This bread pudding recipe is easy to make with just a few simple ingredients. This is one of our family’s favorite recipes and is perfect served with a big scoop of ice cream!
Do you have any family recipes that you absolutely love? This bread pudding recipe is one that has been in Josh’s family for years and comes from his Grandmother Linda. Josh loves this recipe so much that his grandma used to bake it for him instead of a cake for special occasions. And honestly, I would choose this recipe over a cake any day too.
Speaking of Josh’s grandma, I really feel like I could write a million blog posts about how wonderful she was. She was such a kind person and had the best sense of humor. It was literally impossible to not crack a smile when you were around her.
My favorite memory of her was the time she got up on the dance floor at our wedding and danced like no one was watching. Although she’s no longer with us, one thing that we will always have is the memories and her amazing bread pudding recipe.
I mean, you know a recipe is good when it comes from grandma. Right?
To start this recipe you’ll need some bread, hence the name bread pudding. I like to use a loaf of challah bread when it comes to making this recipe. I think Josh’s grandma used slices of toasted white bread when she would make it. But, I really love challah bread in this recipe so that’s what I always use.
You do want to use day-old bread or bread that’s dry and doesn’t have much moisture in it. If your bread is still fresh or not dried out you can cube it into smaller pieces, place them on a baking sheet, pop it in the oven, and bake it for about 8-10 minutes. You don’t want to completely toast the bread, just dry it out.
Then you’ll whisk together some eggs, sugar, milk, vanilla extract, and spices. You’ll be using 5 whole eggs and 4 cups of milk, which may seem like a lot. Trust me, the first time I made this recipe I sat there wondering if it was too much. As it bakes the bread will absorb the liquid, so don’t worry.
As for the spices, there’s just a little bit of ground cinnamon and nutmeg mixed in. Whatever you do don’t leave them out! I feel like the spices, especially the nutmeg, really make this bread pudding.
Once you mix up the wet ingredients, you’ll pour it over the bread in your pan. Then you want to let it sit for about 15 minutes, so the bread can absorb some of the liquid before it goes into the oven. What I like to do is prep the bread pudding, then once I’m done I preheat the oven. I just let it sit and soak up the mixture while the oven preheats, which is usually right at about 15 minutes. Easy, peasy.
You do want to let it cool for just a little bit once you remove it from the oven so that it’s easy to handle. I really love this bread pudding served with a huge scoop of ice cream and some caramel sauce. But honestly, it’s delicious just by itself.
Grandma's Bread Pudding
Ingredients
- 1 loaf day-old challah bread cubed into 1-inch pieces*
- 5 large eggs lightly beaten
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 4 cups whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Spray a 9x13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Place the cubed challah bread into the prepared baking dish and spread it around into an even layer. Set aside.
- In a very large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, milk, vanilla, nutmeg, and cinnamon until fully combined. Pour the mixture evenly over the bread in the prepared baking pan, making sure all of the bread is coated. Allow to sit and soak up the mixture for about 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°F. Once the 15 minutes is over, place the bread pudding in the oven and bake at 350°F for 45-50 minutes or until the top is set.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before serving.
Great easy recipe! I used regular white bread, lightly toasted. 1/2 white and 1/2 brown sugar, and 2% lactose free milk. Turned out very yummy! Thanks.
I will try this one as I am lactose free
I made this today and it was great.
I loved how easy it was with things you usually have on hand!! Hate to throw good bread away! Great recipe!
How much sugar would I need if the bread I’m using is pretty sweet already?
It really depends on the bread you’re using, If it’s really sweet I would probably reduce the sugar down to 1/2-3/4 cup.
Could this be made in the crock pot
That would probably be fine, but I’m not sure how long it will take.
I have a lot of dietary restrictions, but it doesn’t stop me from making a bread pudding similar to this one. I freeze the ends of loaves of multi-grain gluten-free bread. When I have enough saved up, I make bread pudding, thawing them out in a 200 degree oven. Instead of milk, I use apple cider. I soak raisins in sweet cherry juice and add them in. Then I grate two apples, the zest of one orange, and juice the remaining orange pulp. And instead of sugar, I use stevia. Oh, and pumpkin pie spice. Right now I have two of these in the oven – visiting a friend on New Years Day and will be bringing her one. The whipped topping will be coconut based. Like I said, I have a lot of dietary restrictions, but it doesn’t stop me from eating this incredible bread pudding!
I love this, ty for sharing.
Question! Do you mind provide the approximate dimension of how big the bread loaf you use in this recipe ?
Thank you,
I’m not sure on the dimensions, but it comes out to about 10 cups of cubed bread.
Can this be frozen and rewarmed prior to eating it please? Thanks
Yes, absolutely! You can slice it up and freeze it for up to 3 months. You can warm it up from frozen in the microwave.
What about oven rather than microwave?
You can warm it up in the oven! I would warm it at a lower temperature (300°F) until it’s just warmed through.
I doubled this recipe and it came out great. I did modify just a tad. I tossed the bread with a few tablespoons of melted butter, then added milk and egg mixture. I SHOULD HAVE NEVER MADE THIS! The family won’t leave me alone now. “When are you going to make that bread pudding again?” Very good basic recipe. Thank you 🤗
Can I use regurlar 1% or 2% milk instead of the whole milk?
Yes, that’s fine.
Used as a suggestion more than a recipe. Didn’t have cinnamon or nutmeg, but used home made blueberry coffee cake from this morning and plain white bread. Used extra butter sprinkled the top of the pudding with white sugar and got a nice caramelized sugary effect on top and beautiful color from the extra butter. Looks incredible 😳
Turned out delicious! – but mine turned out very runny/mushy – not like the photos you posted. I had to serve it in bowls. Wondering where I went wrong? any thoughts?
Was it puffed up and firm to the touch when you took it out of the oven? If it wasn’t undercooked, it could just be that it was overcooked which can break the custard and cause it to be watery.
My daughter cuts regular generic white bread into small “tea” sandwiches for her birthday tea party business. Tons of left over white bread. Would this recipe work if she toasted the bread to dry it out? Any suggestions for modifications?
Yes, that would be fine! You’ll need about 10 cups of bread for the recipe.
What type glaze can you do with cream cheese?
You could mix together some cream cheese, powdered sugar, and milk to make a glaze.
Can you use mini pretzel buns with this recipe?
That would be fine, you may need a bit more sugar if they’re salty though.
How much-powdered sugar should i use with the cream cheese?
Do you mean for an icing? You could use the icing from my cinnamon roll recipe.
I love bread pudding. Here, in the south, like my Granny always did, I use leftover biscuits for the bread. Other than that, the other ingredients are the same.
Hi, I just made this for breakfast, my son rate it 7 though it was a little soggy.
I wonder why watery liquid releasing in the dish and little soggy! When removed from oven, it was puffed up, firm and bouncy to touch. Any advice?
If it was watery underneath, it’s possible that it may have been a little over baked, which can cause the custard to break. If you bake it again, you can try baking it for a little less time and see if that helps.
Could you tell me about how many cups of bread the loaf of challah bread converts to?
9-10 cups of cubed bread.
I tried this recipe and its the best! It was my first time doing it for guests and I received a lot of compliments. PERFECT bread pudding recipe! Thankyou!
I used pineapple upside down cake which fell apart after i turnded it over. I didn’t add any sugar to the custard. It made a wonderful pineapple bread pudding.
I’d love to try this recipe but need to make half the amount. Is it possible to provide this recipe half the size? Thank in advance for any help you can. provide
Thank you!
You can halve all of the ingredients (just use 2 eggs) and bake it in an 8-inch square pan.
I’m going to try it thank you
do I need to refrigerate the leftover bread pudding.
Yes, I recommend keeping it refrigerated.
Would pancakes work for this recipe?
I wouldn’t recommend it for this recipe.
Could I add soMe frozen berries? If so how much??
That should be fine, I would probably use able 1 to 1 and 1/2 cups. You may need to increase the baking time slightly too.
Hi is there a way to soak the ingredients overnight? Would that lead to a more set custard?
I haven’t tried it, but I imagine you could. I would let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes while the oven preheats if you refrigerate it overnight.
Hi, Can you tell me how to make this chocolate bread pudding. Thank you.
You could probably add some unsweetened cocoa powder along with the wet ingredients, but I’m not sure how much you would need.
So delicious. I had a lot of milk in fridge so this was a great way to use it up. I shredded two peeled apples and mixed it in with the cubed bread. Final step I added butter and sprinkle of sugar like another reviewer suggested and it turned out perfect. Only baked it for 45 min then let it coast in oven to cook rest. Came out perfect. Will use recipe again.
Danielle, I would like to use this recipe for a group of 50 adult people. Can I use an oven roaster and double the recipe?
Thanks for your help with this.
Hi, Nancy! I honestly haven’t tried it, but I think you could. I would just be careful not to over bake it as that can break the custard and cause it to be a bit watery.
This is outstanding!!! I put a scoop of vanilla ice cream and top it off with caramel sauce. I bake brown sugar bread and let it sit for a couple of days.
So good! Made them in muffin tins! Makes 24 and baked them at 325 for about 20 minutes.