Old Fashioned Bread Pudding (+Video)
A classic recipe, this Old Fashioned Bread Pudding is easily made with chunks of French bread coated in a deliciously spiced custard! Perfect for a dessert, breakfast or brunch!
A CLASSIC AND EASY DESSERT
Bread Pudding has been a favorite sweet recipe for centuries. There are so many different flavors that you can make but this classic one is where you need to start. With only a small amount of ingredients, it is quick to put together and it works great as either a breakfast or dessert recipe. We like it for both and love it hot or chilled. It’s so good either way! So if you’ve never tried bread pudding before or just want to make a tried and true recipe, then you need to make this Old Fashioned Bread Pudding recipe.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
If you’ve ever been to the French Quarter, you will find this dish served everywhere it seems. Bread pudding, however, is not a New Orleans or an American “thing”. It has roots in England and many other countries have similar versions. It was simply a frugal and tasty way to use up stale bread.
No they are slightly different in their preparation. Bread pudding uses thick bread chunks (from French bread, challah or brioche) along with milk, eggs, spices and usually some sort of alcohol. Bread and butter pudding is made by spreading butter on top of a lot of smaller slices of bread. Usually just standard white bread. They are then placed into a baking dish and a custard like sauce is poured on top then baked. Similar concepts but different preparations.
Absolutely! If you still want the flavor of the alcohol in the bread pudding then you can add 1 Tablespoon of vanilla extract and 1 Tablespoon of rum extract or you can just use the vanilla if you are wanting to omit the flavor all together.
This can be stored covered in the dish or in an airtight container in the refrigerator where it will keep for up to 5 days. This can also be frozen, I recommend not freezing with the glaze. Wrap in plastic wrap and then a layer of foil and it will keep for up to 3 months. Let defrost in the refrigerator and you can reheat in the oven covered until heated through. Make your glaze and then serve.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST)
- butter
- French bread
- raisins
- milk
- eggs
- granulated sugar
- vanilla extract
- dark rum or whisky
- powdered sugar
HOW TO MAKE BREAD PUDDING:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 2-quart casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray. Cut or rip the french loaf into bite size pieces. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the 1/2 cup of butter and brown the bread. The bread will absorb all of the butter in the pan. Just continuously stir.
When all the butter is absorbed, pour the bread into the 2-quart casserole dish. Sprinkle the raisins evenly over the bread.
In a large bowl whisk together the milk, eggs, sugar, extract, and rum.
Pour over the bread and raisins in the casserole dish.
Bake for 1 hour, checking at the 40 minute mark. The casserole is done when the liquid is set, top has browned, and is pulling away from the side of the casserole dish.
To make the glaze, combine ingredients with a whisk and pour over the warm bread pudding.
If glaze seizes, microwave for 30 seconds and whisk again to re-melt the butter. Additional water or milk may be needed for a thinner glaze.
WANT MORE DELICIOUS RECIPES?
Old-Fashioned Bread Pudding (+Video)
Ingredients
- ½ cup salted butter
- 1 long loaf of French Bread
- 1 cup raisins
- 4 cups milk
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup dark rum or whisky (can use rum extract or skip it altogether)
Glaze:
- ½ cup salted butter, melted and cooled
- 2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Spray a 2-quart casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- Cut or rip the french loaf into bite size pieces.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the 1/2 cup of butter and brown the bread. The bread should absorb all of the butter in the pan. Stir continuously.
- When all the butter is absorbed, pour the bread into a 2-quart casserole dish. Sprinkle the raisins evenly over the bread.
- In a large bowl mix the milk, eggs, sugar, extract, and rum.
- Pour over the bread and raisins in the casserole dish.
- Bake for 1 hour, checking at the 40 minute mark. The casserole is done when the liquid is set, top has browned, and is pulling away from the sides of the casserole dish.
- To make the glaze, combine ingredients with a whisk and pour over the warm bread pudding. Then serve.
Video
Notes
- The glaze can be poured over the whole dish or over each individual slice.
- You can leave out the alcohol and replace with 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract and 1 Tablespoon rum extract.
- Various breads can be used for this such as french (like we used) brioche, challah and texas toast.
- This can be frozen, see tips above on how to do that.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Question on the glaze. Is there suppose to be milk/water along with the butter and powdered sugar? The recipe states that if glaze seizes, additional milk/water may be, or is that in case it seizes up.
The glaze is just melted butter and powdered sugar. If you feel it is too thick for your tastes, just add a little bit of milk or water to thin it out some. 🙂