Easy Bread Pudding
This bread pudding is one of my favorite breakfasts, especially for Christmas morning. You only need a few ingredients and I even have an eggnog version!
Ingredients
- 2 cups milk see notes for an eggnog version
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon optional
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg optional
- 1/2 loaf challah or brioche bread cut into 2 inch cubes
- raisins optional
- chopped raw walnuts optional
- 4 eggs
Instructions
- Add milk, butter, vanilla extract, granulated sugar, salt, ground cinnamon, and ground nutmeg into a medium saucepan. Heat over low heat, stirring occasionally. Cook until the butter has completely melted.
- Grease a 9x13 baking dish with butter. Arrange the cubed bread in one even layer so that it covers the whole baking dish. Sprinkle the raisins and chopped walnuts over the bread cubes, if using. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, briefly whisk the eggs. Then add the beaten eggs to the milk mixture and whisk until well combined. Pour the mixture over the bread cubes so that each bread cube gets saturated. Let the bread cubes soak for at least 45 minutes.
- When ready to bake, heat oven to 350ºF. Bake the bread pudding for 25-40 minutes. The custard should be set but still wobbly. Serve warm and optionally dust with powdered sugar before enjoying!
Notes
To save time in the morning, see above in my post for a make-ahead method.
For eggnog bread pudding: Instead of using 2 cups milk, use 1 cup eggnog and 1 cup milk. Then proceed with the rest of the recipe as normal.
Be careful not to overbake the bread pudding. The custard should not be liquid, but it will still be jiggly when done.
I like to serve this with a dusting of powdered sugar. I also like to serve with maple syrup and fresh fruit.