Food & Cooking Recipes Dessert & Treats Recipes Pie & Tarts Recipes Apple Pie Bread Pudding 5.0 (6) All the flavor of apple pie without the rolling and crimping? Yes please. Close Credit: Jacob Fox Prep Time: 25 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 25 mins Total Time: 2 hrs 35 mins Servings: 8 Jump to recipe This rich, satisfying apple bread pudding combines all the flavor of a freshly baked apple pie with the ease of a bread pudding for a delicious fall or winter dessert. Sweet-tart apples are the perfect contrast to buttery brioche, creating plenty of balance in every bite, and a scoop of vanilla ice cream takes the whole thing over the top. The ingredient list may look long, but it’s mostly pantry items—think sugar, vanilla, and spices—plus basic ingredients like eggs, butter, and milk. Beside the baking and resting time, this recipe takes only 25 minutes to pull together and is the perfect way to cap off a dinner party, brunch, or holiday meal. One taste and you’ll wonder where this hybrid dessert has been all your life. The Best Apples for Baking Pies, Cobblers, and Other Dishes, According to Apple Farmers Key Ingredients for Apple Bread Pudding The bread: Our pick for this recipe is day-old brioche, which will soak up the liquid and bake up into a tender, extra-buttery bread pudding. You can also use challah or a French or Italian loaf. We don't recommend using hearty, whole wheat, or seeded bread for this recipe. The apples: Tart, crisp Granny Smith apples provide a delicious contrast to the rich and sweet bread pudding. Peel them first to remove the skins, then use an apple corer or simply your knife to cut out the tough core. Cutting the apples into quarter-inch-thick slices helps them to soften during baking without turning to mush. For a slightly sweeter taste, use Honeycrisp, Braeburn, or Pink Lady apples. The dairy: A combination of heavy cream, whole milk, and melted butter lends richness and moisture to this decadent dessert. To cut back on the fat, you can use light cream and reduced-fat milk, but note that the dessert will be slightly drier and less rich. The spices: Cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg bring serious apple pie energy to this recipe. For the best flavor, we recommend freshly grated nutmeg, but you can use pre-ground in a pinch. In place of the individual spices, you can swap in one teaspoon of store-bought apple pie spice if you prefer. Bread Pudding Dos and Don'ts Do use stale bread: Stale bread will absorb the most liquid, leaving you with the best flavor and texture. If your bread is very fresh, we recommend cutting it into chunks, tossing it on a baking sheet, and letting it dry out in a 300 degree Fahrenheit oven until no longer soft, 10 to 15 minutes. Don't overfill the pan: After spooning the bread and apple mixture into the pie plate, add just enough of the remaining liquid to reach the edge of the pan. You may be left with a bit extra liquid, but don't be tempted to add it all—doing so can risk the liquid bubbling over and/or the bread pudding becoming soggy. Don't rush the process: It's important to let the bread mixture sit for at least 30 minutes to soak up the dairy before adding the remaining ingredients and baking. Rushing this step will result in a bread pudding that cooks up dry and and tough instead of rich and custardy. When baking the assembled dessert, check to make sure the center is fully set before removing it from the oven. You can do this by making a small cut in the middle—it should be tender but not overly soft or mushy. Do serve warm: This bread pudding is best served warm from the oven, preferably with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. If you do need to bake it ahead of time, cover and refrigerate the bread pudding, then let it come to room temperature before reheating. decorvow It’s one of my golden rules for cooking and baking. When a professional chef prepares a dish for service, they first gather all the ingredients needed to finish it. — decorvow Directions Credit: Jacob Fox Heat oven; prepare pie plate: Preheat oven to 350°F with rack set in the lower third of the oven. Lightly butter a 9-inch pie plate; set aside. Whisk cream, milk, and eggs; add brioche and let soak: In a large bowl, whisk together cream, milk, and eggs. Add brioche and gently toss to coat. Set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes to soak. Credit: Jacob Fox Make apple mixture: Meanwhile, melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and add granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, spices, and salt; stir until smooth and well combined. Add apples and toss to coat. Credit: Jacob Fox Fold apple mixture into bread mixture; transfer to pan: Gently fold apple mixture into the bread mixture until well combined. Spoon bread and apple mixture into prepared pie plate, then pour remaining liquid over top just to fill to the edge of the dish (you may not use all of it). Sprinkle with turbinado sugar, if desired. Credit: Jacob Fox Cover and bake 45 minutes; uncover and continue to bake until set: Cover with a piece of parchment, followed by a piece of aluminum foil and crimp edges to seal; set on a parchment-lined baking sheet to catch drips. Bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake until bread pudding is golden brown and set in the center, 30 to 35 minutes more. Credit: Jacob Fox Let sit before serving: Let sit on a wire rack 10 to 20 minutes before serving with ice cream. Credit: Jacob Fox How to Store Bread Pudding Baked bread pudding can be refrigerated, tightly covered with foil, for up to three days. Let refrigerated bread pudding come to room temperature, then reheat it in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 15 to 20 minutes before re-serving. How to Serve Bread Pudding Bread pudding is best served warm from the oven (though don't forget to let it sit for 10 to 20 minutes to set up first). We like to accompany this particular recipe with vanilla ice cream in a nod to apple pie, but you can certainly serve it with whipped cream or even caramel sauce or our crème anglaise instead. More Apple Dessert Recipes to Try: Apple Crisp Apple-Honey Upside-Down Cake Apple Crostada With Cheddar Crust Old Vienna Apple Strudel Apple Sundaes With Cider Caramel Sauce Apple Pandowdy Updated by Esther Reynolds Esther Reynolds Esther Reynolds is an experienced recipe developer, recipe tester, food editor, and writer with over a decade of experience in the food and media industries.