This recipe for Pumpkin Bread Pudding is one of my favorite desserts to make during the fall season.
Bread pudding is an often requested sweet treat in the RecipeGirl house. It’s sweet and comforting, and we love the bread soaked in egg and cream. Add pumpkin and spices, and that transforms bread pudding into something really spectacular! This is a lovely dessert to serve for fall parties and celebrations. And it’s one to consider for your Thanksgiving menu too!
Ingredients needed:
- whole milk
- heavy whipping cream
- Italian bread
- butter
- brown sugar
- cinnamon
- nutmeg
- ginger
- eggs
- unsweetened canned pumpkin purée
- white sugar
- salt
How to make Pumpkin Bread Pudding:
- The first step is to butter and sugar a baking pan. Rub it with butter. Sprinkle some white sugar inside the pan and shake it around to coat the bottom and the sides.
- Heat the milk and cream together. Pour half of the hot milk mixture into a bowl with the bread cubes.
- Mix butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and egg yolks. Add pumpkin purée and the rest of the hot milk mixture. Add the soaked bread to the pumpkin mixture.
- Whip egg whites, white sugar and salt into stiff peaks. Then fold this mixture into the bowl with the pumpkin bread cubes too.
- Scrape the whole mixture into the prepared pan, and bake for about 40 minutes.
How do you know when bread pudding is done?
Insert a knife into the center. If it comes out with liquid on it, then it needs to bake a bit more. If the knife comes out clean, it’s done!
Slice and serve. You can serve it warm or cold. And if you make it ahead of time, you can warm up individual slices in the microwave.
Top individual servings with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream or bourbon cream sauce (recipe below!) Pumpkin bread pudding is also delicious served all by itself with no topping.
How to make Bourbon Cream Sauce:
Heat 1 cup of heavy cream. That’s just enough to melt 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips. Let that sit for a minute or two. Then stir until melted and smooth. Stir in 1/3 cup bourbon. Pour lightly over individual servings for a delightful finishing touch.
Pumpkin Bread Pudding topped with the Bourbon Cream Sauce is so good!! Enjoy!
Pumpkin Bread Pudding
Ingredients
PUMPKIN BREAD PUDDING:
- 1¾ cups whole milk
- 1½ cups heavy whipping cream
- 15 ounces stale Italian bread (with crust), cut into cubes
- ¾ cup (1½ sticks) butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch ground nutmeg
- 1 pinch ground ginger
- 6 large egg yolks
- 1¾ cups canned unsweetened pumpkin puree, at room temperature
- 3 large egg whites
- 1½ tablespoons granulated white sugar
- ¾ teaspoon salt
BOURBON CREAM SAUCE (optional):
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- ½ cup white chocolate chips
- ⅓ cup bourbon
Instructions
MAKE THE PUMPKIN BREAD PUDDING:
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter and sugar a 9x13-inch baking dish (or use twelve 3-inch ramekins).
- In a medium saucepan, bring the milk and cream to a simmer over low heat. Place the bread cubes in a bowl. Remove the milk mixture from heat and pour half of the hot liquid over the bread cubes.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and egg yolks, beating well. Add pumpkin purée and the other half of the heated cream and milk. Fold the soaked bread into the pumpkin mixture.
- In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the egg whites, sugar and salt until they form stiff peaks. Then gently fold them into the batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish. Bake 35 to 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. If not making the bourbon cream sauce, you can serve whipped cream over individual servings.
MAKE THE (optional) BOURBON CREAM SAUCE:
- Heat the heavy cream (in microwave or small saucepan) just enough to melt the white chocolate chips. Add the chips, let sit for a minute or two, and then stir to combine until smooth. Then stir in the bourbon. Pour the sauce lightly over individual servings for a delightful finishing touch.
Notes
- *This dessert may be baked and then wrapped and refrigerated for up to 3 days. Re-heat in the oven wrapped in foil, or microwaved until warm.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can you freeze this.
Not sure…
Great recipe, Lori! I will probably make use of the leftover hamburger buns from yesterday and sourdough bread. I’ve always loved bread pudding since I can add different toppings on it. I tried making one before but it ended up runny. It was not undercooked. Do you have any tips for this? Thanks for this! It truly fits the season!
I make bread pudding frequently. I’ve used everything from squishy white bread to artisanal loaves of bread to leftover hamburger or hot dog buns. The denser the bread is, the better. I cut it into about 1-inch cubes and put them on a cookie sheet and bake them in a 325 F oven for about 15 minutes and let cool. (I do the same for dressing/stuffing.)
The Italian sandwich loaf will probably work just fine, especially if oven-dried.
I picked up the drying in the oven trick from Cook’s Illustrated. I can’t remember the exact reason (and can’t find it now on their website), but it works better than letting the bread dry at room temperature.
Hi, I’m planning on making this for Thanksgiving, I bought sandwich style Italian bread, will that work? Or is it too soft? I’m afraid the texture won’t hold up in the batter. Should I be using something similar to a crusty baguette? Thanks!
I usually use French bread. You can always cut it up and leave it out to get a little bit more stale before preparing it.