Yum!!!! I used Pepperidge Farm cinnamon swirl bread, left out the raisins, added a 1/4 cup of brown sugar, used gourmet whipping cream instead of milk and topped it with a vanilla sauce recipe I found on this site. WOW! This made a dessert you'd pay a lot for in a restaurant. My husband and I loved it. And it was so easy! I'll make this a lot. Anyone who even remotely likes bread pudding will love this for it's ease and it's taste.
I started using this recipe nearly THREE years ago, and figured it was time to say so. I've read some of the reviews, and if this helps, I've tweaked a little, too. I don't usually like to share my secrets, but this one's free: keep the egg quantity, use half and half instead of milk; turbinado sugar adds a warmer flavor than white. Add some extra bread (a couple slices worth of ANY kind - I love the varying textures and colors), cram it with walnuts and 1/4 teaspoon of black walnut extract; use nutmeg instead of cinnamon with the black walnut flavor, ground ginger without. Exotic. I've topped this bread with thinly sliced pears in a pinwheel design (nicer flavor and softer texture than apples) and sprinkled the tiniest bit of brown sugar over them before baking. Warm with whipped cream is best, still it's a great start to any day as breakfast. Thanks, Ellen. I've been appreciating you for a while and would give you 10 stars if I could!
This recipe is SO delicious and SO easy to make (no scalded milk or water baths here - yippee!). The first time I made it I used 4 eggs like the recipe calls for, but I thought it was way too "eggy" (it almost made a layer of scrambled eggs on the bottom of the pan!)... so the second time I made it with only 3 eggs and it was PERFECT! Both times I made it with cheap store-brand white bread and it was absolutely delicious, so you don't need to use an expensive bread to get good results. I topped each serving with a dollop of homemade whipped topping (whip 1/2 pint of whipping cream together with 3 tablespoons powdered sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla)... and then I sprinkled a little cinnamon on top of that. It was truly "TO DIE FOR"!! Thanks so much for this easy and delicious recipe, Ellen! :)
This bread pudding is the best I have ever tasted. My husband loves bread pudding and is never satisfied with what I make. I made your bread pudding and he was raving. He almost ate half of the pan. My grandson was here at the time and he kept wanting more. I finally had to put a stop to both of them But honestly it is the best - even the restaurant can't touch it. Thanks for a great recipe. This is a desert that is ready in 45 minutes and is perfection. Thank you, thank you,
Sondra Whealton
Good, but way too much sugar (cut down to about 1/2 cup) and cinnamon. Also needed to add more bread (used 9 slices) because after nearly an hour of baking the center was still uncooked, cold, and soggy.
This is a great, easy recipie! I doubled the recipie, changed the milk into heavy whipping cream, and instead of useing french bread or raisins I used petridge farm raisin swirl bread. I also recomend cutting off all crust from the bread, it makes it taste stale. But with these simple changes it's great!! Great recipie!
I really liked this recipe! I had some left over french bread which I wasn't sure what to do with and figured a pudding would be nice... It sure was! I used one egg less (they were big and I didn't want it to be to "eggy" anyway). I also used brown sugar intead of white sugar and added nutmeg to the whole. Oh and I didn't use any raisins. I really recommend it... I'm thinking of making it for my family when they come over next weekend.
My family and I love this recipe. Even my wife who never used to like breadpudding loved it. My little trick was instead of raisins I thinly sliced a granny smith apple and used it in it's place.
YES! Great for dessert AND breakfast! Ellen fine tuned this recipe for her family ... this is how I fine tuned it for ours. We use more bread, add a slice of multi-grain or anything stale (like that 1 leftover hamburger bun), take off some of the crust on the bread but just cube it and fill the pan 3/4 full. Use less raisins, 1/4 cup that have been plumped in hot water, layer them with the bread and melted butter. 1/2 t. cinnamon is plenty for our tastes and don't forget the vanilla. We use 3 eggs and 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups milk. (Fresher bread uses less milk... staler bread needs more). This does not make a too eggy bread pudding. If you are eating this by itself use the 3/4 cup sugar. If you are topping it with a sweet sauce (we like melted vanilla ice cream .... sort of a creme onglaise -spelling ??? sorry) or serving it for breakfast with maple syrup then cut the sugar down to 1/2 cup. This is soooo easy and you just can't stay out of it! Thank you Ellen. And thank you Allrecipes.com ... what a great web site. LOVE IT!
