Pumpkin bread pudding is a rich and creamy fall dessert made with bread and pumpkin custard. Once baked this luscious pumpkin dessert is topped with salty sweet caramel sauce, crunchy toasted pecans and lightly sweetened whipped cream right before serving. This easy fall bread pudding makes the perfect weekend treat or holiday breakfast or dessert.
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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 Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce, Chocolate Bread Pudding, Banana Bread Pudding, Blueberry Bread Pudding and Brioche French Toast Casserole are just a few of the many that I love making. This bread pudding with vanilla sauce recipe is no exception. Here are a couple reasons I know you’ll reach for this easy pumpkin spiced pudding over and over again.
- Easy to make. This cozy and warmly spiced 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 10 minutes. All you have to do after mixing all the ingredients is to simply bake it, 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 pumpkin is the perfect easy to make breakfast or dessert made for fall gatherings.
Ingredients
This easy bread pudding with pumpkin 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, eggs, light brown sugar, maple syrup, pumpkin puree, milk, heavy cream, ground spices (cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg and cloves), salt and vanilla extract.
Substitutions
This pumpkin 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.
- Eggs: Bread pudding needs eggs. Therefore, this ingredient can not be substituted for this bread pudding with pumpkin recipe.
- Light Brown Sugar: Maple sugar is a wonderful refined sugar free alternative.
- Maple Syrup: Feel free to use an equal amount of brown sugar in place of the maple syrup. However, I highly recommend using real maple syrup.
- Canned Pumpkin Puree: You can use the same amount of fresh pumpkin puree if you have some on hand. Do not use pumpkin pie filling.
- Heavy Cream: Use an equal amount of half and half.
- Milk: Whole milk is preferred, but feel free to use any milk you like.
- Ground Spices: If you don’t have all the individual spices, feel free to use any blend of baking spices you have on hand. Pumpkin spice, chai spice or apple pie spice blends would all work well in this recipe. Use 4 teaspoons ground spices for this recipe.
- Vanilla Extract: This gives a lovely flavor boost to the spiced pumpkin pudding bread.
Variation
Pumpkin Bread Bread Pudding: Replace the day old or stale buttery bread with pumpkin bread. Bake or buy a loaf of pumpkin bread. If you’d like to make pumpkin bread, I suggest my Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting (without the frosting) or Starbucks Pumpkin Bread (without the pepitas).
- Cut 1 loaf pumpkin bread into 1 inch cubes.
- Spread the cubes out on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and toast at 350 F (177 C) for about 25 minutes.
- Carefully remove from the oven, stir the bread and continue to toast an additional 10 minutes or until the pumpkin bread is dried out like croutons.
- Cool the dried out pumpkin bread cubes to room temperature before using in the recipe.
How To Make
Learn how to make pumpkin 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.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs together until well combined. Whisk in the light brown sugar, maple syrup, canned pumpkin, milk, heavy cream, vanilla extract, salt and all the ground spices until well combined. Add the cubed pieces of brioche, challah or french bread into the bowl. Gently mix the bread into the spiced pumpkin custard. Allow the bread pudding mixture to rest and soak in the pumpkin custard while the oven continues to preheat.
- After the oven has preheated for about 25 - 30 minutes and the bread has soaked up the pumpkin custard for about 10 - 15 minutes, transfer the bread pudding into the prepared dish. Bake the pumpkin custard bread pudding for 50 - 60 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 pumpkin bread pudding has finished baking, cool the dish for 10 - 15 minutes before serving. Right before serving, top the bread pudding caramel sauce and toasted pecans. The bread pudding can be enjoyed very warm from the oven, at room temperature or chilled from the fridge. I highly recommend adding a generous dollop of whipped cream right before serving.
How To Store, Freeze, Thaw and Reheat
- Store: Fully cool the baked pumpkin spiced 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 pumpkin bread pudding. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and a layer of foil. Store in the freezer for up to 1 month. Wait to top the bread pudding with caramel and pecans until the bread pudding has been thawed and warmed for serving.
- Thaw and Reheat: Transfer the entire bread pudding dish (or sliced pieces) to the fridge to thaw overnight. Reheat the pumpkin 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 caramel sauce and toasted pecans.
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 pumpkin custard filling.
- Use dried out bread. The best bread pudding used 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 pumpkin 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 dish tastes amazing without toppings, I love topping my pumpkin bread pudding with caramel sauce, toasted chopped pecans and whipped cream. If you prefer a more traditional sauce, I recommend making the vanilla sauce from my old fashioned bread pudding.
FAQs
Pumpkin bread pudding is a rich and creamy bread pudding made with stale buttery bread or cubed pumpkin bread soaked in a spiced pumpkin custard. This decadent pumpkin and bread pudding is perfect for breakfast or dessert.
They are both canned pumpkin puree. Canned pumpkin is unsweetened and pumpkin pie filling is sweetened and spiced.
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.
Other Pumpkin Recipes
If you try this Pumpkin 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
Pumpkin Bread Pudding Recipe
Equipment
- 1 9 x 13 baking pan or casserole dish
- 1 bread knife
- 1 mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 16 oz. (454 g) day old, stale buttery bread
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- ½ cup (100 g) light brown sugar
- ½ cup (120 ml) maple syrup, room temperature
- 15 oz. canned pumpkin puree
- 1½ cups (360 ml) heavy cream, room temperature
- 1 cup (240 ml) whole milk, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- 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.16 oz. (454 g) day old, stale buttery bread
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs together until well combined. Whisk in the light brown sugar, maple syrup, canned pumpkin, milk, heavy cream, vanilla extract, salt and all the ground spices until well combined.4 large eggs, room temperature, ½ cup (100 g) light brown sugar, ½ cup (120 ml) maple syrup, room temperature, 15 oz. canned pumpkin puree, 1½ cups (360 ml) heavy cream, room temperature, 1 cup (240 ml) whole milk, room temperature, 2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla extract , 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon , ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ½ teaspoon ground cardamom, ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon cloves, ¼ teaspoon salt
- Add the cubed pieces of brioche, challah or french bread into the bowl. Gently mix the bread into the spiced pumpkin custard. Allow the bread pudding mixture to rest and soak in the pumpkin custard while the oven continues to preheat. After the oven has preheated for about 25 - 30 minutes and the bread has soaked up the pumpkin custard for about 10 - 15 minutes, transfer the bread pudding into the prepared dish.
- Bake the pumpkin custard bread pudding for 50 - 60 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 pumpkin bread pudding has finished baking, cool the dish for 10 - 15 minutes before serving. Right before serving, top the bread pudding caramel sauce and toasted pecans. The bread pudding can be enjoyed very warm from the oven, at room temperature or chilled from the fridge. I highly recommend adding a generous dollop of whipped cream right before serving.
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