This Best Bread Pudding is a classic dessert that turns leftover bread into a delightful breakfast treat with a luscious vanilla sauce. It’s a budget-friendly and scrumptious way to start your day!
I adore recipes that repurpose leftovers into completely new and delicious dishes. There’s nothing worse than wasting food! We try to eat all our leftovers, but sometimes it’s tiresome to eat the same meal repeatedly. For instance, after making Air Fryer Chicken Breast, I like to transform the leftover chicken into Marry Me Chicken Pasta or a tasty Chicken Salad the next day.
Easy Bread Pudding
Bread pudding is one of my favorite desserts! You might think it’s just bread with some eggs, but it’s much more than that. It’s about cleverly using up leftovers that might otherwise be discarded, and creating a delicious French toast-like breakfast casserole that’s easy and flavorful. The egg mixture turns the bread into a custardy delight, packed with warm, comforting flavors.
I love custard desserts like crème brûlée, and I also enjoy making French toast for my kids because it’s quick and keeps them full until lunch. This is why bread pudding is such a hit in my house—basically, it combines the best of both worlds. Also, you have to try this Crème Brûlée French Toast too! Indeed, you’ll fall in love with how simple and delicious this breakfast dessert is.
Ingredients
The beauty of this recipe lies in its simplicity and the use of ingredients you likely already have at home, including stale bread you might otherwise throw away. You can add extras like raisins, chocolate chips, cherries, blueberries, or nuts to customize it. Here’s a classic version with exact measurements in the recipe card below.
Bread Pudding
- Stale Bread: The bread should be dried for at least a day. Fresh bread will become mushy. If you don’t have stale bread, dry it out in the oven.
- Butter: Adds richness and helps the ingredients stick together.
- Eggs: Bind the ingredients and provide great texture and flavor.
- Milk: Creates a custardy base, similar to French toast batter.
- Granulated Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps achieve a caramelized color.
- Vanilla Extract: Enhances the dessert-like flavor.
- Cinnamon: Adds a warm spice that pairs perfectly with the dish.
- Cardamom: Offers a piney and fruity flavor that brightens the dish.
Vanilla Sauce
- Heavy Whipping Cream: The rich base for the sauce.
- Whole Milk: Helps thicken the sauce and adds creaminess.
- Sugar: Sweetens and thickens the sauce.
- Cornstarch: Helps set and thicken the sauce.
- Vanilla Extract: Enhances the flavors and provides the vanilla essence.
Bread Pudding Recipe
Bread pudding is simple to prepare and packed with flavor. It’s like the gooey insides of a cinnamon roll, but in a whole dish! This recipe fills an 8×8 inch pan; double it for a 9×13 inch pan.
How to Make Bread Pudding
- Prep: Preheat your oven to 350℉. Grease an 8” square baking dish with 1 tablespoon of butter.
- Cut: Cut your stale bread into 2” chunks and place them in a bowl.
- Mix: Melt the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter and pour over the bread. Mix to coat evenly and place in the buttered dish.
- Whip: In a separate bowl, whip the eggs for about 3 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.
- Pour: Pour the egg mixture over the bread, ensuring each piece is coated. Let it soak for a few minutes before baking.
- Bake: Bake for 30-45 minutes, until golden brown and springy to the touch.
How to Make Vanilla Sauce
- Combine: In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, combine whipping cream, milk, and sugar. Simmer while stirring until the sugar dissolves.
- Whisk: Whisk in the cornstarch until smooth, then reduce heat to low and cook until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes.
- Cool: Remove from heat, whisk in vanilla, and let the sauce cool slightly before drizzling over the bread pudding.
Types of Bread to Use
You can use any bread you have on hand, as long as it’s had a day to dry out. Here are some great options:
- Croissant: Flaky and buttery, croissant bread pudding is divine.
- Sourdough: Easier on the stomach with a tangy flavor.
- French Bread: Rich and chewy with a golden crust.
- Pumpkin Bread: Perfect for fall, with sweet pumpkin and warm spices.
Faqs
It’s because this dish uses a bread base and becomes soft and spongy after baking.
A traditional bread pudding sauce is made from a few simple ingredients: milk, sugar, vanilla extract, and cornstarch. Basically, these are the foundation ingredients. Additionally, variations of vanilla bread pudding sauce include rum sauce, bourbon sauce, caramel sauce, and lemon sauce. Indeed, each sauce offers a unique flavor profile. So, experimenting with different sauces can elevate your bread pudding experience. However, they all start with a base of milk, sugar, vanilla extract, and cornstarch. Accordingly, understanding these basics allows for creative variations
Using basic pantry ingredients and day-old bread (such as a rich egg bread or moist white loaf), this easy recipe can be served for breakfast or dessert with milk poured over it or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Pudding is essentially milk and cream, sweetened and thickened by a brief period of cooking on the stovetop or in the oven. Knowing how to make pudding from scratch is, indeed, like having the golden key to perfect desserts.
Bread Recipes
- Banana Bread Recipe
- Best Ever Moist Zucchini Bread Recipe
- Stuffed Bread With Potato
- Milk Bread Recipe
- Cheesy Garlic Bread
- TURKISH BREAD RECIPE
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Best Bread Pudding Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 cups stale bread cut into 2” pieces
- 4 tablespoons butter 1 for coating pan, 3 for pudding
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups milk
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon cardamom
Vanilla Sauce:
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- ½ cup whole milk
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉ and butter an 8” square baking dish.
- Place bread chunks in a bowl, pour melted butter over, mix evenly, and transfer to the dish.
- Whip eggs for 3 minutes, add remaining ingredients, and mix well.
- Pour egg mixture over bread, ensuring even coating. Let soak for a few minutes.
- Bake for 30-45 minutes until golden brown and springy.
Vanilla Sauce:
- Heat cream, milk, and sugar until simmering. Whisk in cornstarch until smooth, cook on low until thickened (about 5 mins). Remove from heat, stir in vanilla, cool slightly, and drizzle over bread pudding.
