Apple Pie Bread Pudding

If you love a rich, sweet bread pudding but you’re also a fan of apple pie, have I got a treat for you! This delicious bread pudding is packed full of flavor and it’s super easy to make! 

What is Bread Pudding? 

Bread pudding is a popular dessert made from stale or leftover bread that is soaked in a mixture of milk, eggs, sugar, and various flavorings. The mixture is then baked until the bread pudding becomes firm and has a custard-like consistency.

The History of Bread Pudding

Bread pudding has been enjoyed in various forms in many different cultures for centuries. It was originally a way to use up leftover bread and prevent waste. Different regions and countries have their own variations of bread pudding, with varying ingredients and flavors.

I happened to have a loaf of French bread on hand. To be honest, I bought it on a whim because it was so inexpensive! 

But when I stumbled across this recipe on one of my favorite YouTube channels (Beautiful Too Creations) I knew I could put it to good use! 

How Do I Make Bread Pudding?

Bread pudding is so simple to make! It involves tearing or slicing stale bread into small pieces and placing them in a baking dish. A mixture of milk (or cream), beaten eggs, sugar, and sometimes spices like cinnamon or nutmeg is poured over the bread. Additional ingredients such as raisins, dried fruit, chocolate chips, or nuts may be added for flavor and texture.

After soaking the bread in the sweet milk it is baked in the oven until the top is golden brown and the custard on bottom is set. The end result is a warm, comforting dessert with a soft, moist interior and a slightly crispy crust.

In this case, I skipped the nutmeg and added cinnamon. I also added a full can of apple pie filling. 

More on that later! For now, let’s look get busy baking bread pudding! 

Bread Pudding Ingredients

You will find a full printable recipe card at the bottom of this post but here’s a quick peek at what you’ll need. These are simple ingredients you might already have in your refrigerator or pantry. 

• Brioche bread or French bread
• granulated sugar
• whole milk 
• butter
• large eggs, whisked (whole)
• salt (if you use unsalted butter)
• apple pie filling
• vanilla 
• Craisins (dried cranberries), plumped
• pecans (toasted)
• Cinnamon to taste

VANILLA CREAM SAUCE

• heavy cream
• Brown Sugar (Packed)
• Cornstarch
• Egg
• Salted Butter
• Vanilla Extract

How to Make this Delicious Bread Pudding

Bread pudding might seem a little intimidating but I promise, this one isn’t! 

Start by preheating oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cut up a full loaf of brioche or French bread and place in a large bowl. (I happened to have a loaf of cinnamon bread on hand so I used that.) Challah bread would also be a good option. You just want a dense bread. (A softer bread is fine if you want a mushy bread pudding.)

Allow to dry out for several hours, possibly even overnight. 

Plump the Craisins (or Golden Raisins) by covering with warm water. Set aside. 

Chop up the canned apple pie filling so the pieces aren’t as large. Set aside. 

Place five eggs in medium bowl and whisk until light and fluffy. Set aside. 

In a separate large microwave safe bowl place three cups of milk. Warm in microwave. 

Add chopped butter and stir until melted. 

Add sugar and mix well until dissolved. 

Add eggs, cinnamon, and apple pie filling.

Mix well. 

Pour custard mixture over the cubed bread. 

Drain excess water off of the Craisins and add them, along with the pecans. Stir well. 

Pour all ingredients into a prepared 9×13-inch casserole dish in an even layer. 

Sprinkle with more cinnamon-sugar, if you like. I used my Vietnamese cinnamon, which is so delicious! 

Set aside for half an hour to let bread soak. 

Soaking the bread cubes allows them to absorb the flavors.

Place pan in preheated oven and bake for an hour or until set and golden on top. (I set my baking dish on a cookie sheet.) 

While the pudding is baking, make your Vanilla Cream Sauce

In a small saucepan, whisk the corn starch with a quarter cup of heavy cream. Now slowly in the rest of the cream 

Add brown sugar and egg to the cream and whisk until fully incorporated. 

Heat over low temperature, stirring until the sugar dissolves and the mixture starts to slightly thicken. 

Add butter and vanilla and whisk well. Set aside to cool until thickened. 

Pour over the (slightly cooled) bread pudding. 

Allow to rest for a while to continue cooling before scooping into serving bowls. Warm bread pudding is delicious!

Serve and enjoy! If you like, you can serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Keep leftovers in airtight container in the refrigerator up to four days. This one’s even better the next day. (Warm leftover bread pudding in the microwave.)

You can freeze this bread pudding up to two months. Allow to come to room temperature naturally. 

What to Expect from this Bread Pudding

I’ll be honest: as I was growing up I never touched bread pudding. Every time one of my grandmothers served it, I turned my nose up at it. 

Now I see that I wasted a lot of years not enjoying something that could have provided joy for years! Talk about the perfect dessert, a great way to put smiles on the faces of your family and guests.

Some people call bread pudding poor man’s pudding but I think it tastes like a million bucks! I will definitely add this to my dessert menu more often.

What I Loved About this Bread Pudding

This bread pudding is multi-faceted and layered with different textures and flavors. The bottom is gooey and delicious, rich with that sweet milky flavor and texture. The top still has a bit of crunch from baking, but the creamy sauce on top is simply divine! 

With one bite you pretty much get all of those textures and flavors at one time, which provides an over-the-top experience. 

I think this bread budding would make a delicious breakfast but it’s also rich and gooey enough for a fabulous apple dessert. Me? I plan to eat my first serving as a mid-afternoon snack! 

Variations on this Recipe

Bread pudding is often served with a sauce, such as caramel sauce, vanilla sauce, or a whiskey or rum sauce, which adds sweetness and enhances the flavors, so you can always mix up what you put on top. For instance, this apple pie filling would have paired beautifully with caramel sauce. (Yum!) 

I’ve been thinking about this a lot. If you can add apple pie filling to bread pudding, why not other pie fillings? 

With that in mind, here are some I’d love to try: 

Caramel Apple Bread Pudding: Top with caramel instead of vanilla sauce. (Delicious!) I think this might be the best bread pudding idea yet!

Peach: I mean, C’mon. Peach bread pudding, covered with that luscious vanilla sauce? Yes, please! 

Blackberry or Blueberry: I’m going to try this one next, trust me! I’ll probably start with blueberry, since I have plenty of that on hand. And I’ll add some lemon juice to the cream on top so it’s a rich lemon berry experience. (Oh, and I’ll skip the cinnamon, obviously.) 

Cherry. I can almost taste it now! Can you imagine a cherry bread pudding with a bit of chocolate drizzled over the top? Or, even a handful of chocolate chips baked into the top. Delicious! 

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Find this and many more cinnamon-sugar breakfast recipes on my Cinnamon Breakfast Bakes post!

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That’s it for this post, friends! I hope you enjoyed this delicious apple bread pudding recipe. 

If you enjoyed this recipe, be sure to pin it for later using any of the photos below. And don’t forget to leave a comment below!

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