Old Fashioned Bread Pudding Recipe

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Who doesn’t love a great Old Fashioned Bread Pudding recipe? No other dessert makes me feel as homey as bread pudding and this one is amazing!

Who doesn't love a great Old Fashioned Bread Pudding recipe? No other dessert makes me feel as homey as bread pudding and this one is amazing!

Old Fashioned Bread Pudding Recipe

Enjoy this guest post from Hilary! Want to guest post on LHL? See here for details.

When I was starting to create my first home, I moved eight hours away from my family. Every time I would get homesick, I made bread pudding. I spent several weekend evenings cubing up loaves of cheap white bread and trying to bake up the familiar taste of home.

I still love bread pudding after much has changed since those nights in my apartment. Through the years, I’ve learned how to make the perfect bread pudding. I don’t make it as often as I did, but I enjoy a much better-tasting bread pudding when I do.

Here are some of the things I’ve learned along the way that will help you make a delicious bread pudding from the start.

bread pudding

Choosing bread for your pudding

The key to a good bread pudding is choosing a good bread. I like to use a loaf of homemade bread, but specialty bread, like cinnamon swirl, is good too. Be sure you choose a yeast bread – a quick bread won’t work for this recipe.

It helps if the bread you use for this homemade bread pudding is stale. If your bread is still fresh, you can simply toast it a little in the oven. After it’s toasted (or stale), cube the bread and set them aside.

What’s a water bath?

For this recipe, we’re going to be using a water bath. This process is used in baking to prevent some foods from cracking or as in this case, becoming rubbery.

Make sure you choose a baking dish for your bread pudding that will fit inside of another dish.

Creating a water bath is an easy process. Nestle your baking dish inside a larger dish, then carefully pour water into the outside baking dish. Being careful not to spill, place the two dishes in your oven and bake according to the directions. Be especially careful when taking the hot dishes out of the oven when the baking is finished to prevent splashing that can burn you.

Chocolate Chips

Choosing add-ins

Bread pudding is tasty just with good bread and cinnamon sugar. But add-ins can create a fantastic taste. Here are some delicious add ins you could try:

  • Chocolate chips
  • Raisins
  • Toffee Chips
  • Walnuts
  • Banana slices
  • Berries
  • Chopped Apples

Now that we’ve got some of the basics out of the way, let’s get started baking!

Ingredients in Old-Fashioned Homemade Bread Pudding

  • Butter. You can use salted or unsalted but if you used salted you can leave out the salt in the rest of the recipe. A vegan buttery spread would work in place of regular butter if needed.
  • Milk. This works best with a whole milk (even cream!) but you can also use a milk alternative for a dairy free version.
  • Eggs. These are essential and help keep everything together!
  • Sugar. Regular white sugar is needed for this recipe. I haven’t tried it with any alternatives.
  • Vanilla extract. This can be Homemade Vanilla Extract or store bought.
  • Cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, cloves. These are your needed spices for this recipe.
  • Cubed bread. This can be homemade or store-bought but a good hearty bread is necessary!

milk and butter

Instructions for How to Make Bread Pudding

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Grease a casserole dish. (Remember to choose one that will sit down inside of another one for the water bath baking process.)

Heat 2¼ cups milk and ¼ cup butter over medium heat to get started.

In a separate bowl, mix 2 eggs, ½ cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon salt, and a sprinkle of nutmeg and cloves.

Cubed loaf bread with the mixture

Cube the loaf of bread and arrange it in a casserole dish. Stir in the egg mixture, then pour the warm milk mixture over the bread cubes.

Place the casserole dish inside of a larger dish and pour water into the larger dish to create a water bath.

Carefully place the two dishes into the oven and bake for 40 minutes.

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Old-Fashioned Homemade Bread Pudding

Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Keyword breadpudding, oldfashionedbreadpudding

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup butter
  • cups milk
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • Sprinkle of nutmeg
  • Sprinkle of cloves
  • 6 cups of cubed bread

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. Grease a casserole dish.
  3. Heat 2¼ cups milk and ¼ cup butter over medium heat.
  4. In a separate bowl, mix 2 eggs, ½ cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon salt, and a sprinkle of nutmeg and cloves.
  5. Cube bread and arrange in a casserole dish. Stir in the egg mixture, then pour the warm milk mixture over the bread cubes.
  6. Place casserole dish in a larger dish and pour water into the larger dish to create a water bath.
  7. Bake for 40 minutes.

Bread pudding on a plate

Extra Frugal Tip: You know I’m always looking for ways to make the most with what I have and save money, so I wanted to pass on this frugal tip! You can save your unused bread and bread heels to use in this recipe! Just pop them in the freezer and save them until you’ve collected the equivalent of a loaf (about 6 cups) and pull them out to make a delicious (and frugal!) bread pudding!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

More Old Fashioned Recipes

Have you made bread pudding before? What food brings you the taste of home?


Guest Post from Hilary Bernstein. Hilary is a Christ follower, wife, mama and writer who believes homemaking should be simple … not stressful. She writes about creating a happy, healthy home at HilaryBernstein.com. Hilary is also the author of several healthy living eBooks.


This Old Fashioned Bread Pudding Recipe was originally posted on Little House Living in November 2015. It has been updated as of September 2023.

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39 Comments

  1. I have always loved bread pudding..hubby not so much. We ate it often growing up. I am sure it was economical to feed 8 kids,and we had the ingredients on the farm plus mom’s homemade bread. I guess hubby’s family didn’t eat it. Maybe I will make some and try it out on him again!

  2. In Australia I callings bread and butter pudding also a childhood favorite, we butter the bread and spread it with Jam (I think you call it jelly) then cut it up, usually only sprinkle the top with nutmeg. Yum I’m going to make it now for tonight. Thanks,

  3. Looks tasty. Baked red velvet cake. Very moist, & living up to it’s namesake, very velvety! We really enjoy the idea of getting a dose of manganese while satisfying our sweet tooth; did I mention the color?It’s breathtaking! You’ve really nailed this cake! Scientifically & satisfying. Well done lady! Can’t wait to try the Bread Pudding!

  4. Hi Hilary, Your bread pudding sounds wonderfully delicious! I love chocolate chips in bread pudding! Thanks for sharing your recipe! Blessings, Janet

  5. Breadpudding is definitely one of my all time favourite deserts, but I’ve always made it the way my grandma does, which seems to be quite different from how you do it – definitely going to have to try this recipe the next time I make some!

  6. Oh man…I need to make this like yesterday! 🙂

    I would love for you to share this with my Recipes, Crafts, Tips and Tricks Facebook group.

    Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!

  7. Your pudding is making me hungry! Loving this and definitely pinning and stumbling it too!
    Thanks for sharing this with us at the DI & DI Link Party. Have a great week!

  8. Oh YUM. It’s been way too long since I’ve made bread pudding!! I’ll need to try this recipe! ??

  9. I’m coming over from Wonderful Wednesday Link up and I found this delicious recipe! I have to try this one! Thank you so much for this inspiration! I love traditional old-fashioned recipes and I think, they have to be carried on!
    Have a nice day!
    Greets from Northern Germany!
    – Emmi

  10. Forever ago, when I was growing up, my mother made custard bread pudding.This was back during the war years of 1940’s and later. As kids, my brothers and sisters (and me), loved this. I have never been able to find a recipe for it. Does anyone know how to make this, perhaps the generation from the war years? I would really love to be able to make this. It was delicious. Thank you.

  11. We absolutely love this dessert. I save the heals of my bread and put them in a baggie in the freezer and when I have enough, I make this dish!!

  12. Can I print some of these recipes out and if so how do I print them because I don’t see a printer picture anywhere
    Thanks

    1. Hi Marcella, at the top (or bottom) of the post, there should be a Print Button next to the social sharing (facebook, twitter, etc) buttons. Let me know if you don’t see it!

  13. This looks and sounds delicious, so I’ve made it with a few adaptations. I used Peppridge Farm Cinnamon Swirl bread in place of white bread. When I had it ready to go in the dish, I put it in a greased 8 x 13 baking dish and skipped the water bath altogether. Baking it at 350 for 30 – 35 min, when the toothpick comes out clean. Smells wonderful!

  14. Made this for my husband tonight since it is one of his favorites and it turned out great! He loved it! It was my first time ever making bread pudding and the recipe couldn’t have been easier. I used brioche bread. Thanks!

  15. Made this tonight and added a splash or two ? of amaretto. Served with warm buttery amaretto sauce. Omg ! So good ! Thank you ! Almost a foot of snow on the ground in beautiful east Tn. This was perfect and warmed us up after shoveling snow.

  16. My fiancé asked me to Make him some bread pudding, I found this recipe and thought I can make this so I did. I made a few changes to it to try and evenly spread the sweetness of it. I used half & half instead of milk, cinnamon swirl bread 2 teaspoons of vanilla, after assembly I sprinkled a cinnamon sugar and nutmeg mix on top, very lightly. Turned out great, he couldn’t wait to dig in.

  17. Thank You so much for posting a recipe that’s made the way my Grandma did. No sauce just a great bread pudding. Can’t wait to make this!

  18. I made a recipe on Pinterest for St. Patrick’s Day, Blue Ribbon Irish soda bread. It made a big loaf and came out great! (I posted a picture). I’m going to use your recipe but cut up the loaf instead of plain bread and add diced apples. I think it will be delicious! I’ll post a picture.

  19. Can I make this in the slow cooker? Do I use less liquid if adding apples? How much should I add? Do you smush 6 cups of bread or losely measure it? I never made it and honestly never had it but it looks delicious. I already got my bread cut and toasted to harden.

  20. I use raisin bread and add more raisins which I have soaking in rum and wine and left the bread to “soak” overnight. When baking, I put them in cupcake cups for individual servings as they were for a friend’s funeral.

  21. My mom used to make chocolate bread pudding, but never had a recipe. How would I make this into chocolate bread pudding?

    Thanks,

    Cyndi

  22. 4 stars
    In the UK we call it bread & butter pudding. The recipe I use for our bread pudding is below. Half a loaf of bread (stale or fresh), put in large basin & put water in to cover the bread, squish it with your hands and then drain the water out, getting out as much water as possible. put in several handfuls of sultanas and about 2 1/2 teaspoons of ground mixed spice. with a spoon thoroughly mix everything together and put in ovenproof container ( mix should be about 1 1/2 -2 1/2 inches in height. Put little dollops of margarine or butter on top & sprinkle with a little bit of sugar. I usually put in oven at 200, (400 on other cookers) bake until brownish, the remaining water evaporates quite a bit. eat cold. ENJOY!!

  23. What a great idea about saving up the heels in the freezer! The water bath was a helpful hint, too. Thanks, Merissa!

  24. I cannot wait to try your recipe,made bread pudding many times ,I seems to bake nicely it puffs up,but take it out of oven ,then collapses.
    It also seems mucky once cooled its quite heavy. It tastes good just the texture.
    I noticed you pour the wet ingredients over top then bake it ,I have always stirred it altogether that may be why mine comes out the way it does
    I agree a more dense bread would work better Thank you for all you do for all of us.
    Any comment on this to improve things here ,TIA

  25. I have a question about the preparation. When you say stir in the eggs then pour the milk and butter over the bread, does that mean stir the eggs into the bread or into the milk and butter? Probably a silly question, but I definitely want to try this recipe and want to do it right the first time. Thank you.

  26. 5 stars
    This is the closest I’ve found to Mom’s bread pudding. She would give us a bowl, with 1/2 cup of cold butter and tons(?)of confectioners’ sugar. Our job, keeping us busy for a long time, was to mash it up until we could scoop it like ice cream, onto the warm pudding to melt. I’ll make her some to see what she thinks.

  27. I thought that I always hated bread pudding bc I thought the texture would be gross. Well, there is a steak house in Childress, TX that serves bread pudding after every meal. The waitress was very persistent in convincing me that the pudding was delicious and that I would absolutely love their pudding. By-golly, she was spot on, and the same with my husband. We love their bread pudding. I’m so going to try this recipe. Now, I’m just a dummy, but do I pour the eggs over the bread before the other mixture or do I mix all of it together before pouring it over? I missed that part. Thank you so much!

  28. My mother used to make bread pudding from time to time. She said it was a staple during WW2 rationing when one wanted to avoid waste or stretch the food budget a bit more. Her version was made with condensed milk, cinnamon and raisins. Seeing your post made me think of my childhood.