Nothing says holiday comfort quite like bread pudding during the holidays and we like to kick it up a notch with this warm and gooey salted caramel bread pudding! Delicious and indulgent, it’s absolutely perfect paired with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.
To make this recipe extra yummy, we use Danish Creamery butter. Inspired by traditional Danish butter, Danish Creamery’s recipe hasn’t changed since 1895. Just pure sweet cream and sea salt, Danish Creamery butter is richer and creamier than most because it’s churned the Danish way. Extra care and time put into making Danish Creamery makes this butter extra delicious.
This post is sponsored by Danish Creamery but all thoughts and opinions are our own.
Table of Contents
What kind of bread to use for bread pudding
Regardless of the type of bread you use, your bread pudding will taste delicious.
We prefer using a loaf of challah for our salted caramel bread pudding. It is hearty, buttery, and flavorful. It also is dense enough to withstand baking in the liquid so it doesn’t fall apart when you are serving it.
Brioche bread is similar to challah in texture and holds up very well with this recipe. It works even better if you’ve left it out for a day to go the slightest bit stale.
Truly, you can’t go wrong with any bread whether it is fresh or slightly stale. If your bread has hardened a bit, whether it is pre-sliced white bread or a whole grain loaf, it will be perfect for this recipe. The beauty of bread pudding is that the sauce works to rehydrate the bread while it is baking.
Should I cube or slice my bread for bread pudding?
Traditionally, when you see bread pudding you might notice that it is cut up into cubes. But in our instructional video, you’ll see that we cut our bread into slices.
After some taste testing, we can assure you that from a flavor and texture perspective, there isn’t much difference.
Cubed bread lends itself to a wider variety of bakeware since it can really take on any shape. It also is easier to scoop onto a plate with a spoon.
Sliced bread, we find, tends to look prettier and is equally as easy to serve using tongs! Personally, we love slicing our bread for bread pudding because it creates the perfect bed for a scoop of ice cream when serving.
Long story short, the choice of whether to slice or cube is totally up to you!
How to make salted caramel bread pudding
- First, make the salted caramel sauce:
- In a medium sauce pot, melt a stick of butter.
- While the butter is melting, add brown sugar, heavy cream, and sea salt.
- Whisk everything together and allow the sauce to simmer for 2-3 minutes. Set aside to cool
- Separately, make your custard to bake your bread pudding in:
- In a large mixing bowl, add half and half, eggs, melted butter, vanilla, sugar, and brown sugar. Make sure to allow the melted butter to cool down for a couple of minutes before incorporating it in to make sure it doesn’t cook the eggs. To be extra cautious, you can add the melted butter in last!
- Whisk the ingredients together until it is well combined and set aside.
- Slice or cube a loaf of bread.
- Layer the bread pieces into a buttered baking dish. We personally love to cut full slices of bread and pinwheel the bread in a circular baking dish. It bakes super well like this and looks pretty, too!
- Pour the custard sauce over the slices of bread. Try your best to evenly distribute the liquid to make sure that every slice is coated.
- Pour half of the salted caramel sauce over the bread pudding, making sure to get all the nooks and crannies!
- Cover and refrigerate overnight. We highly recommend this step as it really soaks up all the custard. If you do not have time, try to let it sit for at least 1 hour.
- Remove the cover and bake your bread pudding in the oven at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes.
- Remove the bread pudding from the oven.
- Pour the remaining salted caramel sauce over the top of the baked bread pudding. Sprinkle on some extra sea salt to your taste preferences.
- Serve as it is or with your favorite ice cream. Whipped cream also works as a topping!
Common Questions about Salted Caramel Bread Pudding
You can totally prep bread pudding the night before – in fact, it gets even better when the bread has extra time to soak up the custard mixture! Just cover and refrigerate overnight, then let it come to room temperature before baking. Your kitchen will smell absolutely incredible when it’s in the oven.
This usually happens when there’s too much liquid for the amount of bread, or when the bread pieces aren’t dried out enough first. If your bread isn’t already dried out, try toasting it in the oven for about 10 minutes before assembling, and make sure your custard-to-bread ratio is spot-on for that perfect texture throughout.
Since bread pudding contains eggs and dairy, it’s best to refrigerate it within two hours of baking. When you’re ready to enjoy it again, just warm it up in the oven or microwave until it’s perfectly cozy, then add a fresh drizzle of warm salted caramel sauce.
Challah is absolutely phenomenal for bread pudding because it’s rich, buttery, and has a perfect texture that soaks up all that creamy custard. Day-old brioche or French bread work beautifully too – the key is using slightly stale bread that can hold its shape while soaking up all those amazing flavors!
The BEST Salted Caramel Bread Pudding
Ingredients
- 4 cups half & half
- 3 whole eggs
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp Danish Creamery butter melted (unsalted)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 loaf challah bread
Salted Caramel
- 8 Tablespoons Danish Creamery butter unsalted
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1 cup heavy cream
- maldon salt flakes for garnish
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter, brown sugar, salt and heavy cream. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer for 2 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and let slightly cool.1/4 cup light brown sugar, 8 Tablespoons Danish Creamery butter, 1 cup heavy cream, 2 teaspoons sea salt
- In a large mixing bowl combine half and half, eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar, melted butter and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth.4 cups half & half, 3 whole eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1 cup light brown sugar, 2 tbsp Danish Creamery butter
- Slice the brioche into 1/2 inch pieces. Arrange in a 12-inch round baking dish, making sure they slightly overlap. Pour the custard over. Pour half the caramel sauce and reserve the remaining half for later. Cover and refrigerate overnight.1 loaf challah bread
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Remove the cover and bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Heat the reserved caramel sauce and pour over the bread pudding. Garnish with sea salt flakes.maldon salt flakes for garnish
- Serve as is or with a scoop of ice cream! Whipped cream works too!
Video
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Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made this for breakfast brunch this morning and it was absolutely amazing. I am not sure if it’s just me but the ingredients and directions are different for the brown sugar. For the custard it calls for 1/4c but the instructions say 1C and for the sauce it says 1C brown sugar but directions says 1/4?!! I did as the ingredients says but was I supposed to do as the directions says? Was just curious if anyone else noticed that?
Made this for breakfast. It was absolutely delicious! Sifted some powdered sugar, garnished with strawberries. Everyone was asking for recipe. FANTASTIC
Very good! I used brioche because I couldnt find the challah bread. I also cut the bread into large cubes to fit my baking dish better. I would definitely make this again.
Hi! This looks amazing and I can’t wait to make it! In step two it mentions milk but milk isn’t in the ingredient list or shown on the video. Do I add milk there and, if so, how much? Thanks!
Good catch, there is no milk! Just made the adjustment. Let us know how it turns out!