🍞 Old-Fashioned Bread Pudding (Classic & Cozy)
This traditional bread pudding is soft, custardy inside with a lightly crisp, golden top. Made with simple pantry staples, it’s the kind of comforting dessert Grandma used to make.
🛒 Ingredients (Serves 8–10)
🍞 Pudding
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6 cups day-old bread, cubed (French bread, brioche, or white sandwich bread)
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2 cups whole milk
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½ cup heavy cream (or use all milk)
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3 large eggs
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¾ cup granulated sugar
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¼ cup brown sugar
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2 tbsp melted butter
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1 tbsp vanilla extract
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1 tsp ground cinnamon
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¼ tsp nutmeg (optional)
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¼ tsp salt
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¾ cup raisins (optional but classic)
👩🍳 Instructions
1️⃣ Prep
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Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
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Grease an 8×8 or 9×9 baking dish.
2️⃣ Soak the Bread
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Place cubed bread in a large bowl.
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In another bowl, whisk milk, cream, eggs, sugars, butter, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
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Pour custard over bread.
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Add raisins if using.
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Let sit 15–20 minutes so bread absorbs liquid.
3️⃣ Bake
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Pour mixture into prepared dish.
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Bake 40–50 minutes, until center is set but still soft.
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Top should be golden brown.
Tip: Insert a knife in the center — it should come out mostly clean but moist.
🍦 Optional Vanilla Sauce (Highly Recommended!)
Ingredients:
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1 cup heavy cream (or half-and-half)
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¼ cup sugar
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2 tbsp butter
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1 tsp vanilla
Directions:
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Combine cream, sugar, and butter in saucepan.
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Heat until sugar dissolves and mixture slightly thickens.
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Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.
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Drizzle warm over bread pudding.
❄️ Storage
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Refrigerate up to 4 days.
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Reheat in microwave or oven.
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Can be frozen up to 2 months.
💡 Old-Fashioned Tips
✔ Use slightly stale bread — fresh bread gets mushy.
✔ For richer flavor, use brioche or challah.
✔ Add chopped pecans for crunch.
✔ Sprinkle top lightly with sugar before baking for crisp crust.
If you’d like, I can also share:
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🍞 Southern bourbon sauce version
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🍞 Chocolate chip bread pudding
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🍞 Crockpot bread pudding
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🍞 Large batch for holidays
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🍞 A version for selling (cost breakdown)