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This rustic bread pudding uses leftover babka bread and simple pantry ingredients to make a dreamy, decadent dessert that is perfect for the holidays! The brown butter bourbon sauce is creamy, sumptuous, and makes you want to pour the entire pitcher on, it's so good!

You know what's weird? I think bread pudding is my son, Greyson's, favorite dessert/special breakfast. He calls it 'the most delicious thing ever', so if you need another reason to make this, take the review of my seven-year-old boy to heart.

Origins of Bread Pudding

I said it in my lobster roll post, I said it in my French onion soup post, and I'll say it again here: poor people food always becomes expensive or gets considered fancy at some point. Bread pudding is no different!

In 13th century England, it was known as “poor man’s pudding,” as it was a popular dish with the lower classes, but food historians trace different countries' versions of bread pudding back as far as ancient Rome.

bread pudding made with babka bread inside a Grizzly cast iron skillet, with a scoop of bread pudding on a plate

The first known bread pudding recipe written down was in a cookbook called The Compleat Housewife by Elizabeth Smith in 1727 and considered a 'bread and butter pudding for fasting days'.

It was baked with puff pastry lining a baking dish topped with slices of penny loaf bread and butter, raisins, currants, and spiced thickened cream with orange blossom water. In other words, it was way fussier than the way we make bread pudding now.

How to Make Bread Pudding

Making bread pudding is fairly simple. You cube up stale bread, in this case, I used leftover cinnamon babka which was perfect for both flavor and texture--more on that in the ingredients section--, soak the stale bread in a rich custard, bake in the oven, and whisk up that buttery brown bourbon sauce.

close up of bread pudding in grizzly cookware

And y'all, when I say this stuff is good, it's freaking delicious. There's just something about brown butter that makes everything better, especially desserts.

Ingredients

Like I said in the intro, all these ingredients are easily found in your everyday fridge and pantry.

Stale bread. For this recipe we're using a loaf of cinnamon babka, which has a very enriched dough, meaning it's made with a lot of egg yolks, butter, milk --basically full of fat and richness. It makes bread pudding so decadent and when it's stale it holds its shape better than pre-sliced storebought bread when soaked in custard. It gives us a rustic look that I love.
Milk.
Eggs.
Butter.
Granulated Sugar and Light Brown Sugar.
Vanilla Extract.
Kosher Salt.

brown butter bourbon sauce being poured onto bread pudding in cast iron skillet

Next is the brown butter bourbon sauce, which whew y'all, it's about to turn your bread pudding making life around!

Unsalted Butter.
All-Purpose Flour. Brown Sugar.
Whole Milk.
Vanilla Extract.
Bourbon. I used a really nice Brown Sugar Bourbon from Heritage Distillery, which has cinnamon in it and I really think complimented the flavors well.
Kosher Salt.

overhead shot of bread pudding with brown butter bourbon sauce in a skillet and on a plate

How to Brown Butter

Brown butter is really simple to make. It's a French culinary staple (called buerre noisette) where butter is gently heated so the milk solids are toasted and turn golden brown and the butter gets a complex, nutty, caramelized flavor.

When making your brown butter, don't leave it alone. Brown butter can turn to burnt butter really fast, keep an eye on it and make sure to whisk it pretty frequently so the solids do not settle on the bottom and burn.

Tips for the Best Bread Pudding

close up of bread pudding on a plate with brown butter bourbon sauce

The more soaking time you can give your bread, the better! You can even do it overnight and bake the next day.
As long as your bread doesn't have mold, it can be used for bread pudding. Too stale doesn't exist for bread pudding!
You can add nuts, raisins, craisins, chocolate chips, marshmallows, etc. to your bread pudding. Adding a ¼ cup of bourbon into your custard isn't a bad idea at all, either!
I love baking in cast iron (even heating and durability!) and used my Grizzly 10 inch pan, which was deep enough to hold an entire loaf of babka and a generous amount of custard. It's my favorite cast iron pan since it doesn't require seasoning like other cast iron pans do.

Recommended Tools

Mixing Bowl
Cast Iron Skillet
Medium Saucepan
Whisk
Creamer Pitcher (as seen in photos)

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📖 Recipe

Babka Bread Pudding with Brown Butter Bourbon Sauce

Eden Westbrook

4.89 from 27 votes

Print this Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 45

Soak Time 30

Total Time 1 30

Course Desserts

Cuisine European

Servings servings

Calories 296 kcal

Ingredients

Bread Pudding

1 large cinnamon babka loaf cut into 1-inch cubes
2 ½ cups whole milk
6 tablespoon unsalted butter melted
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Brown Butter Bourbon Sauce

2 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 cups whole milk
½ light brown sugar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
⅓ cup bourbon

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly butter your baking dish.
Add the babka bread cubes to your 10-inch cast-iron skillet.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the milk, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, unsalted butter, kosher salt, and vanilla extract until well combined. Pour most of the custard, about ¾ of the entire thing, evenly over the bread cubes.
Let the bread soak in the custard for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Pour on the reserved custard to moisten any dry pieces of bread on top.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes. The bread pudding will be done when a butter knife or cake test inserted in it comes out clean.
Brown Butter Bourbon Sauce
Melt butter in a stainless steel or light-colored medium-sized saucepan. Stir the butter around constantly, and in about 3 to 5 minutes the butter will begin to smell toasted and nutty and the milk solids will have turned a golden brown.
Whisk in flour and whisk constantly for one minute to cook out raw flour taste and ensure nothing sticks to the bottom on the pan.
Splash in a small amount of milk at a time, about ¼ cup, whisking after each addition until the milk is absorbed into the flour. It will be a thick, clumpy goop at first, and that's how you know you're doing it right. Keep adding the milk, whisking constantly, until all the milk is added and the consistency is smooth.
Mix in the brown sugar and kosher salt. Let cook, stirring occasionally so the bottom doesn't burn, until the sauce is thickened, about 15 minutes.
Remove from heat and add your bourbon and vanilla extract. Pour over the bread pudding while warm.
Keep the bread pudding in an air-tight container or wrapped well with plastic wrap in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Notes

Smooth and Creamy Sauce

Flour can be missed and clump up in your sauce. My tip: pour the brown butter bourbon sauce through a fine-mesh sieve to catch any lumps of flour in your sauce.

Freezing Bread Pudding

Do not pour the brown butter bourbon sauce onto the bread pudding; you can do this once you’re ready to serve. When the bread pudding is cooled completely, cut the bread pudding into single-serving portions.

Wrap each portion of bread pudding in plastic wrap completely, then wrap in a layer of aluminum foil to prevent freezer burn. It keeps in the freezer for up to 4 months.

To thaw, take the bread pudding portions out of the freezer and thaw in the fridge overnight.

To reheat, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and put the bread pudding on a baking sheet. Pour the sauce over the bread generously and bake for 10 to 20 minutes or until fully warmed through. If for some reason the custard of the bread pudding has dried out while thawing, try adding a splash of milk or heavy cream to the pudding before reheating,

Helpful Tips

The more soaking time you can give your bread, the better! You can even do it overnight and bake the next day.
As long as your bread doesn't have mold, it can be used for bread pudding. Too stale doesn't exist for bread pudding!
You can add nuts, raisins, craisins, chocolate chips, marshmallows, etc. to your bread pudding. Adding a ¼ cup of bourbon into your custard isn't a bad idea at all, either!