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.
Linda potras says
This
Rae Lynn says
I got a little carried away with my Christmas baking and ended with a loaf of sweet Christmas bread with chocolate chips. I decided to make this bread pudding with it; using craisins instead of raisins. I used monkfruit/allulose sweetener instead of sugar it was fabulous and a huge hit with everyone. Thank you for sharing
Jessica says
That’s so lovely to hear, thank you so much for sharing!
Helen Mary Jean says
It was delicious just like my mother use to make , simple easy recipe top it with vanilla ice cream , yummy
Paula says
We enjoyed your bread pudding recipe. The only changes I made was to use coconut sugar and I heated the brown sugar butter drizzle in the microwave, it bubbled over and I lost about half the drizzle, but no one noticed. The drizzle still covered the top of the bread pudding and added great flavor. Thank you for a wonderful recipe, I will make it again and again!
L M Lopez says
Made this bread pudding this evening using overcooked homemade gingersnap muffins and the vanilla sauce. Absolutely delicious. Everyone (6 in all) loved it!
I used unsweetened almond milk instead of milk in the bread pudding recipe and soaked my cubed gingersnsp muffins in the liquid for 30 minutes before pouring into the baking dish.
I halved the sugar in the vanilla sauce so it wouldn’t be so sweet. It tasted great.
I topped with homemade whipped cream when served. Superb!
Jessica says
Yum! That all sounds so delicious, thank you for sharing what you did!
Sonja Stanley says
I have made this bread pudding recipe for several years. I absolutely love it. But my favorite part was the brown butter sauce at the end, this recipe it seems different. I’ve never used milk or cream in the butter sauce. Also, before there was little chunks of crispy brown sugar in the sauce, there’s none of that with this recipe. Have you changed it? never before have I used milk in it and I really miss the chunky bits of brown sugar.
Jessica says
Hi Sonja! Great question. I did update the recipe recently simply because so many said they weren’t happy with the bits of brown sugar in the sauce. But really, the only thing that changed was making the heavy cream an optional add-in! 🙂 So if you want to make it the old way, brown the butter, and then added in the brown sugar and vanilla, and it should be as you like! I hope that helps!
Debra Nava says
Well, I can never make this again unless it’s for a big crowd because I might eat the whole thing! I used a couple of cinnamon rolls I got from the clearance shelf at the bakery and some of the Cuban bread from Sam’s, a little less sugar and only two eggs because my hens lay giant eggs. I did the Brown sugar butter glaze. I have made bread pudding before, but this is now my favorite recipe.
Jessica says
Oh Debra, I’m so happy to hear that, and thank you so much for letting me know. You’re so funny, and I can totally relate to having to get rid of it as soon as possible. Haha!
Bev says
Made this bread pudding and it was delicious. FYI I added blueberries and the fruit made it taste even more moist.
Jessica says
Oh that’d so wonderful to hear, Bev. Thank you so much for sharing and letting me know.
Sarah says
For the brown sugar drizzle, is it possible to replace it with white sugar or no?
Jessica says
Hi Sarah! I haven’t tried that specifically but I’d definitely make sure it dissolves so it’s not too grainy if you do try it!
Lori says
Very good. I used the vanilla cream sauce. It was a hit. Thank you for sharing.
Jessica says
I’m so glad that you liked this bread pudding too, Lori! Thank you!
Robin Lee Horne says
The recipe was easy to make, but the knife wouldn’t come out “clean” no matter how long I baked it. Is it supposed to be gooey in the middle? It was springy, like it said, but still gooey.
Jessica says
You just don’t want the knife to be coated in the mixture, if that makes sense? It will have a wetter, more than a dry texture but you don’t want the knife soaked, if that makes sense. If the middle is runny/soaked, it may be because the bread wasn’t dry enough to soak up the mixture. I hope that helps!
Jill Burkoff says
This bread pudding is absolutely delicious! This year I’m making for Thanksgiving so the rest of the family can share in its deliciousness. Thanks for sharing!
Jessica says
That’s so amazing to hear and I’m thrilled that you love it. Thank you for sharing it with your family!
Jessalyn says
If I want to double the recipe for a 9×13 dish. Do I simply double everything? I didn’t want it to be too soggy.
Jessica says
Hi Jessalyn! I’ve seen a lot of people in the comments say that they’ve doubled the ingredients for a 9×13. I’d just be cautious that the cook time may differ a bit so keep an eye on it! 🙂
Bonbon says
Oh my gosh~what can I say?? This bread pudding is simply amazing!!! I have always wanted to make it but never tried it & so today I did!!! Oh goodness it is a keeper & I will DEFINATELY be making again!!! Thanks for the recipe
Jessica says
That makes me so happy and I’m thrilled that you liked it too, thank you!
Joanne says
This is delicious! Do you have a Pumpkin Bread Pudding recipe?
Jessica says
Thank you! I have a sweet potato casserole bread pudding recipe but not a pumpkin recipe – but it’s definitely something that could be done! Here’s the sweet potato casserole bread pudding just in case: https://fantabulosity.com/sweet-potato-casserole-bread-pudding/
Gavin says
Great recipe, my mom’s one of the best cooks I know, and this tasted a lot like her recipe. It’s really hard for me to duplicate my mom’s cooking, when I first moved out on my own, that’s the first thing i realized just how much I took it for granted. I wish she’d write her recipes down, it’s like pulling teeth trying to get them from her over the phone. A dash of this, with a pinch of that, and you put it in the oven until it’s golden brown. LoL, thanks, for making an easy recipe, that tastes great. We preferred the vanilla sauce, my GF, said her mom made it the other way so I made both.
Jessica says
Oh my goodness, haha! You’re so funny. I’m so glad you liked this bread pudding recipe, and that it reminds you of your mom’s! 🙂 You made my day.
Cecilia says
I’m making this recipe again, but this time double. My daughter and I loved it. Your recipe is easy to follow, it’s not to sweet either. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Jessica says
You’re so welcome, Cecilia. Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know that you liked it!
Marisa says
The bread pudding itself is delicious. I made the brown sugar sauce to go on top and unfortunately, the brown sugar just ended up coagulating in the sauce so I dumped the butter on it and the brown sugar seemed to just plop into a couple of spots. I was expecting it to drizzle. Just be aware if you use the sauce. Otherwise, I’d use this recipe again and maybe try the vanilla sauce.
Juanita Leach says
Great and easy recipe taste just like the Amish country cooking
Jessica says
I’m so glad that you liked this bread pudding too, thank you so much!
LuAnne says
I made it with some leftover yeast rolls. Haven’t tried it yet but it looks and smells yummy! Do you pour the vanilla sauce over the whole pan or do it separately for each serving?
Jessica says
Hi LuAnne! Oh I’m so glad. That’s completely up to you. If it’s the vanilla sauce, I usually do individual servings. I hope that helps!