Old-fashioned bread pudding is the very definition of Scrumptious! Our heirloom recipe is simple, easy, extremely adaptable. Perfect for brunch or dessert.
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What's the Story Behind this Recipe?
Classic bread pudding is a delicious way to use up old bread. Growing up, if any part of a loaf of bread went stale, my mom would never even think of throwing it out. Waste not, want not. Instead, she would make one of my all-time favorite desserts: bread pudding.
As an adult, I adopted Mom's thrifty practice of saving old bread. I keep a large resealable bag in the freezer, and whenever we have a lone slice of bread or a part of a loaf goes stale, I throw the extra bread in the bag. When I have enough, I make bread pudding.
Our easy bread pudding recipe is full of sugar and spice and everything nice - and the recipe almost impossible to flub. The foundation recipe (i.e., Basic Bread Pudding), even without any additions or sauces, makes a perfectly delicious dessert just as written.
What Goes into this Recipe
Ingredients for Cinnamon-Orange Bread Pudding include orange zest and raisins. ↑
★ Bread: You don't need to be picky about the kind of breads that go into your bread pudding. (I mean, that's kind of the point, right?) I do like to use a variety if I have it, though. Don't be afraid to use breads with unique flavors or textures, either! Rye bread is one of my favorite breads to use.
How to Make this Recipe
Preheat oven to 325°F | 163°C. Grease a large, heavy baking dish with a thin coating of butter, or spray it with cooking spray.
A 10" cast iron skillet is my preferred baking pan for this recipe. However, you can use whatever works best for you: a 9x13 baking or casserole dish is another good choice.
Cut bread into ¾" - 1" cubes. (You should have roughly 10 cups of bread cubes.) Put the bread cubes into buttered baking pan or dish. Sprinkle dried fruit and/or baking chips over bread cubes (i.e., raisins, dried cranberries, white chocolate chips, etc.). Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk 7 eggs until frothy. Add sugars to beaten eggs and thoroughly whisk together.
Whisk in ground spices (i.e., cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg), salt, and vanilla. If you are using orange zest, mix it now as well. Mixture should be a thick, eggy syrup.
Stir in milk (or half & half). Pour the egg mixture over the bread cube mixture in the pan.
Press it down a little with your hands. You should see a little of the liquid rise up in between the bread cubes.
At this point, if the bread pudding seems really dry, I will mix up another egg with about ¾ cup of milk and drizzle that over the top. It really depends on the density of the bread you are using.
Allow everything to rest for about 20 minutes to give the bread cubes time to absorb the egg mixture.
Bake 45-60 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly browned. Insert a toothpick or skewer into the bread pudding – it should come out clean.
Allow bread pudding to cool on a wire rack.
I usually loosely tent it with aluminum foil to keep it from losing too much moisture as it cools.
Optional: When bread pudding has mostly cooled, drizzle with 1 to 1½ cups of the cooled, prepared Cinnamon Whiskey Butter Sauce or other bread pudding sauce. Reserve any remaining sauce.
When you are ready to serve the bread pudding, heat the reserve sauce slightly and serve on the side as you would syrup for pancakes.
Refrigerate any leftovers.
Recipe Variations
We like Options. We like to change things up from time to time, and bread pudding is no different. It all just depends upon the extras you throw in.
Cinnamon-Raisin Bread Pudding
- golden raisins or raisins (As always, raisins are optional)
- extra ground cinnamon
Cinnamon-Orange Bread Pudding
- golden raisins or raisins
- fresh orange zest
- ground cinnamon additional
Cranberry-Orange Bread Pudding
- dried cranberries
- fresh orange zest
Cranberry White Chocolate Bread Pudding
- dried cranberries
- white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate pieces
Once you master the basic recipe, you'll find yourself coming up with all kinds of combinations of your own.
FAQs & Expert Tips
If you don't have enough stale bread to make a big batch of bread pudding, make some Bread Pudding Muffins instead!
Bread Pudding Sauce is totally optional. However, adding it will take your bread pudding to the next level!
Our Spiced Whiskey Butter Sauce is absolutely scrumptious over warm bread pudding! The sauce can made with whiskey, rum, or alcohol-free; Traditional Cinnamon, Cinnamon-Orange, and buttery Vanilla Sauce.
Bread pudding should be refrigerated within 2 hours of serving. Leftover bread pudding can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
You can also freeze bread pudding, tightly sealed, for up to 4 months.
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Old-fashioned Bread Pudding
Equipment
- 1 cast iron skillet or casserole dish
Ingredients
Basic Bread Pudding
- 1 pound day-old bread roughly 10 cups, cubed
- 7 large eggs
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ cup white
- 4 cups milk or half & half
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
For Traditional Cinnamon-Raisin Bread Pudding
- ½ - ¾ cup golden raisins or raisins (As always, raisins are optional)
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon additional
For Cinnamon-Orange Bread Pudding
- ½ cup golden raisins or raisins
- 1½ teaspoons fresh orange zest
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon additional
For Cranberry-Orange Bread Pudding
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- 1 teaspoon fresh orange zest
For Cranberry White Chocolate Bread Pudding
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ½ cup white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate pieces
OPTIONAL
- 1 batch Cinnamon Whiskey Butter Sauce or other Bread Pudding Sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F | 163°C. Grease a large, heavy baking dish with a thin coating of butter, or spray it with cooking spray. A 10" cast iron skillet is my preferred baking pan for this recipe. However, you can use whatever works best for you: a 9x13 baking or casserole dish is another good choice.
- Cut bread into ¾" - 1" cubes. (You should have roughly 10 cups of bread cubes.)Put the bread cubes into buttered baking pan or dish. Sprinkle dried fruit and/or baking chips over bread cubes (i.e., raisins, dried cranberries, white chocolate chips, etc.). Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk 7 eggs until frothy. Add sugars to beaten eggs and thoroughly whisk together. Whisk in ground spices (i.e., cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg), salt, and vanilla. If you are using orange zest, mix it now as well. Mixture should be a thick, eggy syrup right now. Stir in milk (or half & half).
- Pour the egg mixture over the bread cube mixture in the pan. Press it down a little with your hands. You should see a little of the liquid rise up in between the bread cubes.At this point, if the bread pudding seems really dry, mix up another egg with about ¾ cup of milk and drizzle that over the top. The amount of egg-milk mixture you need really depends on the density of the bread you are using.
- Allow everything to rest for about 20 minutes to give the bread cubes time to absorb the egg mixture.
- Bake 45-60 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly browned. Insert a toothpick or skewer into the bread pudding – it should come out clean.
- Allow bread pudding to cool on a wire rack. I usually loosely tent it with aluminum foil to keep it from losing too much moisture as it cools.
- If you are adding a whiskey, rum, or vanilla sauce (Optional)When bread pudding has mostly cooled, drizzle with ⅔ of the cooled, prepared sauce. Reserve the last ⅓ of the sauce.
- When you are ready to serve the bread pudding, heat the reserve sauce slightly and serve on the side as you would syrup for pancakes.
- Refrigerate any leftovers.
Notes
Bread Pudding Sauce is totally optional. However, adding it will take your bread pudding to the next level! Our Spiced Whiskey Butter Sauce is perfectly scrumptious over warm bread pudding! Variations: Traditional Cinnamon, Cinnamon-Orange, and alcohol-free buttery Vanilla Sauce, and can be made with whiskey, rum, or alcohol-free.
Nutrition information includes the "Basic Bread Pudding" recipe ingredients only. It does not take into account additional ingredients listed in the recipe options (i.e., dried fruit, baking chips, etc.) or ingredients in the Cinnamon Whiskey Butter Sauce.
Nutrition
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate, complete, and useful.
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Originally published May 6, 2014
Erin @ Platings and Pairings says
All of these bread pudding variations sound so good! Can't wait to dive into each and every one of them!
Marlynn says
I am loving all of the different options for this bread pudding! And that cinnamon whiskey butter sauce is totally mandatory in my hungry opinion 😉 So much yum in one dish!
Renée ♥ says
We are in complete agreement about the Cinnamon Whiskey Butter Sauce!
Tisha says
The butter sauce is what really caught my attention! I love bread pudding but this butter sauce sounds like the perfect addition!
Renée ♥ says
Oh my gosh - this butter sauce will change your life!
Ashley says
This looks heavenly! What a great use of bread too. I grew up freezing our bread if it was on the verge of being stale too!
Renée ♥ says
Those thrifty practices our parents taught us are starting to come in pretty handy these days, aren't they?
Capri says
This Bread Pudding is so Savory, sweet, and perfect! My family loved it! Thanks for the great recipe
Amber Myers says
Oh yum, this looks so good! I love bread pudding so I can't wait to make this.
Mirlene says
This bread putting is amazing. Filled with so much flavor. Makes you want more after each bite.