pan. Will that still work?
Jessica says
Hi Michelle, it should. Just make sure the bread soaks up most of the egg mixture or if it’s puddling at the bottom it could turn in to scrambled eggs, since everything would be more spread out.
Angela Richards says
I’ve made this delicious bread pudding with all different sorts of breads. Topped with the brown sugar sauce. It’s fab everyone loves it hot or cold with custard or cream or sliced on it own.
Jessica says
So amazing! I’m glad that you like this recipe and thank you so much for sharing!
Melissa says
The first time I made this out was delicious, the second time I made it, I didn’t have any eggs, and found out I could use applesauce, 4 eggs would be 1 cup applesauce, it was extremely watery, next time I’ll try just 1/2 cup applesauce. It was tasty, but too watery for my liking.
Jessica says
Hi Melissa, thank you for sharing what you substituted for the eggs in case it helps anyone out there wondering too! But I can see how applesauce would make it watery for sure. Keep us posted if you try it again!
Tammy says
My Mom-in-law showed me how to make bread pudding but has dementia now and I can’t remember how she did it, so I was thrilled to find your recipe! She used any bread-type items they had left, doughnuts, rolls, and sandwich bread, and her recipe was very similar to yours! Then she cooked vanilla pudding to put on top while still warm! Yours came out delicious and very much like hers, so now I can make it for them! Thank you for sharing!
Jessica says
Awww, this makes me so happy Tammy! I’m thrilled that you’ve found a recipe that reminds you of hers. Thank you for sharing!
Katrina R Turner-Seitu says
Good recipe
Jessica says
Thank you Katrina! I’m glad that you like it!