Apple Bread Pudding is the epitome of comfort food. This recipe includes aromatic autumn spices, seasonal apples, and a rich homemade custard. Begin your autumn baking perfection with my delightful take on this traditional favorite.
Apple Bread Pudding is an ideal treat to add to your autumn baking bucket list. Some of my annual favorites include Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins, Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake and Autumn Spice Cake.
Imagine if your favorite cozy cardigan transformed into a dish; that’s Apple Bread Pudding for you. Frequently referred to as the casserole counterpart of French toast, its aroma evokes a day at the apple orchard or a Thanksgiving morning in your grandmother’s kitchen.
Why you'll love my recipe:
- Double Apple Flavor: Harvest all the juicy apple goodness and spices to make a simple sauce.
- Customizable: I’ve kept the recipe simple so you can easily customize your bread pudding with raisins, cranberries, chocolate, maple syrup, caramel, or nuts.
- Easy: Simply cut or tear your day-old bread, toss it with the custard, and bake! Although I highly recommend the sauce, if you are feeling lazy, the dessert still tastes great without it.
- Prep in Advance: You can conveniently prepare the bread, custard, apples, and sauce a day in advance, then simply pour and bake for a no-fuss bake. Additionally, it remains wonderfully fresh as leftovers, even after baking, without becoming soggy.
- Not Soggy! Follow our no-fail non-soggy recipe tips like using stale bread to achieve the ideal texture.
Ingredients and Substitution Ideas
Bread. I prefer Challah but Brioche and other yeasty egg breads are the next best. High quality French breads are also acceptable, but they run the risk of becoming mushier from soaking in the mixture. Some people actually prefer that texture.
Apples. Use firm, tart apples such as Granny Smith or Cortland. Sweeter apples like Fuji or Gala will work, but I don’t prefer the taste.
Sugars. Use both granulated and brown sugar. I use light brown sugar, but either type is fine if you prefer.
Eggs. Large eggs are an essential part of the custard mixture to create a smooth and sumptuous texture. Ideally, they should be room temperature and well beaten so you don’t have eggy clumps.
Spices and Vanilla. I use a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. You may substitute with apple pie spice or simply use cinnamon. If you choose apple pie spice, I suggest 1 teaspoon cinnamon + 1.5 teaspoons apple pie spice in both the apples and the custard.
Tips for Making Bread Pudding
Use Stale Bread. The most important advice I can impart is to use day old bread. You may cut the bread into cubes or tear it into pieces without it affecting the recipe. I prefer 1-inch pieces because it’s firmer, but ½-inch pieces provides more consistent texture throughout.
Honestly though, if you forget, then it’s ok! I have done that. You can put the cubed bread chunks in a single layer on a large sheet pan in the oven at 300°F (150°C) for about 15 minutes. It will dry the outsides, but it won’t quite be the same.
Drain and save the juice from the cooked apples. The apples should be soft and diced to fit between the layers of bread. Combine the apple “sauce” with flour and milk. This replaces a traditional vanilla or caramel sauce and enhances the apple flavor. It’s also delicious poured over ice cream!
Pour the custard evenly over the top. This step is key because you want the bread to soak up the egg custard as it bakes. If you feel that some areas weren’t well coated, try slightly tossing the mixture to get it well covered.
Make sure to press the bread pieces down. You don’t want large air holes or any rogue pieces sticking out. To be honest, I didn’t get mine as flat as I would’ve liked in the photo above but multitasking with food photography makes baking more difficult.
Sift your flour if it’s clumpy. Clumpy flour will prevent your sauce from whisking smoothly. The sauce should be slightly runny, but not too thin. If it’s too thick or thin, adjust with milk or more flour. It will also thicken as it cools.
Storage Recommendations
In the Refrigerator – Store any leftover bread pudding in a tightly covered container in the fridge for 3-4 days. However, it’s best if eaten within 1-2 days. Storing it separately from the sauce is best to keep it fresh.
To Reheat – Cut into squares and place in a casserole dish with a little bit of separation. Cover with foil and reheat 15-20 minutes in a 325° oven. You can also reheat individual slices in the microwave for 20-30 seconds or until heated through.
FAQs
Certainly! There are lots of flavor combinations that are well suited to this. If you want to add raisins (or other dried fruit), cranberries, chocolate chips, or nuts, stir them in as you combine the bread and the apples. You could also add a touch of maple syrup to the sauce.
Challah is the best option in my opinion, but Brioche and other yeasty egg breads are the next best. High quality French breads are also acceptable, but they may be mushier from soaking in the custard mixture. However, some people like it that way too.
Because this is a custard-based dessert with milk and eggs, it shouldn’t be left out any longer than an hour or two, at most, after cooling. It’s best to store in the fridge and individual slices warmed as needed.
This recipe, in my opinion, is best served warmed throughout with the cinnamon apple sauce on the side or poured over just before serving. Top with a good quality ice cream for the ultimate, decadent apple dessert.
Yes, you definitely can. However, I don’t prefer this method of letting the custard soak into the bread overnight. Rather, I’d cut it up and set the bread up to get stale and make the apples, custard, and sauce the day before. Then I’d put them all together and bake the day of.
Not Sure
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Apple Bread Pudding
Ingredients
Apples and Sauce
- 1 ¾ lbs Granny Smith Apples Peel, core and dice apples. (about 4-5 apples) – other tart apples can be substituted.
- 6 tablespoon Unsalted Butter
- 2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon Nutmeg You can substitute apple pie spice
- ⅛ teaspoon Allspice
- ¼ cup Granulated Sugar
- ½ cup Brown Sugar
- 1 cup Whole Milk
- 3 tablespoon All-purpose Flour
Bread Pudding and Custard
- 16 oz Challah Bread See substitution note
- 5 Large Eggs
- 4 tablespoon Unsalted Butter melted
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ½ cup Brown Sugar
- 2 teaspoon Cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon Nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon Allspice
- 2 cups Whole Milk
- ¼ cup Heavy Cream
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- Vanilla Ice Cream Optional (for serving)
Instructions
The Day Before
- About 24 hours before preparing this bread pudding, tear 16 oz Challah Bread into ½- or 1-inch cubes. Spread cubes on a large baking sheet and allow to rest overnight on a cool, dry place like the counter, in order to stale.
Cook the Spiced Apples
- In a medium saucepan, melt 6 tablespoon Unsalted Butter over medium heat. Stir in ¼ cup Granulated Sugar and ½ cup Brown Sugar.
- Add 1 ¾ lbs Granny Smith Apples and 2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon, ½ teaspoon Nutmeg, and ⅛ teaspoon Allspice. Stir and cover. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the apples are soft to your liking, about 10-15 minutes.
- Take off heat and strain through a strainer, saving the juice. Let the apples cool a bit.
Put Together the Bread Pudding
- Preheat the oven to 375 and lightly grease a 9×13 casserole dish.
- Spread stale bread in the baking dish evenly. Layer the apples over the bread, gently mixing the pieces so that some apples nestle between the bread.
- Whisk together 5 Large Eggs , 4 tablespoon Unsalted Butter , 2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract , ½ cup Brown Sugar , 2 teaspoon Cinnamon , ½ teaspoon Nutmeg , ⅛ teaspoon Allspice , and ½ teaspoon Salt in a large mixing bowl. Add 2 cups Whole Milk and ¼ cup Heavy Cream, continuing to whisk until well combined.
- Pour egg mixture evenly throughout and over the bread and apple mixture. Press down on bread lightly to remove any air holes and to work the egg mixture into the top layer of bread. The top layer should be mostly flat (no pieces sticking out) as they may brown too much.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes. It should feel bouncy similar to a cake but may jiggle slightly from the eggs. The surface will be browned.
Make the Sauce
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the saved apple sauce with 3 tablespoon All-purpose Flour. Stir until smooth. Slowly add 1 cup Whole Milk to the saucepan. Heat and stir for 2-3 minutes or until warmed through. Taste test and sweeten if necessary (it's pretty sweet though).
- Serve warm with sauce on the side or pour over individual servings and top with Vanilla Ice Cream.
Brandi says
This was amazing! I really loved the spice and the flavor without being soggy. Thank you for bringing it in to sample.