This Bread Pudding is a simple dessert for the holidays or weekend brunch. Made with pantry staples and stale bread, this dish is delicious served with custard sauce, powdered sugar, or dessert syrup!
Easy Bread Pudding
Who would have thought you can turn stale bread into one delicious dessert! The English did centuries ago! Cooks always had a bowl on the table for bread scraps that will be turned into pudding. Now, this easy dessert is popular during Christmas, Easter, or any other holiday. You can make it for a special occasion or simply for weekend brunch.
So what is bread pudding? By definition, it is a dessert made with stale bread baked in a mixture of eggs, milk, sugar, spices, and dried fruit. It has been popular in England for centuries and now almost every cuisine has its version.
Ingredients:
- bread
- eggs
- half and half or whole milk
- sugar
- butter
- vanilla extract
- ground cinnamon
How to make Bread Pudding?
- Start by slicing your bread thick. Cut into cubes and let it sit overnight on the counter.
- Butter a 2-quart baking dish and preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Place bread in the dish. Mix all remaining ingredients in a large bowl and pour over the bread.
- Press it down with a spoon so every piece of bread gets soaked in the egg mixture.
- Bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour.
- Let the bread pudding cool for 15 minutes or so, then cut into servings.
- Dust with powdered sugar before serving or serve with syrup or sauce.
How to serve bread pudding?
Bread pudding can be served with custard sauce, dusted with powdered sugar, drizzled with maple syrup, caramel, or other dessert syrup.
What bread is best for bread pudding?
For this dish, you need thick bread that will soak up the egg mixture without falling apart. Drying it out or letting it go stale ensure this even more. I use brioche bread, French or Italian bread. I don’t trim the edges off, just simply cut slice it into thick cubes. I do not recommend sandwich bread or sourdough.
Variations:
- savory: add chopped ham and grated cheese to egg mixture, reduce the sugar amount; use Italian or French bread instead of sweet brioche;
- chocolate: add cocoa powder to egg mixture and chopped chocolate or chocolate chips to bread before baking;
- with berries: add frozen blueberries or raspberries just before baking;
- dried fruit and nuts: add cranberries, raisins, almond slices, pecan or walnut pieces;
Can I make bread pudding ahead of time?
You can assemble the pudding and refrigerate it overnight. The next day, while the oven preheats, let the dish with bread pudding sit at room temperature to warm up. Do not put a cold dish in a hot oven!
Can I freeze it?
Since bread pudding is made with eggs and milk mixture, it does not freeze well. The texture will change since it will have too much moisture from thawing.
Storing:
Any leftovers should be stored in the fridge since this dish contains dairy and eggs. Place it in containers with lids or cover with plastic wrap to ensure it stays fresh and doesn’t dry out.
Reheating:
You can reheat bread pudding in the microwave or toaster oven.
More dessert recipes:
For more recipes like this one, feel free to browse our Dessert category.
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Bread Pudding Recipe
Ingredients
- 14 oz stale bread about 5 cups cubed
- 3 cups whole milk or half and half see note
- 4 large eggs
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- butter for greasing the dish
Instructions
- Butter a 2-quart baking dish. A 13" x 9" casserold dish will work too.
- Place cubed bread in the dish. See note below on drying bread if yours is fresh.
- In a large bowl, mix eggs, half and half, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Whisk until the sugar is dissolved and eggs are mix well.
- Pour over the bread. Press bread down with a spoon so every piece is soaked in the egg mixture.
- Let the dish sit while the oven preheats to 350° Fahrenhite.
- Bake pudding for 55 minutes to 1 hour. Remove from oven and let stand for 15 minutes or so.
- Serve warm, dusted with powdered sugar or drizzled with dessert sauce, like custard sauce or caramel.
Notes
- If you have a fresh loaf of bread, slice it thick, then cube it into about 1" pieces. Spread them on a large baking dish and let sit on the counter overnight or bake in 200 degrees F for 10 minutes, or until dry.
- I highly recommend using half and half for this recipe. It adds richness since it's part cream. You can also use a combination of whole milk and half and half. I do not recommend skim milk.
- I use brioche bread, French or Italian bread. I don’t trim the edges off, just simply cut slice it into thick cubes. I do not recommend sandwich bread or sourdough.
- Please note, that the nutrition value can vary depending on what product you use. The information below is an estimate. Always use a calorie counter you are familiar with.
Rose says
I had leftover strawberry bread I needed to find a use for and I couldn’t find “the” recipe I needed, so this one was easy for me to adjust! My first first try came out to wet for me, so to this recipe I added almost 2 more cups of bread! After baking for about 30 minutes, I added 1/2 cup white chocolate chips so they didn’t completely disappear and I gave it a gentle mix to avoid getting the soggy center. For my taste, it was pretty good and I have no doubt it would have disappeared served to my family! Next time, maybe add only 1-1/2 cups of bread and increase the white chocolate chips to a cup! 🤷♀️🤷♀️
Beverly King says
Loved this recipe, although I made several substitutions. I used 4 JUMBO eggs, several of which had 2 yolks. And I used evaporated milk in place of the half and half. I really love Cinnamon so I increased it by 1/2 tsp. It had a very creamy consistency and the extra cinnamon worked out well I thought. I also mixed some confectioners sugar and enough milk to make a glaze like cinnamon rolls have. After these “tweaks” the entire thing was OFF THE CHAIN and completely gone in 30 minutes.
Michelle says
Mich from Maryland…Was Great for our Snowy day ,the kids just eat it up!&Very easy to make. Forever Greatful I found this recipe.
Anna says
Thank you so much, Michelle! I am so glad it was a hit!
Alisa says
This is perfect for using up the stale bread in the fridge! I had a cinnamon raisin waiting to be used! So good!
Anna says
Perfect! I just love how we can turn stale bread into this delicious dish! Thank you, Alisa!
Mary Tatem says
We had some Hawaiian sliced bread (similar in flavor to Kings Hawaiian rolls…which I am not crazy about) so I used it for this recipe (following the rest of the recipe, exactly) and it was GREAT. I may by that bread again just to use in this recipe
Claire Hoetker says
Hello!!
Quick question, is it recommended to leave the pudding covered or uncovered in the oven? I was thinking first half uncovered and second covered if needed. Excited to make this!
Juanita Quinones says
I try a lot of bread pudding recipe, but this one is the best bread pudding ever.
Anna says
Thank you so much, Juanita! I am so glad you love it!
Loraine Charles says
I am certainly going to try this recipe. I love bread pudding and always tried it on my own. But this recipe looks great! I look forward to tasting it.
Tatum Burke says
My absolute favorite dessert! It was so easy to make and delicious.
Allyssa says
This is really tasty and super easy to make! Fam loves it, will surely have this again! Highly recommended! Thank you so much for sharing this amazing bread pudding recipe! Well done!
Beth says
That looks so scrumptious. I can’t wait to try this. I wish I had seen it before I went grocery shopping. I am going to pick up the half n half on Wednesday.