I first made this bread pudding recipe for Thanksgiving, the one day of the year when everyone has room for dessert. And, I’ve made the recipe many times since. I love so many things about it. For one, if you’re cooking it for a holiday, you can bake it during dinner, which means you don’t have to negotiate with your relatives for precious pre-dinner oven space.
This dessert is so quick and simple. If you don’t have a lot of experience with baking, this recipe makes it seem like you do. The hardest part is the caramel sauce, but if you watch the video, you’ll nail it. If you’ve been tasked with making Thanksgiving dessert, trust me, this is way easier than pumpkin pie.
The original recipe is one that I tweaked from a New Orleans bread pudding I found on Epicurious, but it definitely wasn’t my first (or last). If you want to try my first, check out this Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce, or my more recent Peach Bread Pudding.
How to Make Bread Pudding
Bread pudding has such a weird name for a dessert that basically tastes like the best part of french toast, and because of that, it took me years to get around to trying it because I’m not a pudding fan. Take that, Shakespeare.
- To make this bread pudding with bourbon sauce, cut half a loaf of day-old bread into cubes. If you can find challah, use that. If you can’t, use a rich bread like brioche or literally any light bread you have on hand. Place the bread cubes in a 9×13-inch baking dish.
- Then, whisk the eggs, whole milk, heavy cream, sugar, extract, and salt together in a large bowl. Pour this custard mixture on top of the bread cubes and set aside for five minutes. Submerge the bread and refrigerate the dish for one hour.
- Preheat the oven to 375° and bake it for 50 minutes or until it has puffed up and is golden brown. Let it cool while you work on the bourbon sauce.
- For the bourbon sauce, combine granulated sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat, then add the sugar mixture, heavy cream, and bourbon (optional). Stirring occasionally, cook until the mixture has thickened. This should take 5-8 minutes. Pour the bourbon sauce over the bread pudding and let it soak in for 10 minutes. Serve warm, possibly with a side of vanilla ice cream.
Tips for the Best Bread Pudding
- Day-Old Bread is Best: When I make this recipe, I use day-old challah bread, but if you can’t find challah, choose the eggiest bread you can find. Brioche is an excellent alternative, but French bread or almost any light bread will work. Avoid dark breads like rye or pumpernickel as their flavor will be too overpowering.
- Booze It Up: If you don’t drink or would prefer to leave out the alcohol, you can. If you don’t love bourbon, use you can use rum, whiskey, rye, or Kahlua instead.
- Get Nutty: Love pecans? Consider toasting them ahead of time and adding them to the sauce at the very end.
- How to Make It Ahead of Time: If you want to serve it soon, but bake it ahead of time, complete recipe steps 1-5. Then, cover and refrigerate it for up to one day. When you’re ready to enjoy the dessert, complete steps 6-8 and reheat the sauce on the stove.
- Make-Ahead Instructions for Bourbon Sauce: Follow sauce steps 1-5, then cover and refrigerate for up to two days. Reheat on stove.
- How to Freeze It: Alternatively, you can freeze the bread pudding to enjoy at a later date. Simply complete the entire recipe (including for the sauce), then wrap the pan with foil and freeze inside a freezer-safe bag. Thaw in the fridge then reheat at 375° until warm.
Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce
Print RecipeThis New Orleans-inspired bread pudding recipe is topped with a rich, bourbon caramel sauce.
Servings: 12 servings
Ingredients
Bread Pudding
- ½ loaf challah bread (8 oz. or 5-6 cups)
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
Bourbon Sauce
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- ½ cup sugar
- 3 Tbsp. heavy cream
- 2 Tbsp. bourbon
- ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
Bread Pudding
- Grease 9x13-inch baking dish
- Cut bread into ½" bites and place in baking dish.
- Whisk eggs, whole milk, heavy cream, sugar, extract, and salt in bowl.
- Pour egg mixture on top and let stand for 5 minutes.
- Submerge bread and refrigerate until one hour before ready to cook.
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Bake until bread pudding has puffed up and is golden brown, approx 50 minutes.
- Remove and place on cooling rack. Begin to make Bourbon Caramel Sauce.
Bourbon Caramel Sauce
- Mix sugar, cinnamon, and salt together in small bowl.
- Melt butter in saucepan over medium-low heat.
- Add sugar mixture, cream, and bourbon to saucepan, stirring continually.
- Cook, stirring often, until thickened, about 5-8 minutes.
- Pour sauce over bread pudding and let cool for 5-10 minutes. Serve.
Notes
- I use challah bread, but if you can't find challah, choose the eggiest bread you can find. Brioche is an excellent alternative, but French bread or almost any light bread will work. Avoid dark breads like rye or pumpernickel as their flavor will be too overpowering.
- If you don't drink or would prefer to leave out the alcohol, you can. If you don't love bourbon, use you can use rum, whiskey, rye, or Kahlua instead.
- Love pecans? Consider toasting them ahead of time and adding them to the sauce at the very end.
- How to Make It Ahead of Time: If you want to serve the bread pudding soon, but bake it ahead of time, complete recipe steps 1-5. Then, cover and refrigerate it for up to one day. When you're ready to enjoy the dessert, complete steps 6-8 and reheat the sauce on the stove.
- Make-Ahead Instructions for Bourbon Sauce: Follow sauce steps 1-5, then cover and refrigerate for up to two days. Reheat on stove.
- How to Freeze It: Alternatively, you can freeze the bread pudding to enjoy at a later date. Simply complete the entire recipe (including for the sauce), then wrap the pan with foil and freeze inside a freezer-safe bag. Thaw in the fridge then reheat at 375° until warm.
Nutrition Facts
Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce
Amount Per Serving (1 slice)
Calories 261
Calories from Fat 153
% Daily Value*
Fat 17g26%
Saturated Fat 9g56%
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g
Monounsaturated Fat 4g
Cholesterol 122mg41%
Sodium 51mg2%
Potassium 104mg3%
Carbohydrates 27g9%
Sugar 14g16%
Protein 4g8%
Vitamin A 550IU11%
Calcium 80mg8%
Iron 0.4mg2%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Did you make this recipe?Leave a review below, then take a photo and tag @letseatcakeblog on Instagram so we can see it!
Pleased to meet you. I'm the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Let's Eat Cake: The world's first smart, funny lifestyle site for women.
My background is in publishing (I've worked at Parade, Men's Journal, Us Weekly, Stuff, Blender, Beachbody, and more), mostly with a focus in health, fitness, and entertainment. I've also run my own baking company and competed on Cupcake Wars, so hit me up with your baking questions!
For more details, check out my full bio or follow me on Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
My background is in publishing (I've worked at Parade, Men's Journal, Us Weekly, Stuff, Blender, Beachbody, and more), mostly with a focus in health, fitness, and entertainment. I've also run my own baking company and competed on Cupcake Wars, so hit me up with your baking questions!
For more details, check out my full bio or follow me on Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
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This was absolutely delicious!! Can’t wait to have it again!
Made this, it was the bomb! Off to the gym.
Can this be frozen before baking?
Hi Annie — I haven’t tested freezing bread pudding, but I believe it can be done, though it might lose some of its moisture. I would freeze the bread pudding after baking for the best results.
Bake it, let it cool completely, wrap it tightly in a few layers of saran/plastic wrap so it’s totally protected from freezer burn, then put it in a Ziploc bag. Warm it back up in the microwave or oven, then pour the bourbon caramel sauce on top and you should be good to go.
What if I don’t have challah bread, can you use just regular bread. I don’t have a loaf, what would the measurement in cups?
Hi Jo! You can, but I don’t think you’ll find it to be as flavorful because of the richness that challah bread imparts. If you can, find an egg bread – that will be closer to the flavor (definitely don’t use whole wheat or rye or anything.)
I haven’t measured the amount in cups (but I should and will and then I’ll add it to the bread pudding recipe!), but you’ll want 1/2 pound of bread. If you’re using store-bought sliced bread, that’s 1/2 a 16 oz. package or 1/3 of a 24 oz. package. Let me know if you have any questions or DM me on Instagram (@letseatcakeblog) – I’m fastest answering there!
Hello, so if I wanted to make the egg mixture and put it on the bread for overnight in the fridge I could? And if so then how soon before I put it in the oven should I take it out of the fridge?
It’s ok to make the egg mixture and pour it on the bread the night before. I would recommend moving it from the fridge to the oven and cooking it a bit longer than the original recipe calls for (versus letting it sit). You’ll want to the bread pudding to be puffed up and golden brown.
Can this be baked right away, or does it do better being refrigerated for a period of time first?
I would recommend chilling it for one to two hours as that helps the flavors to really come together and gives the milk and cream to soak into the bread pudding!
What about letting it sit in the fridge overnight before baking? Or is that too long?
That should be ok!
The bread pudding could be baked immediately, but then the custard doesn’t have time to completely soak in to the bread. You will end up with dry patches of bread in the middle of the pan. Giving it a good hour minimum in the fridge will make your bread pudding all the more magical.
This is very good advice.
This looks delicious. I have an Amaretto bread pudding from “Bon Apetit” that was published decades ago. It is delicious and calls for challah bread – 16 oz. My grocery store has recently changed the size of the challah offered from approx. 1.5 pounds to one pound. I’m thinking that only 8 oz of bread would be too little. Could you supply an approximate weight of the challah used in your recipe? Many thanks!
Hi Linda – Thank you! And, that’s a great question. I’ve just tested it and I used a one pound challah loaf, so 1/2 pound of challah should be perfect.
I’m planning to make this for Thanksgiving–would you recommend making it ahead and freezing (like you described in the above comment) or just preparing it a day ahead and refrigerate until baking day of? Thanks!
Hi Kathleen! I wouldn’t recommend freezing it – I would instead make it a day ahead of time. Ideally, make the bread pudding itself a day ahead of time, rewarm in oven, then pour bourbon caramel sauce on when warm.
This was the best recipe ever. My office gobbled it up. I did have to make a few changes
Thank you! What changes did you make?
Do you have a suggestion for a bourbon substitute?
Hi Brittney – Rye would also work if you are looking for slightly different flavor. It’s also ok to leave it out entirely.
Do you have any substitutes for alcohol?
Hi Katie! It’s ok to leave out the bourbon if you prefer. 🙂
We absolutely LOVE this recipe! I shared it in this post: https://everydaywanderer.com/using-up-stale-bread
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you love it and thank you for the share!
I dont know if you have been to busch gardens but if you tasted their bread budding it taste awesome and ive been trying to find their resipe and none could be found so im going to make yours and see if it taste similar of better… btw can you put raisins in your resipe??
Thank you! Hope you enjoy it 🙂 You can if you would like! I would probably add them when you add the milk and egg mixture.
Could I make the bourbon sauce the day before & reheat it?
That would probably work! You’d want to reheat the bourbon sauce until it was completely liquid and an even consistency.
Can you add a peaches or berries to the bread pudding ?
Hi Vicki! Let me give this a test. I’m personally not a fan of adding peaches to anything that’s cooked (though if you are, check out our Peach Cobbler), but let me give it a go with berries to see if it’ll work. Blueberries, raspberries, or strawberries?
Is it possible to make the Carmel bourbon sauce the day before? i’m trying ñ to do as much the day before as possible. thanks
My first time making bread pudding and it turned out excellent. Thank you!
I’m so glad to hear that! We just made a variation on this – our Peach Bread Pudding with Caramel Pecan Sauce – if you want to try a new spin! I might be doing an apple or maple version for the fall as well 🙂
Did you ever get a chance to check out how the bread measures out in cups? Thank you, making this for thanksgiving dinner. Looks delicious!
Hi Susie – It’s about 5-6 cups!
Soak raisins in the bourbon and then add them to the bread pudding-such an adult dessert! So good made it for Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve -Thanks for a great recipe
I made this for christmas and added 2 mashed bananas to the milk mixture. SUCH A HUGE HIT! Delicious! Making again this weekend just for myself (although not a huge fan of bourbon so will probably use Grand Marnier instead).
I’m so glad to hear this! I think I’ll try the banana addition next time – it sounds delicious 🙂
Making this this weekend using a cinnamon brioche. Also adding toasted pecans to the sauce. Can’t wait to serve this to my family!
Um, can we come over? Or, can we send you our address so you can mail some our way? That sounds AMAZING.
???????????? I am excited to make it!!! I will update with the feedback I get!
Family was very impressed! Rave reviews all around ????. The pecans were perfect in the sauce!
So glad to hear it! We can’t wait to try that modification. 🙂
Could I use Bailey’s and kahlua, soaking raisins and adding chopped pecans?
It sounds great! I haven’t tested it so I’m not sure if it would work, but if you make it let me know how it goes!
Hmmm yum! Looks delicious and so tasty. Can’t wait to try it!
Thank you!
Making this to take to a friends house. It’ll be freshly made when I head out and then will sit for a while while we hang out and eat dinner. Should I serve it at room temperature or warm in the oven before serving? Thanks!
I think it would be tasty either way! If it were me, I would probably warm it in the oven though so the caramel is a little softer 🙂
This was so easy and delicious! I did add a little more of the liquid mix to the bread to cover the bread completely. It turns out perfect!
Can I chill overnight, bake thanksgiving morning, pour the sauce, take it to my aunts house just like that? Then when we’re ready to serve simply reheat with everything in the pan? Please let me know. Thanks!
That should work! I would recommend making and pouring the sauce on day of if possible.