For more classic desserts, try our strawberry rhubarb pie, peach cobbler, and chewy peanut butter cookies. If you’ve never tried an old-fashioned bread pudding recipe, it’s a real treat. It’s a bit like a cross between french toast and rice pudding but in the form of a decadent casserole. It’s a great recipe to make when you’re hosting because it can be prepared up to a day ahead of time. You can also easily double it if you’re serving a crowd. It’s typically served for dessert but works well as a sweet breakfast, too. It’s truly the best bread pudding recipe, and it’s a wonderful dessert with warm flavors that tastes especially delicious around the holidays. We love it best right out of the oven, and tastes just like our grandma used to make! Bread pudding is a bread-based dessert made from stale bread and a mixture of milk, eggs, and butter. The bread is soaked in the liquid and then baked until golden. While it’s more commonly made sweet and enjoyed as a dessert, it can also be made savory and served as breakfast strata. This easy bread pudding recipe uses a simple, universal list of ingredients. If you have some day-old bread laying around, it’s perfect for this recipe!
Here’s everything you need for the bread pudding:
White bread – any day-old white bread is perfect for this recipe. It can be sourdough, crusty french bread, regular sliced bread, or even challah or brioche. You can tear it or slice it into bread cubes. Raisins – plump raisins are a classic bread pudding ingredient. You can also use other dried fruit like dried cranberries, dates, or even apricots. Eggs – eggs are an integral part of what becomes the custard. Whole milk – whole milk helps give this pudding its creaminess, but any milk or non-diary alternative will work. Granulated sugar – granulated sugar dissolves easily and adds the right amount of sweetness. You can also use cane sugar if you’d like. Melted butter – melted butter adds moisture, richness, and flavor. Cinnamon + sea salt
Here’s what you need for the delicious bourbon cream sauce:
Heavy cream – heavy cream makes this sauce incredibly rich and creamy. Flour – for thickening the sauce. Sugar – granulated sugar makes this sauce sweet. Bourbon – you can save your really good stuff because any kind of bourbon works for this recipe. Sea salt
There are lots of ways you can add to this basic bread pudding recipe. Here are some of our favorite add-ins:
Give it some crunch – if you like a satisfying crunch, nuts are a wonderful addition. Walnuts and pecans are our top nut choices. Switch up the dried fruit – raisins are a classic bread pudding ingredient, but other dried fruit like dried cranberries, chopped dates, or even apricots work too. Make it boozy – add a few tablespoons of bourbon to the milk and egg mixture for more boozy flavor! Chocolate bread pudding – swap the raisins for chocolate chips for all the chocolate lovers in your life.
Serve this easy bread pudding with bourbon cream sauce as a sweet dessert after a delicious meal. It’s one of those ultra-cozy desserts that taste great warm, especially around Thanksgiving and Christmas. You can also swap the bourbon cream sauce for a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
It tastes great with coffee too, so you could easily serve it as part of a festive brunch spread alongside other breakfast dishes.
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