Classic Challah Bread Pudding Recipe (2024)

Bread Pudding

This bread pudding delivers a whole lot of dessert satisfaction with just a small amount of effort.

Lauren Weisenthal

Lauren Weisenthal was the author of the Pie of the Week and Sweet Technique columns for Serious Eats. From 2017–2021, she ran a restaurant called The Nightingale in Vinalhaven, Maine.

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Updated December 06, 2022

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Why It Works

Bread pudding can be made with pretty much any type of bread, but enriched breads with a good chew, like challah, kaiser rolls, or brioche usually produce the best results.
Greasing the sides and the bottom of the pan with butter will make it easier to cut and serve later.
Covering the pudding securely with foil for the first 30 minutes of baking will facilitate even cooking and keep the top from drying out.

If you're coming off of Easter with a fridge full of extra eggs, or you've started to fantasize about bread as you press on through a week of only matzoh, bread pudding might be just the ticket, now, or later this week. And, whether you choose to make it because you've got something you need to use up (eggs, milk, stale bread), or just because you love it, bread pudding delivers a whole lot of dessert satisfaction with just a small amount of effort.

Bread pudding is made by soaking slightly stale bread in a custard of eggs, egg yolks, milk, and cream, then pressing the mixture into a pan or baking dish, and baking it in an oven until the custard sets up.

Classic Challah Bread Pudding Recipe (3)

For best results, use an enriched bread, like a challah or brioche, or something soft and chewy, like sandwich buns. Cut the loaf of bread into medium size, even pieces. For a variety of textures, try to cut the bread so each of the pieces has crust on at least one side.

Here are some other tips to keep in mind:

Don't forget to grease the sides and the bottom of the pan with butter before you begin.
Be sure to securely cover the pudding with foil for the first 30 minutes of baking, which will facilitate even cooking and keep the top from drying out.

It's best served warm and is perfectly good on its own, but you can make a proper plated dessert by serving it with a sauce of fruit, caramel, or chocolate. Many people accent the flavor and texture of the pudding itself by adding dried fruit, nuts, berries, zest, extracts, or spices to the mix. With a good base recipe, there's really no right or wrong when it comes to bread pudding.

Classic Challah Bread Pudding Recipe (4)

This recipe was originally published as part of the column "Sweet Technique."

April 2012

Recipe Details

Classic Challah Bread Pudding Recipe

Active20 mins

Total3 hrs

Serves8to 10 servings

Ingredients

Directions

Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 325°F (160°C). Thoroughly grease the sides and bottom of a baking dish with butter and set aside.
Whisk eggs and yolks together until well-combined. Continue to whisk, adding in sugar a little at a time. Once sugar has been whisked in, whisk for an additional minute, until mixture is lightened in color. Add milk, cream, salt, and any additional flavoring, extract, or zest. Whisk for an additional 30 seconds, until the mixture is uniform.
Place pieces of bread in a large bowl. If you are adding other ingredients (fruit, nuts, chocolate, etc.) toss them into the bread so it is evenly distributed. Pour custard over bread and allow it to soak for a few minutes.
After a few minutes of soaking, toss bread mixture, bringing pieces from the bottom of the bowl to the top. Allow the mixture to soak for a couple of additional minutes. This will help ensure that the bread is evenly soaked through with custard.
Pour bread mixture into prepared baking dish. For an attractive top, try to place many of the crust ends on the top surface.
Pour excess custard liquid over bread. Allow it to soak in completely.
Cover baking dish tightly with foil. Bake pudding for 30 minutes with the cover on, then remove foil and bake until the pudding puffs slightly and does not seep liquid when pressure is applied to the top of the pudding—an additional 20 to 30 minutes. Allow to cool for 20 minutes before serving warm.

Special Equipment

14- by 8- by 3-inch deep ceramic baking dish

Notes

If all you have is fresh bread, you can dry it by cutting it into roughly 1-inch pieces, spreading them on a couple of rimmed baking sheets, and baking in a 275°F (135°C) oven until dry, about 20 minutes.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
589	Calories
30g	Fat
62g	Carbs
17g	Protein

Show Full Nutrition Label

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8to 10
Amount per serving
Calories	589
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 30g	39%
Saturated Fat 16g	80%
Cholesterol 305mg	102%
Sodium 501mg	22%
Total Carbohydrate 62g	23%
Dietary Fiber 2g	6%
Total Sugars 29g
Protein 17g
Vitamin C 0mg	1%
Calcium 211mg	16%
Iron 3mg	18%
Potassium 297mg	6%
*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.)