Bread pudding, also known as French Toast Casserole, is what all your cozy weekend breakfast dreams are made of. It’s basically bread soaked in a sweet and creamy custard, then baked to perfection. The edges of the bread get deliciously crispy while the inside stays moist and custard-like. It’s so much easier than cooking individual slices of French toast in a skillet, and it’s a great way to use up leftover stale or day-old bread. Win-win! So let me show you how it’s done.
Is Bread Pudding for Breakfast or Dessert?
There are many, many different versions of bread pudding, some of which are downright decadent. You’ll even see it on the dessert menu in a lot of restaurants across the south (usually drenched with a delicious bourbon sauce). The version I’m presenting here is the kind I grew up eating for breakfast. It has milk instead of heavy cream, fewer eggs, and a lot less sugar. The addition of applesauce to the custard also keeps things a little lighter and more toward the breakfast end of the spectrum. All of that said, I would still consider it a sweet, special occasion type of breakfast.
What Kind of Bread to Use for Bread Pudding
It’s important to use a hearty bread for bread pudding rather than a soft white sandwich bread. Softer bread will disintegrate in the custard and won’t give you the nice toasty edges on top. Bread pudding is the perfect way to use up leftovers from your loaves of Italian bread, baguettes, or any hearty artisan loaf you may have. And if you don’t have enough leftover bread from one loaf, tear that bread into pieces, pop it into a freezer bag, and save it in the freezer for later when you do have more bread!
What Else Can I Add?
The classic apple cinnamon flavor of this bread pudding is a great base to add even more flavor. You could toss in a handful of walnuts or pecans, or maybe even some dried cranberries. If you want more texture in your bread pudding, try chopping up a fresh apple and stirring that into the mix. If you want to go more toward the dessert route, you could top your bread pudding with a cream cheese icing or caramel drizzle!
Apple Cinnamon Bread Pudding
Servings 6Ingredients
- 6 cups bread pieces ($1.98)
- 2 cups milk ($0.80)
- 4 large eggs ($0.84)
- 1.5 cups applesauce, divided ($0.89)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract ($0.28)
- 1/3 cup sugar ($0.11)
- 1 tsp cinnamon ($0.10)
- 2 Tbsp butter ($0.18)
- 1/3 cup raisins (optional) ($0.36)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF. If your bread is not already in pieces, tear or cut the bread into one-inch pieces.
- Spread the bread pieces out on a baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes to slightly dry the bread. After baking, let the bread cool for a few minutes to allow the remaining steam to evaporate.
- While the bread is drying in the oven, prepare the apple cinnamon custard. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, 1 cup of applesauce, vanilla extract, sugar, and cinnamon.
- Transfer the par-baked bread to a large bowl, add the raisins, then pour the apple cinnamon custard over top. Stir to combine and allow the bread to soak for at least 15 minutes to absorb all of the custard.
- Meanwhile, use 1 teaspoon of the butter to grease the inside of a two-quart casserole dish. Transfer the soaked bread to the casserole dish and spread it out evenly. Cut the remaining butter into chunks and sprinkle it over the bread pudding.
- Bake the bread pudding for 45 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 160ºF.
- After removing the bread pudding from the oven, add the remaining ½ cup applesauce in dollops on top of the bread pudding. Serve warm.
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Nutrition
How to Make Bread Pudding – Step by Step Photos
Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Tear your bread into one-inch pieces. You’ll need about 6 cups of torn bread.
Place the torn bread pieces on a large baking sheet and bake in the preheated 325ºF oven for about 10 minutes to dry it out. Let the bread pieces cool for a few minutes after baking. This will allow the rest of the steam to evaporate and dry the bread further.
While the bread is drying, prepare the custard. In a large bowl, whisk together 2 cups milk, 4 large eggs, 1 cup applesauce, ⅓ cup sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 1 tsp vanilla extract.
Place the dried bread cubes in a large bowl along with ⅓ cup raisins. Pour the custard mixture over top and then give everything a stir until all of the custard has been absorbed by the bread.
Set the mixture aside and allow the bread to soak in the custard for at least 15 minutes.
Use one teaspoon (out of the 2 Tbsp total) to grease the inside of a two-quart casserole dish. Transfer the bread pudding mixture to the casserole dish and spread it out evenly. Cut the remaining butter into small pieces and sprinkle them over the bread pudding.
Bake the bread pudding in the 325ºF oven for about 45 minutes, or until it’s brown and crispy on top and the internal temperature reaches 160ºF. After baking, spoon the remaining ½ cup applesauce over the top.
Cut into six pieces and serve warm with a drizzle of maple syrup or a sprinkle of powdered sugar on top!
This turned out amazing! I used brown sugar as others suggested. Made it dairy free using oat milk and plant-based butter. Turned out great!!
I used stale bread and it was perfect!! Also very customizable. The sweet taste of recycling 😉
We made the bread pudding this weekend with a partial loaf I had thrown in the freezer. I added one diced up apple to the mix and the results were delicious!
Can I use stale bread in this recipe? If yes, I don’t have to dry it in the oven right?
Correct! If it’s already stale, it should be dry enough. :)
Would challah bread be good in here?
Yes :)
How could you freeze and reheat this without bread being too soggy? Or would you not recommend to do that?
Well, bread pudding has a fairly soggy texture to begin with (it’s bread soaked in custard), so I don’t think it will get significantly more soggy if frozen and reheated.
Truly amazing recipe. Made it with applesauce made from fallen apples from the woods and some leftover bread from a charity event, eggs of my own hens, couldn’t be cheaper. Will try with honey next time, but is already perfect. Thanks :)
made this tonight – very good. i did add apple chunks (peeled the apples), which i think was a good idea. i’ll try w/ brown sugar next time.
love this web site a lot!
The brown sugar substitution was a huge success – thanks for a great dessert recipe!
I *almost* put chunks of apples in it but then got lazy :P It was smooth applesauce so maybe you’re seeing the edge of one of the bread chunks? Either way, apple chunks or chunky applesauce would be awesome in/on this!
Are those chunks of apples I see? Maybe your applesauce is just chunkier than mine. :)
Thanks for the quick reply! I’ll try it with brown sugar and let you know how it turns out. :)
It’s really better with golden raisins I think. =)
yes, two thoughts: a) that would be DELICIOUS and b) why didn’t *I* think of that?! I love it when people share their ideas, thanks!!
This looks delicious! Any thoughts on using brown sugar instead of white?