Name: Easy Apple Bread Pudding
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Ingredients: 1 16 ounce loaf challah, brioche or Italian bread or bread of choice (8 cups cubes); 5 large eggs; 3 ½ cups Kemps Whole Milk; 1 cup granulated sugar; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 2 teaspoons cinnamon; 1 teaspoon nutmeg; 2 cups diced apples; ½ cup pecans or walnuts; ½ cup raisins (optional); 4 Tablespoons cinnamon sugar (¼ cup granulated sugar + 1 teaspoon cinnamon mixed together); 2/3 cup brown sugar; 1/2 cup Kemps Heavy Whipping Cream; 1/4 cup butter; Pinch or two of sea salt; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 teaspoon liqueur like dark rum or whiskey (optional)

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Read the full disclosure here.

This old-fashioned Easy Apple Bread Pudding recipe is a simple dessert, made with everyday ingredients!

Made with brioche, Italian or challah bread, this bread pudding is soaked in a creamy vanilla custard packed with apples, cinnamon, pecans, Kemps Whole Milk, eggs and sugar, just like grandma would make it! Like this Easy Creme Brulee!

We recommend serving this pudding warm, with a scoop or two of Kemps ice cream or frozen yogurt with lots of drizzles of caramel sauce as the perfect topper.

Bread pudding is a super tasty and comforting dessert, perfect to serve for holiday brunches, breakfasts or dinner parties.

This recipe uses Granny Smith apples in this bread pudding, but you can use any good baking apples! Jonathan, Fuji, Rome Beauty, and Cortland are also great apple choices.

Breads You Can Use & Tips

Bread pudding is a dessert made of bread and custard. Stale bread is preferable over fresh, as it holds its shape best when it’s soaked in custard.

The best type of bread for bread pudding is a loaf that would otherwise be thrown away. This dessert’s history is rooted in preventing food waste, after all.

You can leave the cut bread cubes out for a few hours so they get nice and dry or just place them on a baking sheet and bake them at 350 for 10-15 minutes or until they’re dry but not toasted.

Some breads do work better in bread pudding, however. For instance, hearty and durable loaves, like brioche, challah, Italian or French bread are great choices.

The bread needs to stand up to the thick custard without falling apart. Basically, use any bread you’d use for French toast is the same kind of bread you would use for bread pudding.

The Custard

The custard is the heart and soul of any bread pudding. It binds all the ingredients together, and it’s the key to why bread pudding is so creamy and delicious.

A basic custard consists of eggs, milk or cream, and sugar. To amp our custard flavor up, we added cinnamon and nutmeg because it pairs so well with apples. For crunch, we added pecans. You may want to throw in some raisins or some fresh or dried cranberries too?

How Long Should I Soak the Bread in Custard?

While most recipes suggest anywhere from a few minutes to overnight in the fridge (good if you want to make it ahead and bake in the morning), I find it enough to let my bread soak for an hour.

I would at least soak the bread for 10-20 minutes at least, which is perfect timing when you’re preheating the oven.

Finishing Touches For Serving Bread Pudding

The perfect finishing touch, a drizzle of homemade caramel sauce (or store-bought for a quick shortcut) on top with some ice cream melting into the apple dessert! YUM!

Bread pudding can stand alone without a sauce, but we promise it’s worth the extra effort to add it to your warm bread pudding. It’s glorious!

For another elegant serving trick, sprinkle confectioners’ sugar over the top of the bread pudding just before serving it. You can also serve it with this awesome Vanilla Rum Sauce! Can’t you just imagine how good this tastes all warm and comforting?

Ingredients You Need

Apple Bread Pudding

1 (16 ounce) loaf challah, brioche or Italian bread or bread of choice (8 cups cubes)
eggs
Kemps Whole Milk
granulated sugar
vanilla extract
cinnamon
nutmeg
diced apples
toasted pecans or walnuts
raisins, optional
Cinnamon Sugar

Homemade Caramel Sauce (or use store bought)

brown sugar
Kemps Heavy Whipping Cream
butter
pinch or two of sea salt
vanilla extract
liqueur like dark rum or whiskey (optional)

How to Make Apple Bread Pudding

Grease a 9×13 inch casserole pan.
In a large bowl, add the Kemps Whole Milk, eggs, vanilla extract, cinnamon nutmeg and sugar and whisk together.
Add chopped apples, pecans and chopped bread to milk mixture and mix with large spoon, so the mixture gets all through the bread to soak.
Pour the mixture into your prepared pan.
Sprinkle top of bread pudding with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
Bake at 350°F for 35 to 45 minutes, until the liquid has set. The pudding is done when the custard is no longer runny or leaking from the top when you press down on the bread. Over baking will make the bread dry.
Let it cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Homemade Caramel Sauce

While the bread pudding is baking, to make caramel sauce, place your brown sugar, Kemps Heavy Cream, butter and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and allow to simmer for 5 minutes to thicken.
Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract and liqueur if desired.

How to Serve Apple Bread Pudding

Once you take the apple bread pudding out of the oven, get the bowls and necessities ready! Of course, you can eat this right out of the pan, just as it is, all warm and custard-like…

OR…take it the next level and top your apple bread pudding with some caramel sauce and a mega-scoop of Kemps Frozen Yogurt or Ice Cream to make it even more dreamy delish!

Seriously, it’s so incredibly delicious and super easy-to-make anytime you have a loaf of bread, apples and the rest of the ingredients. Your family or guests will be definitely be impressed and think you went to a lot of work, when in reality, we’ll just let them keep thinking that!

Bread Pudding Tips

Baking time is key to making an awesome bread pudding. When the custard is no longer runny or leaking from the top when you press down on the bread, then it’s done.
Over baking will make the bread dry.
You can let the bread soak anywhere from a few minutes while you are waiting for the oven to pre-heat to overnight in the fridge for the next day. If you do the latter, wait to add mix in the apples and add the cinnamon sugar mixture on top, right before you bake the bread pudding.

Storing Bread Pudding

If you have any leftover bread pudding, store it in a sealed container in the refrigerator. It will last for four to five days.

This recipe for apple bread pudding is one you’ll want to make over and over for all of your breakfast and brunchy holidays and extra-special weekends! Apples and custard bread pudding, just give me all of it!!

Craving More?