Gluten Free Bread Pudding

5 from 5 votes

Prep Time : 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time : 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

This easy recipe for gluten free bread pudding is rich and creamy, with tender pieces of gluten free bread and crisp edges.

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If you've ever wondered what to do with leftover gluten free bread, this easy recipe for gluten free bread pudding is the answer. You'll never waste another crumb!

Why I love this recipe for gluten free bread pudding

I don't consider a savory bread pudding to be, well, bread pudding. That's stuffing (or dressing, if that's how you call it), and it's delicious—but in a class by itself.

Baked custard is made with just a few simple ingredients (eggs, milk and/or cream, and sugar). In the case of bread pudding, you're adding large chunks of dry bread to the mixture and baking it low and slow.

The best bread pudding is rich and creamy, and not too sweet. The pieces of bread should be crisp on top and tender all the way through, but never ever mushy. With the right simple ingredients, in the proper balance, bread pudding is deceptively easy.

The best gluten free bread for making bread pudding

First and foremost, the bread you use for bread pudding must be a savory yeast-style bread. You might be able to use our yeast-free sandwich bread, but I don't think it's sturdy enough. Quick breads like our delicious gluten free zucchini bread are lovely, but they're really just cake in bread form. They aren't right for our gf bread pudding.

Now, you might consider gluten free yeast bread to be such a commodity that you'd never have “leftovers,” but I find that I do tend to collect odds and ends of it. If the pieces are thin, and not chunky, like the kind you get from pre-sliced gluten free breads I make those into homemade breadcrumbs.

The best bread for the task is the type that can be cut into large chunks and is rather stale or dry. The large pieces are able to soak up the custard mixture without falling apart. If the bread is already moist, and not stale or dried, it won't be able to absorb the liquids we're adding.

Homemade bread

When I make bread pudding, it's usually from leftover homemade bread (my favorite is our basic gluten free white sandwich bread). Either it's already been sliced thickly or was unsliced, so I'm able to cut the bread into 1 1/2-inch cubes.

If you'd like an even richer bread pudding, try using our recipe for gluten free cinnamon swirl bread. You won't need to add much sugar to the custard mixture, though, since the swirl bread is already filled with brown sugar and cinnamon.

Store-bought bread

The other type of bread that I really like for bread pudding is packaged gluten free bagels. I've yet to buy a gluten free bagel that is anything more than a roll-with-a-hole, but I do buy them because my son likes to eat them toasted.

Since those packaged gluten free bagels tend to go stale on their own rather quickly, we'll frequently have a few of them that aren't fit for sandwich-making but haven't actually gone bad. I'll stick them into the freezer and then defrost them once I have a critical mass.

How to make fresh bread “stale” enough for bread pudding

Since gluten free bread is such a commodity, bread pudding is a great way to repurpose leftover gluten free bread that has gone stale. Once it's stale, it's ready to absorb the mixture of milk, eggs, and sugar.

But what about when your bread is fresh, and you still want to make bread pudding? Maybe you've just made a fresh loaf of bread because you're dying to make bread pudding, and you're too impatient to wait for it to go stale on its own (you are my people!).

It's quite easy to dry out fresh bread in a hurry, and you'll love the results. Just cut the bread into 1 1/2-inch cubes and place it on a rimmed baking sheet, in a single layer.

Preheat your oven to 300°F and toast the bread cubes for about 30 minutes, or until the cubes feel dry to the touch when you squeeze them lightly. You won't be able to dry it out completely without verging into crouton territory, but you can remove enough of the bread's moisture to permit it to absorb the custard mixture.

Ingredients and substitutions

Dairy-free: It's actually relatively easy to make this recipe without dairy. Just replace the milk with your favorite unsweetened, plain nondairy milk (mine is almond milk) and the heavy whipping cream with coconut cream.

Be careful to select gluten free bread to cube that's dairy-free. And don't use butter, of course, to grease the casserole dish. I find that cooking oil spray is most effective, anyway.

Egg-free: I'm afraid this recipe simply cannot be made egg-free. If you'd like to make an egg-free bread pudding, you'll really need a separate recipe. So sorry!

Sugars: There's only 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar in this whole recipe, which is a relatively small amount for a sweet dish. If you'd like, you can reduce the sugar by up to one half, to 1/4 cup (50 g) total, but I wouldn't use any less than that or it will be bland. If you'd like to try making the recipe sugar-free, try using Truvia granulated sugar replacement.

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Gluten Free Bread Pudding

This easy recipe for gluten free bread pudding is rich and creamy, with tender pieces of gluten free bread and crisp edges.

Course: Dessert, Pudding

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Yield: 8 servings

Author: Nicole Hunn

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

• 16 ounces (1 pound) gluten free bread cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 (100 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs at room temperature
• 3 (75 g) egg yolks at room temperature
• ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 cups (16 fluid ounces) milk at room temperature
• ¾ cup (6 fluid ounces) heavy whipping cream at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract or flavoring

Instructions

Prepare the bread.

• If your bread is already dry and stale, proceed right to the next step of the recipe.
• If your bread is fresh, once it’s cut into cubes, scatter the cubes in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and toast in the oven at 300°F for about 30 minutes, or until the cubes are beginning to dry out.
• Set the bread cubes aside to cool to room temperature.

Make the custard.

• In a large (at least 32 fluid ounce), spouted measuring cup, place the eggs, egg yolks, granulated sugar (reserving about 2 tablespoons of the granulated sugar for later), and salt, and whisk until very smooth.
• Whisking constantly, add the milk and cream in a steady stream until well-combined. Add the flavoring or extract, and whisk to combine.

Assemble the bread pudding.

• Grease lightly a porcelain casserole dish of at least 6 cups (48 ounces) capacity, and place the bread cubes in an even layer inside of it.
• Add the milk mixture, pouring it carefully so each piece of bread is moistened. Allow the mixture to sit, stirring very occasionally, for at least an hour to allow the bread to begin to soak up the liquid.
• Alternatively, cover the baking dish and refrigerate it for longer (up to overnight).

Bake.

• When you’re nearly ready to bake the bread pudding, place an oven-safe pan with at least a 4 cup (32 fluid ounce) capacity on the bottom rack, and fill it with lukewarm tap water.
• Preheat your oven to 350°F.
• Sprinkle the top of the bread pudding evenly with the reserved 2 tablespoons (25 g) granulated sugar, and place the baking dish, covered with only aluminum foil (removing any plastic wrap if refrigerated, covered), and place it on the top rack of the preheated oven.
• Bake, undisturbed, for 50 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil and continue to bake the bread pudding until a sharp knife inserted in the center of the pudding comes out mostly clean and the top is golden brown and the edges caramelized (another 25 to 40 minutes).
• If the bread is browning too quickly, reduce the oven temperature to 325°F to finish baking. Remove from the oven and allow the pudding to sit for about 15 minutes before serving warm.

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Thanks for stopping by!

Hi, I’m Nicole. I create gluten free recipes that really work and taste as good as you remember. No more making separate meals when someone is GF, or buying packaged foods that aren’t good enough to justify the price. At Gluten Free on a Shoestring, “good, for gluten free” just isn’t good enough! Come visit my bio!

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