Our 15 Best Bread Pudding Desserts
Ooey, gooey bread pudding is one of our favorite desserts. Happily, it's also one of the simplest to put together, and it's a great make-ahead choice for a crowd. It has the added virtue of being an ideal way to use bread that's just past its prime; the drier the bread, the more custard it can absorb. Here is our collection of luscious bread pudding recipes, including variations with berries and brioche, guava and cheese, and croissants and caramel.
Guava and Cheese Bread Pudding
Pastry chef Paola Velez adds guava and cheese to the canon of iconic duos. This classic flavor combo takes a star turn in a dessert that Velez describes as "if flan and bread pudding had a baby, and it's delicious." The recipe features a lavish custard made with what might seem like an excess of evaporated milk, but makes for an utterly dreamy texture in the final product.
Bread Pudding with Irish Whiskey
Chef Andrew Zimmern's whiskey-spiked bread pudding is an amazing dessert for all occasions, especially St. Paddy's Day. Choose a soft, rich white bread such as challah or brioche.
Dulce de Leche Bread Pudding
This gooey bread pudding made with caramel-like dulce de leche from Latin America is so much more than the sum of its five parts. To add even more flavor, throw in a handful of fresh or frozen raspberries or blueberries before baking.
Caramel-Croissant Pudding
"We Brits consider this 'pudding,'" says cookbook author and TV star Nigella Lawson of her buttery, sweet dessert. "Think bread pudding, only so much more luxurious. When I make this for supper, we eat nothing else. Why would one need to?"
Apple Bread Pudding
Gail Simmons rescues dense, dull bread pudding by sautéing the apples in brandy and butter, then soaking both the fruit and brioche in lots of vanilla custard before baking.
Chocolate Ganache Bread Pudding
A fast and easy way to make the port caramel sauce is to reduce the port in a saucepan until it has the consistency of syrup, then add store-bought caramel sauce and warm through.
Berry-Brioche Bread Pudding
To help balance the irresistibly crispy top, sprinkle the baking dish with turbinado sugar to give the bottom of the pudding a delightful crunch.
Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding with Espresso Whipped Cream
"This recipe was created over a breakfast of — what else? — Krispy Kremes," says chef Govind Armstrong. The espresso-infused whipped cream makes a brilliant, and equally decadent, topping.
Banana Brioche Bread Pudding
Sweet bananas and buttery brioche come together in this cozy dessert. It's served with fudge and butterscotch sauce to take it over the top.
Cinnamon-Raisin Bread Custard with Fresh Berries
Chef Bradley Ogden's 1987 recipe for ultra-rich bread pudding is perfect for dessert or brunch. It can be prepared with store-bought bread, but it's best made with a fresh bakery loaf, sliced 1/2-inch thick.
Chocolate Bread Pudding
This warm, rich bread pudding from chef Andrew Zimmern is a great crowd-pleasing dessert for the holiday season, or anytime you want a hit of intense chocolate. It contains a double dose of bittersweet: Some is melted into the custard, then chocolate chips are strewn throughout.
Vanilla Ice Cream Bread Pudding with Whiskey Caramel
© John Kernick
This genius bread pudding from ice cream maven Jeni Britton is made with store-bought brioche and melted vanilla ice cream, eliminating the need to make a custard. The simple whiskey-tinged caramel sauce comes together with just four ingredients.
Sweet Corn and Bourbon Bread Pudding
For this fun, Southern-inspired dessert, Top Chef Season 16 winner Kelsey Barnard Clark uses entire ears of corn — broiling corn kernels and using corn milk from the cobs — to give her bread pudding recipe a summery, fresh corn flavor. A topping of caramel popcorn adds a sweet crunch and whimsy. Lime zest in the crème anglaise and a splash of bourbon keep it from leaning too sweet.
Kemptville Blueberry Bread Pudding
This bread pudding is named after a town near Trout Point Lodge in Nova Scotia that sells much of the local wild blueberry harvest. The optional white chocolate chunks provide an extra bit of creamy sweetness.
Irish Soda Bread Pudding
Bread pudding, with its custardy bottom and crusty top, is the simplest way to turn pantry ingredients like eggs, sugar, and bread into a delicious dessert. It uses a whole loaf of Irish soda bread, which can be easily made at home ahead of time.
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