Luscious comfort food at its decadent best! Treat your family to this easy classic Bread Pudding Recipe with Vanilla Caramel Sauce!
Bread Pudding Recipe with Vanilla Caramel Sauce is a rustic, Southern delicacy that mimics the famous New Orleans bourbon bread pudding recipe, minus the booze! Using Challah bread, butter, brown sugar, half & half, and currants and a 5-ingredient caramel sauce, this just might be the best bread pudding recipe ever!
Give Your Stale Bread New Life!
What can you do with stale bread? Make this fabulous, old-fashioned caramel bread pudding and turn that day-old loaf into a masterpiece for the mouth!
This sweet, pastry-like recipe needs dry bread to soak up all the custardy goodness! Trust me, after making this pudding you’ll never again want to throw away old bread! I use Challah (a sweet egg bread) for this recipe, but any bread that works for French toast makes great bread pudding, from Texas toast to sourdough to brioche. In fact, this bread pudding recipe is so delicious, it proves that stale bread can make an impressive comeback!
Other Recipes to Serve with Bread Pudding
- Bananas Foster Bread Pudding is another temptin twist on this New Orleans classic dessert!
- For the perfect after-dinner drink, make this Irish Coffee to enjoy with bread pudding!
Ingredients
Bread Pudding
Bread: Stale Challah (egg bread) soaks up the custard and bakes to perfection! Other white and sourdough breads will also work, so long as they are stale or dry.
Refrigerated Items: Since this is essentially a custard-like pudding, the recipe calls for eggs, half & half, whole milk, and unsalted butter. (Salted butter is fine if that’s what you have on hand.)
Pantry Items: Brown sugar and granulated sugar combine for a rich, sweet flavor that can’t be beat! You’ll also need vanilla for that rich flavor we all love. When it comes to the fruit, traditional bread pudding uses black currents, but you can use raisins instead if you prefer.
Bread Pudding Sauce
Pantry Items: Grab some more brown sugar, vanilla, salt, and a can of evaporated milk.
Butter: If you use salted butter, you can skip adding the 1/2 teaspoon of salt (if you want) or leave it in for salted caramel vibes.
How to Make Bread Pudding
STEP ONE: Grease a 9×13 baking dish with butter. Cut a loaf of Challah bread into 1-inch cubes and place them into the dish. Sprinkle with the currants all over the bread cubes and drizzle the melted butter over everything, but don’t mix yet. Set this aside.
STEP TWO: In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk until the yolks are broken up. Add half and half of the brown sugar, granulated sugar, milk, and vanilla, and gently whisk until combined.
STEP THREE: Pour the egg mixture over the bread and currants and let it soak in. Pat down the bread cubes into the mixture to coat them thoroughly. Let this rest for at least 1 hour. (You can even cover the dish and let it rest overnight in the refrigerator.)
STEP FOUR: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the bread pudding uncovered for about 35 minutes. Loosely cover the pan with foil and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
STEP FIVE: While the pudding is baking, melt 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup brown sugar in a sauce pan over medium heat. Stir constantly until liquid. Whisk in the evaporated milk and bring to a boil, again stirring constantly to prevent scalding. Remove from heat and add in the vanilla and salt. The mixture will be thin.
STEP SIX: Remove the bread pudding from the oven, take off the foil, and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Bread pudding is delightful, served both warm and chilled, and is even better on the second day! When you’re ready to eat, cut slices of bread pudding, plate them, and pour the vanilla caramel sauce over the top.
Tips for Success
- To check if your bread pudding is fully cooked, gently press the center of the dish. If liquid rises to the top, it needs a little more cooking time. If it’s slightly jiggly, it’s just right!
- If you only have fresh bread, simply spread the bread slices evenly onto a baking pan and “toast” it in the oven for 16-18 minutes at 200 degrees F. It should feel like toast but not be brown.
- If you like the top to be crispy, turn the oven up to 400 F and move the pan to the top rack for 3 – 5 minutes until it’s a nice golden brown.
- If serving warm, top with a scoop of ice cream (vanilla or butter pecan is amazing!). You can also add a drizzle of rum or bourbon over the top for the grown-ups to enjoy!
What IS Bread Pudding?
Bread pudding is a dessert that can also be a decadent breakfast! It’s a lot of bread and a little pudding, but not like the traditional creamy pudding that comes to mind. Bread Pudding is more like a custard tart or a baked French toast casserole.
Cubes of toast or stale bread are bathed in a creamy concoction of butter, eggs, sugar, milk and vanilla then baked to a soft custard finish. The edges are a bit crisp, the middle is soft. Bread pudding is usually topped with a sauce of caramel, vanilla, cinnamon or bourbon and can be enjoyed warm or cold!
Does Can You Put in Bread Pudding?
Other than the basic recipe ingredients like bread, butter, eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla required to make the pudding, this dessert can be eaten with just a simple, sweet sauce or it can be filled with other ingredients like raisins (the most popular), cranberries, pecans, cinnamon, fresh peach slices, or as in this recipe, dried currants.
It can also be served with a sprinkle of cinnamon, a scoop of ice cream and/or a garnish of fresh berries. This versatility is what makes Bread Pudding a year-round treat for both breakfast and dessert!
Other Delicious, Decadent Dessert Recipes!
- Chocolate Lava Cake
- Italian Tiramisu
- Snickers Chocolate Cake
- Kahlua Cheesecake
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Lasagna
*This post originally posted on 11/10/2017.
Ingredients
Bread Pudding
- 1 pound challah bread cut into 1-inch cubes (1 loaf)
- ½ cup raisins or dried black currants
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted
- 4 eggs
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 cups half-and-half
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Vanilla Caramel Sauce
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- 12 ounces evaporated milk (1 can)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Grease a 9-inch x 13-inch baking dish with butter. Place the bread cubes into the pan. Sprinkle the raisins over the bread and then drizzle the melted butter all over. (Do not mix bread cubes yet.) Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs until evenly beaten. Then whisk in the sugars, half-and-half, milk, and vanilla until evenly combined.
- Pour the egg mixture over the bread cubes. Gently press the bread down into the custard. Let that rest for at least 1 hour so the bread can soak up the custard.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake uncovered for 35 minutes. Then loosely cover the dish with foil and cook another 10 minutes. (Be careful putting the foil in place!)
- While bread pudding is cooking, make the vanilla caramel sauce. Place a medium saucepan over medium heat and add in the butter and brown sugar. Cook, stirring constantly, until completely melted. Whisk in the evaporated milk and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla and salt. Set aside.
- Remove the bread pudding from the oven, remove the foil, and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before serving. Cut into slices, pour vanilla caramel sauce over the top of each slice, and serve warm. (This bread pudding is even better the next day!)
Notes
- Nutritional information is based on the bread pudding being cut into 12 squares and topped with 2 tablespoons of vanilla caramel sauce. These numbers may vary depending on the slice of your slices and the amount of sauce poured over the top.
- To prep ahead, you can pour the egg mixture over the bread cubes, cover the baking dish, and let it soak overnight (up to 8 hours). Then bake as directed. I’ll prep in the morning and bake on Thanksgiving or Christmas when the oven is free, while we enjoy our dinner.
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