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.
MrsH says
This made a really nice custardy pudding. I used cinnamon swirl brioche that I had stored in the fridge to make it stale. I did decrease the amount of sugar slightly since I wanted to add sauce and I didn’t want an overly sweet pudding.
I made a simple butter rum sauce by omitting the vanilla in your sauce recipe and adding in a tablespoon of a nice dark rum to the mixture. I let it cook down in a small skillet a bit before spooning it over the bread pudding. It was divine.
Jessica says
So glad that you liked it and thank you for sharing what you did differently! Sounds lovely!
Theresa P. says
I’ve made this recipe several times. I usually sprinkle a little nutmeg on top just before baking. I love raisins so I load them up. It’s so easy and so good warm or cool. I do agree with other comments that it is very sweet and you may want to cut back on the sugar.
Jessica says
Hi Theresa, thank you for leaving a review. I’m so glad you liked it!
Cherri says
I thought it had a good flavor and texture, but WAY too sweet. If I make it again, I’ll use about half the amount of sugar.
Deb says
Wow! Made as directed (used most of a french baguette I had from Aldis) with the brown sugar sauce. Poured sauce on top of the bread pudding and vanilla ice cream; decadent! A large batch of this will likely be on the menu for the next big holiday get together we host.
Jessica says
Oh that’s so wonderful to hear, Deb. Thank you so much for sharing, and I’m so glad you like it!
Roger Lizotte says
I like to add raisins and molasses makes a tasty topping.
Jessica says
Oh yum! This bread pudding is definitely a great recipe to add your favorites to. 🙂
Natasha says
I made this and it was amazing! I used bakery Kaiser rolls that were about to turn. The only thing I did different was added an extra teaspoon of cinnamon and replaced the vanilla with honey! I also added a teaspoon of nutmeg!!! It came out amazing!
Jessica says
Oh that’s so wonderful, and I’m so glad you were able to use up those kaiser rolls! 🙂 Thank you for sharing!
Marjorie Abell says
This is the bread pudding my mother used to make.. soo delish!! She added blueberries or raisins.. or whatever’s fruit she had on hand.. i am making this today.. now that we have a cool day…making lemon sauce to top it off!!!!
Jessica says
Awww, yum! A lemon sauce for bread pudding sounds incredible. Thank you for sharing. 🙂
Robby says
My first exposure to bread pudding was a couple of years ago at a business function, which was included as the dessert selection during our catered dinner. That very well could have been my first and last time to ever touch bread pudding. But I believe in second chances, and I decided to make it myself recently using this recipe. I am so glad that I did. Not only was it super-simple in terms of ingredients and instructions, but the end result was absolutely moist, rich and surprisingly light. I opted to top mine with a buttered rum sauce, but I am sure the sauce options given here would have been equally good. This is now among my Top 5 favorite dessert recipes of all time. Fantastic!!!
Jessica says
Oh my goodness, I’m so glad you gave it another chance too! Yay, that’s fantastic, and I’m so happy to hear it. Thank you for letting me know. 🙂
Laura Russell says
Everyone loved it! Doubled the recipe, and it was still half gone by the end of the day! Will definitely make it a regular. Thank you for the recipe!
Jessica says
Oh my goodness that’s so great to hear! Thank you so much Laura!
Neenah says
The lady is going to fast when she is giving the ingredients. I missed some of them 5 eggs brown sugar white sugar6 tabs butter cinnamon 1 and a half cups of milk 2 teaspoons vanilla
Sara Blankenship says
Bread pudding was my daughter’s birthday “cake” choice this year for her 14th. It did not disappoint and I sparkled it up for her special day with sprinkles!
Jessica says
Oh that’s so great! I’m so glad you all loved it, thank you so much!
Daniel says
Had about a dozen mini croissants that were starting to turn. Cubed them, followed your recipe, except I was out of white sugar and substituted for light brown sugar. Almost baked it too long at 35 minutes. Drizzled the brown sugar topping and added a scoop of vanilla ice cream, Excellent! This recipe is staying with me. Thank you
Jessica says
I’m so glad you liked this recipe, Daniel! Thank you so much for sharing what you did!
Shaukat Ashai says
So far the best bread pudding recipe.
Jessica says
I’m so glad you liked it, thank you so much!!
Renee Molloy says
Made one small change. Used 1/2 brown sugar and 1/2 white sugar. I took this recipe along with German vanilla sauce to a party. Someone remarked…..”Bread pudding? What’s up with that?” Before the night was over I had people asking me for the recipe and one lady said, “That is the best bread pudding I have ever tasted.”
Jessica says
Awwww, that’s so great, Renee! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a note and share that with me. I’m so glad you liked it!
Pat says
May I ask, what is German Vanilla Sauce vs Creme Angliese?
I just made this pudding and waiting to taste the results. I added raisins, Valencia orange peel, a bit of nutmeg and some Cointreau because who doesn’t love the flavor of orange? ( I tend to do this to my chocolate chip cookies too.)
Kristi says
It’s ok but is bland. I wish I had noticed that the recipe didn’t call for salt. I added a bit to the finished pudding, which improved its flavor, but it would be better to have it in the custard.
Sussie says
Made this July 5th and took it to my daughter and her family for Sunday dinner dessert.
It was a hit!!! Everyone loved it!!!
I doubled the recipe because I know everyone was going to want seconds and I was right.
Thank you for sharing. Be Blessed💐
Jessica says
Oh that’s fabulous, Sussie!! Thank you so much for sharing and I’m so glad that you all liked it!
Melissa says
Just made this because I had a bunch of bread pieces left over due to they where too big for the toaster. This recipe is delicious and my 4 and 6 year old picky eaters asked for seconds! I did modify it some and used 3/4C coconut sugar in place of standard sugar and an extra splash of vanilla. This is personal preference and I was taking a chance of it not tasting the same but it’s just like the pudding I remember as a child. 10/10 recommend! Thank you!
Jessica says
Awwww, that’s so great Melissa! I’m so glad that you all liked this bread pudding recipe too! Thank you for sharing!
Sylvia says
I like mine more custardy. Maybe too much bread in mine. Good taste.
Jessica says
Glad you liked it, Sylvia!
Cha Cha says
Sooo good and not too sweet… I added some dark chocolate chips as well.Only because I had some leftover from another recipe and and yes made this recipe so so good.
Jessica says
Oh good!! I’m thrilled that you liked this bread pudding, thank you!
Nadine says
I’m confident it will be a 5 star recipe. Making for my 91 yr old dad for Father’s day. Question. Is it best to use full fat milk or would any milk suffice? Or even cream lol?
Jessica says
Hi Nadine! Any milk should work! I’ve had some comment that have said they’ve used cream as well!