Old-fashioned Bread Pudding

Old-fashioned bread pudding is the very definition of Scrumptious! Our heirloom recipe is simple, easy, and extremely adaptable. Perfect for brunch or dessert.

Jump to:

• What's the Story on Bread Pudding?
• Bread Pudding Ingredients
• How to Make Old-fashioned Bread Pudding
• Variations
• Storage
• Top Tip
• FAQ
• Related Recipes
• Old-fashioned Bread Pudding

What's the Story on Bread Pudding?

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. 

Bread Pudding Ingredients

Basic Bread Pudding

• Eggs: We use USDA large eggs (EU size medium).
• Brown sugar: We prefer to use light brown sugar, but dark brown sugar will also work just fine.
• Dairy: You can use milk, half-and-half, or even an alternative milk (e.g., oat, almond, rice, etc.)
• Sugar: Use regular granulated sugar.
• Vanilla: Use vanilla extract or vanilla paste.
• Spices: Use the spices you love! Our default combo for bread pudding is the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg warm-spice trifecta.
• Salt: We use kosher salt.

★ 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. 

Flavor Additions (optional)

• Raisins
• Orange zest
• Dried cranberries
• Chopped dried fruits (e.g., apricots, pineapple, mango, etc.)
• Chocolate chips
• Coconut
• Nuts
• Fresh or dried berries

How to Make Old-fashioned Bread Pudding

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 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.

Variations

We like Options. We like to change things up from time to time, and bread pudding is no different. Once you master the basic recipe, you'll find yourself coming up with all kinds of combinations of your own.

Cinnamon-Raisin Bread Pudding: Add golden raisins or raisins and extra ground cinnamon.

Cinnamon-Orange Bread Pudding: Add golden raisins, fresh orange zest, and extra ground cinnamon.

Cranberry-Orange Bread Pudding: Add dried cranberries and fresh orange zest.

Cranberry White Chocolate Bread Pudding: Add dried cranberries and white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate pieces.

Storage

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.

Top Tip

If you don't have enough stale bread to make a big batch of bread pudding, make some Bread Pudding Muffins instead!

FAQ

Related Recipes

Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to warm bread pudding for some next level dessert deliciousness!

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Originally published May 6, 2014. This post has been updated with new content, images, and recipe directions to improve reader experience.