Recipes Desserts Pudding Bread Pudding Our 15 Best Bread Pudding Desserts By Food & Wine Editors Updated on October 30, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: © Tina Rupp Ooey, gooey bread pudding is one of our favorite desserts. Happily, it's also one of the simplest to put together, and it's a great make-ahead choice for a crowd. It has the added virtue of being an ideal way to use bread that's just past its prime; the drier the bread, the more custard it can absorb. Here is our collection of luscious bread pudding recipes, including variations with berries and brioche, guava and cheese, and croissants and caramel. 01 of 15 Guava and Cheese Bread Pudding Photo by Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styling by Lydia Pursell Pastry chef Paola Velez adds guava and cheese to the canon of iconic duos. This classic flavor combo takes a star turn in a dessert that Velez describes as "if flan and bread pudding had a baby, and it's delicious." The recipe features a lavish custard made with what might seem like an excess of evaporated milk, but makes for an utterly dreamy texture in the final product. Get the Recipe 02 of 15 Bread Pudding with Irish Whiskey © Stephanie Meyer Chef Andrew Zimmern's whiskey-spiked bread pudding is an amazing dessert for all occasions, especially St. Paddy's Day. Choose a soft, rich white bread such as challah or brioche. Get the Recipe 03 of 15 Dulce de Leche Bread Pudding © Deirdre Rooney This gooey bread pudding made with caramel-like dulce de leche from Latin America is so much more than the sum of its five parts. To add even more flavor, throw in a handful of fresh or frozen raspberries or blueberries before baking. Get the Recipe 04 of 15 Caramel-Croissant Pudding "We Brits consider this 'pudding,'" says cookbook author and TV star Nigella Lawson of her buttery, sweet dessert. "Think bread pudding, only so much more luxurious. When I make this for supper, we eat nothing else. Why would one need to?" Get the Recipe 05 of 15 Apple Bread Pudding Gail Simmons rescues dense, dull bread pudding by sautéing the apples in brandy and butter, then soaking both the fruit and brioche in lots of vanilla custard before baking. Get the Recipe 06 of 15 Chocolate Ganache Bread Pudding © Quentin Bacon A fast and easy way to make the port caramel sauce is to reduce the port in a saucepan until it has the consistency of syrup, then add store-bought caramel sauce and warm through. Get the Recipe 07 of 15 Berry-Brioche Bread Pudding © Antonis Achilleos To help balance the irresistibly crispy top, sprinkle the baking dish with turbinado sugar to give the bottom of the pudding a delightful crunch. Get the Recipe 08 of 15 Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding with Espresso Whipped Cream © James Baigrie "This recipe was created over a breakfast of — what else? — Krispy Kremes," says chef Govind Armstrong. The espresso-infused whipped cream makes a brilliant, and equally decadent, topping. Get the Recipe 09 of 15 Banana Brioche Bread Pudding © Lucy Schaeffer Sweet bananas and buttery brioche come together in this cozy dessert. It's served with fudge and butterscotch sauce to take it over the top. Get the Recipe 10 of 15 Cinnamon-Raisin Bread Custard with Fresh Berries © Tina Rupp Chef Bradley Ogden's 1987 recipe for ultra-rich bread pudding is perfect for dessert or brunch. It can be prepared with store-bought bread, but it's best made with a fresh bakery loaf, sliced 1/2-inch thick. Get the Recipe 11 of 15 Chocolate Bread Pudding © Madeleine Hill This warm, rich bread pudding from chef Andrew Zimmern is a great crowd-pleasing dessert for the holiday season, or anytime you want a hit of intense chocolate. It contains a double dose of bittersweet: Some is melted into the custard, then chocolate chips are strewn throughout. Get the Recipe 12 of 15 Vanilla Ice Cream Bread Pudding with Whiskey Caramel © John Kernick This genius bread pudding from ice cream maven Jeni Britton is made with store-bought brioche and melted vanilla ice cream, eliminating the need to make a custard. The simple whiskey-tinged caramel sauce comes together with just four ingredients. Get the Recipe 13 of 15 Sweet Corn and Bourbon Bread Pudding Victor Protasio For this fun, Southern-inspired dessert, Top Chef Season 16 winner Kelsey Barnard Clark uses entire ears of corn — broiling corn kernels and using corn milk from the cobs — to give her bread pudding recipe a summery, fresh corn flavor. A topping of caramel popcorn adds a sweet crunch and whimsy. Lime zest in the crème anglaise and a splash of bourbon keep it from leaning too sweet. Sweet Corn and Bourbon Bread Pudding 14 of 15 Kemptville Blueberry Bread Pudding © Maura McEvoy This bread pudding is named after a town near Trout Point Lodge in Nova Scotia that sells much of the local wild blueberry harvest. The optional white chocolate chunks provide an extra bit of creamy sweetness. Get the Recipe 15 of 15 Irish Soda Bread Pudding © Ian Knauer Bread pudding, with its custardy bottom and crusty top, is the simplest way to turn pantry ingredients like eggs, sugar, and bread into a delicious dessert. It uses a whole loaf of Irish soda bread, which can be easily made at home ahead of time. Get the Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit