Bread Pudding

Bourbon-soaked raisins and spices make this New Orleans bread pudding extra special.

My father always gets a dazed and happy look in his eyes when this bread pudding is mentioned, it's so good!

The recipe is based on a bread pudding recipe from the now-closed famed Bon Ton Cafe in New Orleans. My friend Becca gave us the recipe years ago and now it's a family favorite, especially around the holidays.

The sauce uses plenty of bourbon (Becca says Bon Ton's sauce has even more bourbon in it), but feel free to cut down the amount. We have directions for making a kid-friendly, bourbon-free version of the bread pudding and the sauce in the recipe note.

What Is Bread Pudding?

Bread pudding is simply cubed stale bread that is combined with a mixture of milk, sugar, and eggs that is baked. The result is something like the creamy middles from a stack of French toast.

What elevates bread pudding to the realm of a truly decadent dessert is the sauce. You can serve the pudding with a caramel sauce, a vanilla sauce, or a hard sauce like the one in this recipe that features bourbon whisky.

A spoonful of easy bread pudding taken out of a white casserole dish.
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Making Bread Pudding Is Simple!

Start with stale bread that's at least a day old. Stale bread holds its shape more easily when soaking up the custard mixture. Fresh bread tends to fall apart and turn to mush. If you don't have stale bread, you can heat cubed fresh bread in the oven to dry it out a bit.

Cut the bread into cubes and soak it in a mixture of milk, sugar, eggs, bourbon-infused raisins, and spices. Transfer everything to a casserole dish and bake for 35 to 45 minutes. You'll know the bread pudding is done when the edges start to brown and pull away from the sides of the pan.

How To Make the Bread Pudding Sauce

While the bread pudding bakes, make the sauce. Melt butter in a small saucepan and whisk in sugar and an egg over low heat. Cook the sauce just until it thickens, then remove it from heat and whisk in the bourbon.

Cover the sauce and place it near the stove so that it stays warm until you're ready to serve.

Overhead view of a casserole dish with bread pudding inside.
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Bread Pudding Is Perfect for Making Ahead

You can assemble the bread pudding in the casserole dish up to a day before baking it. Cover it and refrigerate until ready to bake. Let it warm on the counter while your oven preheats and then bake as usual.

Note that the longer you soak the bread pudding the softer and more custard-like the interior will be.

Tips for the Best Bread Pudding

  • If all you have is fresh bread, here's what to do: Cube the bread and scatter the pieces on a baking sheet. Heat in the oven at 200°F for about 10 minutes until the bread cubes are dry to the touch but still pale-colored. Proceed with the recipe as usual.
  • Use a rustic French or Italian loaf: Use a good quality rustic loaf bread instead of pre-sliced bread for this recipe. You can cut larger cubes and the bread will hold up better than typical sandwich bread.
  • Soak the raisins in bourbon before you start anything with this recipe. Let them soak for one to two hours. You can even soak them a day or two ahead.
  • When making the sauce, don't be tempted to turn up the heat . This can cause the egg in the mixture to curdle.
  • If your sauce does curdle, try blending it until smooth in a blender.
A stack of plates with easy bread pudding set on top.
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Ways To Adapt This Recipe

You can swap the raisins for any other dried fruit you like, such as cranberries or cherries, or leave them out altogether. You could also add in up to a cup of chopped nuts, like pecans, hazelnuts, or walnuts, or fold in some chocolate chips.

A serving spoon holding a bite of easy bread pudding scooped out of a white casserole dish.
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More Recipes Like Bread Pudding

Pouring bread pudding sauce over a plate of bread pudding.

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Bread Pudding

Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 45 mins
Soaking Raisins 60 mins
Total Time 115 mins
Servings 8 to 10 servings

For an alcohol-free version, soak the raisins in water instead of bourbon. For the sauce, use 1/2 cup of water mixed with 1 tablespoon vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar or white vinegar in place of the bourbon.

Get the raisins soaking in bourbon before you start anything with this recipe. You can even soak them a day or two ahead.

The bread you use should be a little dry. If the bread you are using is fresh, after you cube it, spread it out on a sheet pan and put it in a 200°F oven for 10 minutes.

Ingredients

For the bread pudding

  • 1 cup raisins

  • 1 loaf French bread, at least a day old, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 6-7 cups)

  • 4 cups milk

  • 3 large eggs

  • 2 cups sugar

  • 2 tablespoons vanilla extract

  • 1/4 cup bourbon whiskey

  • 1/4 teaspoon allspice

  • 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

  • 3 tablespoons butter, melted

For the Bourbon Sauce:

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

  • 1 cup sugar

  • 1 large egg

  • 1/2 cup bourbon whiskey (less or more to taste)

Method

  1. Soak the raisins:

    In a small bowl, combine the raisins with 1/4 cup bourbon. Cover and soak for 1 to 2 hours. The raisins should soak up most of the bourbon in this time (there may be some bourbon left in the bowl when they’re done soaking).

    Soaking raisins for the best bread pudding recipe.
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  2. Preheat the oven:

    Preheat the oven to 350°F.

  3. Soak the bread in milk:

    Place milk in a large mixing bowl and add the cubed bread. Press the bread into the milk with your hands until the bread is completely saturated (the bread may not absorb all the milk).

    Soaking bread in a milk mixture to make a bread pudding recipe.
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  4. Add the egg mixture:

    In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, then whisk in the sugar, vanilla, allspice, and cinnamon. Pour over the bread and milk mixture. Add the bourbon-soaked raisins. Stir gently to combine.

    Simple Tip!

    If you have extra bourbon soaking liquid after draining the soaked raisins, feel free to mix some or all into the egg and milk mixture, according to your taste.

    Adding egg mixture to cubed bread for a bread pudding recipe.
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    A glass bowl with soaked bread and raisins
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  5. Transfer to the pan and bake:

    Pour the melted butter into the bottom of a 9x13 baking pan. Coat the bottom and the sides of the pan well with the butter. Pour the bread milk and egg mixture into the baking pan.

    Bake at 350°F for 35 to 45 minutes, until the liquid has set. The pudding is done when the edges start getting a bit brown and pull away from the edge of the pan.

    A white casserole dish with bread pudding ready to be baked
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    Overhead view of easy bread pudding in a white casserole dish
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  6. Make the bourbon sauce:

    While the bread pudding is cooking make the bourbon sauce. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan on low heat. Add the sugar and egg and whisk to blend well. Slowly cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, then remove from heat. Do not allow the mixture to simmer or the sauce will curdle. (By the way, if your sauce curdles, just take it off the heat and blend it smooth in a blender.)

    Whisk in bourbon to taste. Whisk again before serving. The sauce should be soft, creamy, and smooth.

    Whisking bread pudding sauce in a saucepan.
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    Spooning bread pudding sauce out of a saucepan.
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    A thinner bread pudding sauce being spooned out of a saucepan.
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  7. Serve:

    Serve the bread pudding with bourbon sauce on the side; pour on to taste.

    Bread pudding is best served right away after it's finished baking. However, leftovers can be kept for up to 5 days refrigerated and can be reheated in the microwave.

    To reheat, warm individual portions in 1-minute bursts in the microwave until warmed through. The sauce can be drizzled over top and reheated along with the individual slice.

    We do not recommend freezing bread pudding.

    Did you love the recipe? Give us some stars and leave a comment below!

    A large cut of easy bread pudding resting on a stack of plates
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Nutrition Facts (per serving)
633 Calories
18g Fat
102g Carbs
11g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8 to 10
Amount per serving
Calories 633
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 18g 23%
Saturated Fat 10g 51%
Cholesterol 116mg 39%
Sodium 460mg 20%
Total Carbohydrate 102g 37%
Dietary Fiber 2g 6%
Total Sugars 77g
Protein 11g
Vitamin C 1mg 3%
Calcium 167mg 13%
Iron 3mg 14%
Potassium 345mg 7%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.