Chocolate bread pudding is a simple, but decadent breakfast or dessert dish made with day old bread and chocolate chips soaked in a rich chocolate custard. Once baked this bread and chocolate pudding can be topped with silky chocolate ganache or freshly whipped cream and berries.
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Why Should You Make This Recipe
I love a decadent recipe that works just as well for breakfast as it does for dessert. My Pumpkin Bread Pudding, Donut Bread Pudding, Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce, Blueberry Bread Pudding and Brioche French Toast Casserole are just a few of the many that I love making. This chocolate bread pudding recipe is no exception. Here are a couple reasons I know you’ll reach for this easy chocolate pudding bread over and over again.
- Easy to make. This cozy bread pudding tastes like something you could find in a restaurant, but you may be surprised to learn just how easy it is to make! This quick and easy recipe comes together in about 15 minutes. All you have to do after mixing all the ingredients is to simply bake it, cool, top and enjoy!
- Perfectly cozy and made for indulgent holiday breakfasts or desserts. There’s nothing more satisfying than enjoying a deliciously indulgent breakfast or dessert everyone will love. This simple bread pudding with chocolate custard is the perfect easy to make breakfast or dessert.
Ingredients
This easy bread pudding with chocolate custard recipe requires only a handful of simple ingredients to make and you probably already have them in your pantry and fridge.
Gather day old or stale buttery bread, chocolate chips, milk, sugar, Dutch processed cocoa powder, dark chocolate bars, eggs, heavy cream, salt and vanilla extract.
Substitutions
This chocolate bread pudding recipe is as easy to make as it is delicious. Here are my recommended substitutions if you need them.
- Buttery Bread: The best bread pudding uses buttery bread like brioche bread, challah bread or french bread. Use the one you like the most and already have on hand. This recipe needs 16 ounces, 454 grams of bread cut into 1 inch cubes.
- Chocolate Chips: These are optional but highly recommended for the bread pudding. Feel free to use dark, semi sweet or milk chocolate chips.
- Milk: Whole milk is preferred, but feel free to use any milk you like.
- Sugar: Maple sugar is a wonderful refined sugar free alternative.
- Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder: I love using this type of cocoa powder because it has a mellow, but deeply chocolate-y flavor. Feel free to use a good quality unsweetened cocoa powder instead.
- Dark Chocolate: I suggest using a darker chocolate (60 - 75%) to make the custard. Feel free to use your preferred brand.
- Eggs: Bread pudding needs eggs. Therefore, this ingredient can not be substituted for this bread pudding recipe.
- Heavy Cream: Use an equal amount of half and half.
- Vanilla Extract: This gives a lovely flavor boost to the rich bread and chocolate pudding bread.
- Salt: A pinch of salt elevates the other flavors of this sweet chocolate dish.
Variation
Chocolate Bread Bread Pudding: Replace the day old or stale buttery bread with chocolate bread. Bake or buy a loaf of banana bread. If you’d like to make banana bread, I suggest my Chocolate Bread recipe or another chocolate bread you like.
- Cut 1 loaf of fully cooled and set chocolate bread into 1 inch thick slices.
- Spread the slices out on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and toast at 350 F (177 C) for about 25 minutes.
- Carefully remove from the oven, flip the bread to the other side and continue to toast an additional 10 minutes or until the chocolate bread is dried out like croutons.
- Cool the dried out banana bread slices to room temperature before using in the recipe. Then cube the dried out chocolate bread.
- Follow the rest of the chocolate bread bread pudding recipe as written.
How To Make
Learn how to make chocolate bread pudding in a few easy steps.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F (177 C). Pour a tablespoon (15 ml) of melted butter into the bottom of a 9x13 oven safe casserole dish. Slice day old and stale bread into 1 inch cubes. If the bread isn’t stale enough, toast the slices of bread in a toaster oven or bake in a 350 F oven for about 10 - 15 minutes or until the bread is dried out. Top the bread cubes with chocolate chips.
- Add milk, sugar and cocoa powder into a medium skillet. Whisk together until the mixture is starting to combine. Add the chopped chocolate to the chocolate mixture. Cook the chocolate mixture over low heat, stirring frequently until the chopped chocolate fully melts and the mixture thickens. Remove the melted chocolate mixture from the heat to cool.
- In a large mixing bowl whisk the eggs together until lightly beaten. Then whisk in the heavy cream, vanilla extract and salt until well combined. Once the melted chocolate sauce has cooled to warm, slowly whisk the chocolate into the egg mixture until well combined.
- Pour the chocolate custard on top of the bread and chocolate chips. Gently mix the chocolate sauce and bread together until all the bread cubes are coated in the chocolate sauce. Allow the bread pudding mixture to rest and soak in the chocolate custard while the oven continues to preheat.
- After the oven has preheated for about 30 minutes and the bread has soaked up the custard for at least 10 - 15 minutes, bake the chocolate custard bread pudding for 45 - 50 minutes. The center should be puffed up as high as the sides. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out with a few moist crumbs. Once the cocoa bread pudding has finished baking, cool the dish for 10 - 15 minutes before serving. Right before serving, top the bread pudding with a light dusting of powdered sugar. I highly recommend serving or topping the bread pudding with a generous dollop of whipped cream and fresh berries.
How To Store, Freeze, Thaw and Reheat
- Store: Fully cool the baked chocolate bread pudding. Cover the dish with plastic wrap or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Freeze: Fully cool the baked bread chocolate pudding. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and a layer of foil. Store in the freezer for up to 1 month.
- Thaw and Reheat: Transfer the entire bread pudding dish (or sliced pieces) to the fridge to thaw overnight. Reheat the chocolate and bread pudding by baking it in a 350 F (177 C) oven until warmed though or slice into pieces and heat through in the microwave. Top with whipped cream, berries or warm chocolate ganache.
M’s Expert Tips
- Bring cold ingredients to room temperature. This allows the ingredients to mix together more evenly and easily resulting in a smoother chocolate custard filling.
- Use dried out bread. The best chocolate pudding uses dried out or stale bread. When I make bread pudding, I like to slice the bread and leave it out, uncovered overnight. Alternatively, bread can be toasted or dried out in the oven prior to using in the recipe.
- Evenly cube the bread. 1- 2 inch pieces are the perfect size for baking and eating the best chocolate custard bread bread pudding.
- Use a 9x13 casserole dish. This bread pudding really puffs up while baking so make sure to use the correct size dish. For this recipe use a 9 x 13 inch (23 x 33 cm) oven safe dish. If you need to use a smaller dish, cut the recipe in half and bake this in an 8 x 8 (20 cm) dish for about 30 - 35 minutes.
- Top the warm bread pudding with your favorite toppings. Although this rich chocolate pudding dish tastes amazing without toppings, I love topping my chocolate bread pudding with the suggested whipped cream and fresh berries. If you prefer a more traditional sauce, I recommend making the vanilla sauce from my old fashioned bread pudding or making a small batch of chocolate ganache.
FAQs
Chocolate bread pudding is a rich and creamy bread pudding made with stale buttery bread soaked in a chocolate custard. This decadent chocolate and bread pudding is perfect for a special breakfast or dessert.
Yes, bread pudding is best made with day old, stale bread. Fresh bread will soak up too much of the custard and will become mushy. Stale bread soaks up just enough custard to retain its shape and still bake up into a delicious bread pudding.
Bread pudding takes about an hour to bake. The top should be golden brown and no custard should seep through when the center of the bread pudding is gently pressed down.
This can happen when the bread hasn’t absorbed enough of the custard, the bread pudding hasn’t baked long enough or if there is simply too much custard compared to the amount of bread.
If you need to bake this bread pudding in a smaller dish, I recommend cutting the recipe in half and using an 8 x 8 pan, an 8 inch round pan or an 8 - 9 inch skillet.
Other Rich Chocolate Recipes
If you try this Chocolate Bread Pudding recipe please rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Doing so helps other readers decide if this is a great recipe to bake. Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using @olivesnthyme so I can see what you’re baking! Happy Baking! -M
Chocolate Bread Pudding Recipe
Equipment
- 1 9 x 13 inch (23 x 33 cm) baking dish
- 1 skillet or sauce pan
- 1 mixing bowl
- 1 whisk and flexible spatula or spoon
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter for greasing the dish
- 16 oz. stale buttery bread, cubed
- 1 cup (170 g) chocolate chips
- 2 cups (480 ml) whole milk, room temperature
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (50 g) Dutch processed or unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 4 oz. bars dark chocolate, chopped
- 5 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup (240 ml) heavy cream, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 F (177 C). Pour a tablespoon (15 ml) of melted butter into the bottom of a 9 x 13 oven safe casserole dish.1 tablespoon butter
- Slice day old and stale bread into 1 inch cubes. If the bread isn’t stale enough, toast the slices of bread in a toaster oven or bake in a 350 F oven for about 10 - 15 minutes or until the bread is dried out. Place the bread cubes into the prepared dish. Top the bread cubes with chocolate chips.16 oz. stale buttery bread, cubed , 1 cup (170 g) chocolate chips
- Add milk, sugar and cocoa powder into a medium sized skillet. Whisk together until the mixture is starting to combine. Don’t worry if everything isn’t thoroughly mixed together. Add the chopped chocolate to the chocolate mixture. Cook the chocolate mixture over low heat, stirring frequently until the chopped chocolate fully melts and the mixture thickens. Remove the melted chocolate mixture from the heat to cool.2 cups (480 ml) whole milk, room temperature, 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar, ½ cup (50 g) Dutch processed or unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 4 oz. bars dark chocolate, chopped
- In a large mixing bowl whisk the eggs together until lightly beaten. Then whisk in the heavy cream, vanilla extract and salt until well combined. Once the melted chocolate sauce has cooled to warm, slowly whisk the chocolate into the egg mixture until well combined.5 large eggs, room temperature, 1 cup (240 ml) heavy cream, room temperature, 2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla extract , ½ teaspoon salt
- Pour the chocolate custard on top of the bread and chocolate chips. Gently mix the chocolate sauce and bread together until all the bread cubes are coated in the chocolate sauce. Allow the bread pudding mixture to rest and soak in the chocolate custard while the oven continues to preheat. The custard needs at least 20-30 minutes to soak in the bread.
- Bake the chocolate custard bread pudding for 45 - 50 minutes. The center should be puffed up as high as the sides. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out with a few moist crumbs. The toothpick will most likely have melted chocolate, but make sure there is no wet custard.
- Once the cocoa bread pudding has finished baking, cool the dish for 10 - 15 minutes before serving. Right before serving, top the bread pudding with a light dusting of powdered sugar. I highly recommend serving or topping the bread pudding with a generous dollop of whipped cream and fresh berries The bread pudding can be enjoyed very warm from the oven, at room temperature or chilled from the fridge.
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