CrockPot Bread Pudding Recipe


Bread Pudding is a great crockpot recipe that can be made ahead to cook for breakfast. I love waking up to a fully cooked meal!

Another reason I love about bread pudding is that it can also be a dessert.

(it is essentially a French Toast pudding recipe.... )

;-)

 April 2, 2008 *

 Day 93.

I had two pieces of rock hard bread leftover from when I made bread last week. 

 Since I worked oh-so-hard on the bread (that was sarcasm. could you tell?) 

 I hated to throw any of it away. We had a loaf of Trader Joe's brown rice bread in the fridge, so I decided to combine the bread and make a yummy bread pudding.

Oh! And I used a crockpot.

 doy.

The Ingredients.
serves 4 to 6
6 to 8 pieces of bread. Stale bread is probably the best.
2 cups of milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup dried fruit--I used cranberries, raisins or dried apples would work well
1/4 cup brown sugar (I forgot to pull this out of the cabinet before I took the picture)

--1/4 cup raw sugar (optional; to add at the end to brulee only if desired)

The Directions.

Use a 2-quart slow cooker sprayed with cooking spray, or you can insert a heat-resistant dish into your regular 6-quart crockpot. You can use a loaf pan, or corninware or pyrex dish. 

 If opting for this method, pour in a cup of water around the base of the loaf pan to create extra steam in the pot and to keep your pudding nice and moist.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, brown sugar, vanilla and cinnamon.
Tear up the bread slices and push down into the liquid mixture and fold in the dried fruit.

(a note about using fresh fruit: YES, you can. But it will be "juicier" and I'd suggest only using 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups of milk -- apples won't be as juicy as peaches, etc. 

 Use your best judgement.)

Cover and cook on high for 2-3 hours, or on low for 3-5. 

 The cooking time will greatly depend on what size crockpot you use and cooking vessel size. I didn't prop open the lid; it was completely closed.

The pudding will be done when the top is browned and you can push on the top pieces of bread without too much liquid squirting out. 

 This took 3 1/2 hours in my mini crockpot.

If you are going to cook this overnight, then I'd highly recommend using a programmable slow cooker and setting it for 4 hours on low -- and going to bed sort of late -- in the 11ish hour rather than the 8 o'clock  hour!


Your programmable pot will flip over to the warm setting until you wake up for the day.














I thought this "needed something"--so I decided to bruleeicize the top by sprinkling a 1/4 cup of raw sugar on the top and broiling for a few minutes.




 The Verdict.

I served this to the kids as an after-school snack and they were really pleased. 

  This is a great way to use up all the end pieces of a loaf of bread. Save them in the freezer until you have enough to make a batch.

 Since we are gluten free, I use gluten free bread -- any variety will work and you can certainly use almond, soy, coconut milk, etc.

*  originally posted April 2, 2008. Photos updated 4/15 via DepositPhotos.

Bread Pudding can be eaten as breakfast, as dessert, or as a great anytime snack. Use dried or fresh fruit -- has the consistency of a moist french toast. YUM.

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Posted by: Stephanie O'Dea | A Year of Slow Cooking at April 02, 2017
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What they say about this article

  1. Holly4/02/2008

    Found the remains of a multigrain cranberry loaf in my freezer.. I wonder if that would work? I'm such a bread hoarder.....

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous4/02/2008

    What?? NO dollop of lo-cal whipped cream on the top?? You've inspired me, again, so I'll use the ends and crusts of sliced bread that are resting in the freezer. I mix a bit of strawberry or raspberry jam into the bread for extra flavour. love your crockpotting. Thanx.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nancy4/02/2008

    I just put the lid on my bread pudding. No dried fruit here so will see how it is without. I used regular boring white bread that no one eats except DH so rarely that it always go stale....
    took a before pic and will post results on my blog tomorrow..,
    love your blog.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ice Cream4/02/2008

    Mmmm this sounds good.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ginger Carter Miller4/02/2008

    I think I'll make this this weekend with some brown sugar Splenda. I will be in the mood for something sweet, and since I'm giving up, oh, everything....I will try this. Of course, I'm also making a half loaf of bread Saturday in my crock pot. I'll report back.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous4/03/2008

    sounds like a plan for my loaf of raisin nut rice bread that no one likes. If I make it into bread pudding then I can call it dessert and they rarely turn down dessert.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Georgia Peachez4/03/2008

    I am definitely going to try this, maybe tweek it since we aren't GF. I have a killer recipe for chocolate bread pudding, I should try adapting it to the crock pot. YUM!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jared4/03/2008

    Wow that is a little crockpot. I have a 4 quart one and I thought that was small. Bread pudding looking great. I always have a few slices leftover whenever I buy a loaf so this a perfect way to use it up rather than having to throw it away.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sally Anderson4/04/2008

    I love this word: bruleeicize!

    And I love this blog! Thanks for it all.

    Oh, and when you said that if you don't live near a Trader Joe's you should move? That's me. In Texas. Not a Trader Joe's in the state. I would love to move to CA. Find my husband a job and we're there!!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. oceandreams4/05/2008

    are you making up all of these on your own?

    so, I read about your bread making experience but could not figure out how to comment and I will do so here. :)

    first, I'm happy for you! =)
    second, do you think a person could make regular bread in the crock and if so would one want to cook it for the same amount of time as your special bread?

    thanks for your response! kimberly~

    ReplyDelete
  11. Stephanie ODea4/06/2008

    kimberly--

    sort of. I usually get an idea for a recipe then search around to see if it has been done. I watch a lot of Food TV and read an awful lot of blogs, which give me ideas. If I follow anything closely, I definitely give credit!

    Regular bread--yes! That's the beauty of cooking with gluten free ingredients. If something works gluten free, I know it will work with wheat ingredients. It is very tricky to get gluten free food to rise properly or to not have a cardboard consistency.

    Bread pudding made with any type of traditional wheat bread will be quite tasty!

    xoxo
    steph

    ReplyDelete
  12. oceandreams4/07/2008

    steff, you're so cool...thanks! I'm actually thinking of trying your recipe. ;)

    so, I feel a bit bread-maker-challenged --- I'm not sure where to start. would I simply mix the ingredients for my regular bread and place them in the crock or?? help! ;) if there is a source you can recommend I would greatly appreciate. thanks, kim

    ReplyDelete
  13. Stephanie ODea4/07/2008

    Thanks, ocean. I think you're cool too.

    yes. mix up your bread dough the way you would normally. Ginger has made bread in her crock twice now, and been ecstatic with the results. I will not make bread any other way, now. I love not watching the oven!

    xox
    steph

    ReplyDelete
  14. Stephanie4/08/2008

    Found you on the Foodie Blogroll. I like your blog! Great concept. I made some crock pot bread pudding the other day from some rock-hard soda bread. Glad I'm not the only one!

    Fun Foods
    www.baskersfunfoods.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous4/17/2008

    I read this last night and am eating crock pot bread pudding right now! It's delish!

    I put a little more sugar in it and what looked like too-much bread from an old baguette that was chopped up in the freezer. Came out perfect.

    ReplyDelete
  16. ~M5/03/2008

    "bruleeicize" is the best word ever!! YUM!

    I was wondering whether you've ever made a tapioca pudding type of recipe in the crockpot...maybe with coconut milk?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous7/08/2008

    I've made this twice so far. I use chocolate instead of dried fruit. Once I used up the last bit of a bag of butterscotch chips, then using chocolate chips. Next time I'm going to crumble a leftover chocolate Easter bunny into it. But the best part is that I have a "dead bread" bag in the freezer. Guess I"m a bread hoarder too, I usually throw the flops from the bread machine in there. When the bag gets full it's time to make bread pudding. I also double the sauce (liquid) 'cause that's what I normally do. Like most of your recipes it turns out grrrrrrreat!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous9/19/2008

    I had a bunch of leftover rolls and searched online for a bread pudding recipe. My crockpot was still on the counter and I had one of those "Hmmmm" moments. Searched again for "crockpot bread pudding" and found your instructions.

    I can't believe how wildly the instructions vary! I saw some recipes that called for cooking "the bread pudding on HIGH for FOUR HOURS." I thought for sure it would burn! Decided to take your suggestion for low-slow cooking.

    Thanks! I have it going right now.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous9/22/2008

    I've tried a few of your other recipes and I love them, but this one blew me away. My husband hates bread pudding, but was craving it so I made it last night for dessert. My 2 year old daughter loves it, and hubby has eaten half the crockpot by himself. Thanks for another great recipe. Next time I am going to add some chunked up cinnomon covered apples.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Dom1/21/2010

    Amazing. Delicious. My husband thought it could be a little sweeter. I thought it was perfect, sweet but not cloying. Seriously good.
    In case anyone is wondering, this recipe can be easily doubled to fit in a bigger pot. Also, no point in counting the bread slices since they are likely to be all different sizes. Great way to clean out all those bread ends!

    ReplyDelete
  21. D2/08/2014

    Tried this tonight, and not quite sure what I did but it was a major flop. I used a mix of challah, white bread, potato bread and wheat bread. Instead of the soy milk I used a mix of canned evap. milk & sweetened condensed milk, and omited the brown sugar to account for the higher sugar in the swt. con. milk. I quadrupled the liquids, to fit in a 6qt crockpot. Put on high for about 5 hours, checking every hour or so. After 2.5 hours, turned down to low. About hour 3 I started seeing a clear liquid around the edges of the crock. When I finally said okay it's gotta be done by hour 5, there was a LOT of the clear liquid, and the pudding itself was swelling up. It was burning on the bottom pretty badly too. The bottom third of so {except for the crust where burned} was mush. And it tasted blah...not good, not bad either. Just blah...

    Any idea what I did wrong? Really wanted this to work!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Unknown1/14/2015

    Ditto! Looks so delicious.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Quinn4/03/2015

    Best (gluten-y) bread pudding I have ever made was with stale Portuguese sweet rolls, cut into cubes. I reduced the called-for sugar in half, and it was still almost too sweet - I think the bread might be sweet enough all by itself!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Roger11/06/2016

    How many ounces of bread is in 6 - 8 pieces of home made bread. I usually have some left over too.

    ReplyDelete
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