Bread Pudding Recipe: An easy old fashioned recipe is the BEST! It 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 Buttery 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
Look at these easy ingredients… I mean, you probably already have all, if not almost all, of the ingredients on hand!
- 6 slices (or about 4-5 cups of broken bread pieces or cubes) of stale bread buns, french bread, rolls, donuts, challah bread, toast, or another type of bread
- 3 Tablespoons of butter 1 tablespoon + 2 Tbsp
- 4 Beaten eggs
- 2 cups milk (or feel free to try half & half or heavy cream if that’s what you have!)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
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!)
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 Buttery 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 Tbsp
- 4 Beaten Eggs
- 2 cups Milk
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Optional Buttery Vanilla Sauce
- 3 tablespoon butter salted (but unsalted is ok too!)
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Optional Creamy Vanilla Sauce
- vanilla sauce get my vanilla sauce recipe
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 Vanilla 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
- 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!
- What is day-old bread?
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 egg-salad 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. - Can you freeze bread pudding?
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. - Do you eat bread pudding warm or cold? You can enjoy bread pudding cold or warm, but if you prefer it warm after freezing/thawing, gently warm it to reheat.
- Can I prepare bread pudding the night before?
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. - How to store leftovers For best results, if you have left-over bread pudding, store 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.
Lori says
It tasted almost exactly as my mom used to make, she always added canned peaches to hers. I will be making it again only this time i know i need to double the recipe and use a 9x13pan. My bf ate almost all of the first one in one night.
Jessica says
Awww haha! I love that so much. Adding peaches sound amazing! You may also love this peach cobbler with canned peaches too!
Kara says
I used some sourdough bread that was getting stale, and it was perfection! That browned butter sauce on the top is the bomb! I think I might need to try it over pancakes.
Jessica says
Oh my gosh… trying the browned butter sauce over pancakes sounds absolutely DELICIOUS! What a great idea! I may have to add that to this pancake recipe! Thank you!
Stephanie says
My new favorite bread pudding recipe! So easy and everyone loves it!
Jessica says
This makes me so happy! I’m so glad you like this bread pudding recipe too! Thank you for sharing!
wilhelmina says
This turned out so good! We all had to go back for seconds. Saving this recipe for the holidays!
Jessica says
Right!? There’s something so delicious about this recipe that makes me go back for seconds (ahem, or thirds, haha) every single time! So glad that you all liked this easy bread pudding too. Thank you so much for sharing!
Alyssa says
Okay, let me know what I did wrong. I doubled the recipe so that I could make two, one with hot dog buns from the bakery and one with french bread. I did everything the exact same outside of the breads. The dish with cornbread is very “eggy” in flavor and texture, but the outside is delicious and nearly perfect. The dish with french bread didn’t completely absorb the liquid, but I went ahead and took it out of the oven because the top was getting burnt. The texture of the french bread on top is too crispy, but it also seems like this dish is lacking flavor. Thoughts? What breads did you all try that you loved?
Jessica says
Hi Alyssa! I’m sorry this didn’t turn out well for you. Did you use corn bread or hot dog buns?
Lynda Miceli says
I used stale whole wheat beard. I think I was successful because I let my bread soak in the mixture for 15 minutes, before baking, and I kept pressing the bread into the mixture, with a spoon. That could be a reason yours was so dry. I think it should be a regular addition to this recipe.
Amelia says
This recipe was so good and easy! Thank you so much!! It’s perfect for a chilly fall day like today! I am definitely having more tomorrow leftovers are the best!!! Thanks again for the delightful treat!!❤️😊
Jessica says
You are so welcome and I’m so glad that you liked this bread pudding and found it easy to make! Thank you for sharing! If you get time and don’t mind, I’d LOVE it if you could leave a “star-rated” review to help let others know too! You’re so great, thank you!
Matt says
Tasty and delicious!! A++++++
Betsy says
Had some dried out croissants and apple cider donuts. Absolutely delightful in this pudding! I definitely ate some for breakfast. And lunch. And snack….and then again for dessert after dinner… lol!!! I LOVE this stuff!
Jessica says
Haha!!! I can totally relate. I eat on it OFTEN when I make it. 🙂 Thank you so much for the review and dropping a note!
Natalie says
Ok, this is so good!! Love comforting desserts! Not hard to make at all!
Jessica says
Right?! I love easy desserts like this bread pudding! So glad that you liked it, thank you!
Krystle says
Bread pudding is my weakness. This is so decadently delicious.
Jessica says
I have to agree with you! Bread pudding is my weakness too! Thank goodness it’s so easy to make! 🙂
Rhonda says
Made this not expecting kids to even try it, they are very picky eaters, but they more than tried it, they loved it. I came into the kitchen late that night to find daughter getting another serving with ice cream. Will be making this again thanks for the recipe. BTW, I did add nutmeg however did not measure it vanilla or cinnamon so not sure how much.
Jessica says
Haha, I love that, thank you Rhonda! I’d LOVE it if you left a star-rating review too to help others know how much you liked it! I’m thrilled that your kiddos liked it too. Mine gobble this bread pudding up too. 🙂
Lori says
I’ve never had bread pudding before and I’m glad this is the recipe I stumbled across! It is wonderful! I made it following the recipe exactly with no additions. This bread pudding went well the the vanilla ice cream and my husband who was not sure about ANY bread pudding loved it. Thanks so much for the recipe.
Jessica says
Woo hoo!! I’m so excited that you and your husband loved this bread pudding as much as we do! It’s so easy too, right!? 🙂 Thank you for sahring!
Dee says
Great recipe!!! Very easy to follow and the entire family enjoyed it. I will definitely make it again!
Jessica says
That’s fantastic! I’m thrilled you loved this recipe. Thank you so much for letting us know and for leaving a review!
Angie R says
I made this tonight and letting it sit overnight. I plan on enjoying it in the morning!! Easy peasy recipe! I added dried cranberries to mine to give it a little umpf! 😜😍🤗 Thanks for the easy recipe!
Jessica says
Oh yum!!! If you think about it, I’d love to hear how you liked it after sitting all night! Definitely something I need to try. 🙂
Suzanne K says
Got this in the oven now with some leftover raisin scones. Do you put the vanilla sauce on while it’s still warm or after it’s cooked?
Jessica says
Oh yum! Using leftover raisin scones for this is such a good idea! We drizzle the sauce on after pulling it out of the oven, while it’s still warm! I hope that helps. 🙂
Connie says
Where’s the vanilla sauce?
Jessica says
Hi Connie! I had the recipe in the post but realized it wasn’t in the recipe card! Thank you for letting me know. I’ve updated the recipe card to reflect the vanilla sauce! 🙂 I hope you enjoy!
Leah says
Super easy, always have ingredients on hand, and delicious!
Jessica says
Yay!!! I feel the same way. Thank you so much for sharing and for the review!
Beth says
We absolutely loved this recipe! We love making this for breakfast and the kids love it. Such a great and easy recipe to throw together!
Jessica says
That’s an amazing treat for breakfast! Thank you so much for letting us know and for leaving a review!
Anna says
I make bread pudding every weekend and this is my favorite recipe! Super easy and perfect!
Jessica says
Oh I could go for bread pudding every weekend for sure! 🙂 I’m thrilled that you liked it, thank you!
Andrea Thueson says
I am a sucker for bread pudding and this recipe was perfect, super easy to make and full of flavor!
Jessica says
Woo hoo!! I’m so glad to hear it, thank you Andrea!
Tony says
I am new to the kitchen. My wife has Scleroderma and has become too sick to cook anymore, so I’ve taken up the cause. I have two major rules. 1. Do not poison anybody and 2. Find meals that are interesting and easy to make (or better said, hard to screw up.). Well I tried this and EUREKA!! Not only did it take nearly no time to put together, but it was easy and everyone really liked it!
Thank you for making me a star!
Jessica says
Awww, hi Tony! I am SO happy to hear this. I truly hope that the easy recipes here on the blog help so many! Praying for your wife and you, while going through this!
ANGEL says
Tony, I’m adding my prayers for your wife to know the ‘Healing Hand of our LORD GOD upon her and to work a ‘Miracle’ in her body. She has a great husband and friend in you!!! Amen & Amen
Kristyn says
Oh, how I love bread pudding! Soft, but crisp on the top & so good!
Jessica says
Absolutely!! I couldn’t agree more… thank you!
Marcia says
I add raisins to this. I typically soak the raisins for a bit and drain them well before adding them in.
Jessica says
Oh that’s so great to know, thank you so much for sharing how you add raisins to it!