Berry Bread Pudding, made with your favorite berries and soft bread, is an easy to prepare dessert that is incredibly rich and decadent.
If you love homemade bread pudding, you'll also want to try my Classic Bread Pudding with Vanilla Caramel Sauce, Fruit Jam Bread Pudding, or my Lemon Blueberry Bread Pudding.
This recipe more than good. Its heavenly. Its so good that I'm going to say its every synonym to delicious: delectable, mouthwatering, appetizing, tasty, flavorful, toothsome, palatable, succulent, luscious, scrumptious, delish, yummy, finger-licking, nummy, lip-smacking, melt-in-your-mouth. Yeah. Those words just about cover it.
How do you make bread pudding with berries?
This bread pudding recipe is super easy. In fact, bread pudding made from scratch is one of the easiest desserts you can make.
You only need a few ingredients which include bread, eggs, sugar, pure vanilla extract, milk and frozen berries. I highly recommend using frozen berries versus fresh for this bread pudding recipe because they actually hold up better during the cooking process. This means you don't have to wait until summer to enjoy this amazing dessert and you might save those fresh berries for recipes like Fresh Blueberry Pie and Fresh Strawberry Pie.
To make this berry bread pudding, you simply combine all of the liquid ingredients and toss the bread in the liquid. You'll transfer this liquid to a baking dish, top with the frozen berries, cover and bake to perfection.
What does this bread pudding recipe taste like?
The words out of my mouth as soon as I took my first bite? "Oh my god. That tastes like creme brulee". But no one could actually understand my words because I was pretty much stuffing my face.
Even though bread pudding has basically the same ingredients as french toast, it doesn't exactly taste like it because the quantities and ratios are completely different.
The eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla combine to create a delicate creamy custard that simply becomes one with the sweet fluffy bread. Bread pudding is extremely decadent.
What kind of bread is used for bread pudding?
My favorite kind of bread to make bread pudding is brioche, but there are other varieties that work well. Challah and croissants both work extrememly well too. I haven't made bread pudding with Hawaiian Sweet Rolls yet, but that would be amazing as well.
I love making bread pudding with leftover bread, but I'll only do it with a thick sliced chewy type bread, not a crispy or thick crusted bread. That's just personal preference.
When deciding what bread to use when making bread pudding, go for something that is sweet and soft but still has a bit of a chew.
Funny story. One time I was making coffee cake and messed up by adding the topping into the batter instead of saving it for the top. I just threw it all in a 9x13 baking dish, cooked it, and stuck it in the freezer for later. I then decided to make a bread pudding out of it. Lesson learned: bread pudding should be made with bread, not cake. Don't do it.
But is bread pudding a dessert?
Typically people consider bread pudding a dessert. But, because I equally enjoy a slice of this berry bread pudding in the morning with my morning coffee, I would personally categorize it as a not healthy breakfast treat too. You know, like monkey bread!
No matter what time you enjoy homemade bread pudding, only a few bites of this sweet and decadent treat will leave you satisfied!
So, if you're looking for a recipe that will make people moan and groan, you've found it.
Berry Bread Pudding
Ingredients
- 8 oz Brioche (see note)
- 3 eggs
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 1⁄4 cups Milk (see note)
- 1 1⁄2 cups berries (see note)
Instructions
- Chop the bread or pastries into approximately 1 inch cubes, set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the egg, sugar, milk, and vanilla, & gently whisk together.
- Toss the bread cubes into the liquid mixture until fully moistened.
- Transfer the bread pudding base into a round or square baking dish or cake pan (approximately 8-9 inches, metal, glass, or ceramic is fine.)
- Top the bread pudding base with your frozen berry blend. Frozen berries do work better than fresh, they hold up better to the longer bake time.
- Cover baking dish with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes, turn the pan and remove the foil halfway through the bake time.
- Serve warm or chilled, with whipped cream, ice cream, clotted cream, fruit sauces, or just as is!
Notes
- Bread: instead of brioche you can use aprox. 2 large pastries or 3 slices Sweet Bread: brioche, challah, croissant are best
- Milk: whole or evaporated is preferred, but others can be substituted
- Berries: frozen recommended, I used 1 part raspberry, 2 parts marionberry, and 3 parts blueberry
NUTRITION INFORMATION
This post was originally created in March 2016 and has been updated with more fun facts and tidbits for your reading pleasure.
Beth
Bread pudding expert here and I have a few comments. Add a little nutmeg, and if you like your pudding more custardy, add more milk. I don't use white sugar, just brown sugar, and be careful because you are using berries. You don't want it too sweet.
Krissy
Great suggestions - thank you!
Denisse
Absolutely outstanding recipe ! I used one cup of Heavy cream instead of milk because that’s what I had in hand turned out phenomenal ! Thank you for this recipe 😀
Sharon Chen
Sweet berries on bread pudding! What a lovely idea. Excited to try this recipe!
Deb
Made this using Oatmilk. Very good! Definitely making it again!
Sylvie
Oh my goodness, I wish I could pull a slice through my screen! I loooove bread pudding, especially with berries and the brioche bread...such a delicious dessert that is super easy to make too!
Jamie
Such a wonderful recipe! Berries and bread pudding go so well together!
Tilly
The berries add such a pop of freshness. Absolutely delicious and comforting!
Daniel
Oh god this was amazing. I didn't follow the instructions that much, but everyone at the table loved it. Decided to butter and sugar coat a pie tray to "seal" the bottom of the cake . Substituted 80% of the milk with cream, and skipped the foil and turning part. Hands down the best cake/pie thing I've ever made.
Sara Welch
This was such a decadent dessert! A new family favorite, that's for sure! Easy to make and full of sweet flavors, indeed!
Geena
I love all things berries so would like to try your recipe.
Do I need to defrost my frozen berries? If no need, won't the berries defrost in the oven going out extra moisture making pudding mushy? For your advice, pls.
Thanks
GC
Krissy
Hi Geena, I prefer to use frozen berries with this recipe as they hold up better during the cooking process.
Denisse
Absolutely outstanding recipe ! I used one cup of Heavy cream instead of milk because that’s what I had in hand turned out phenomenal ! Thank you for this recipe 😀
Miss Jackie
I only ever order Bread Pudding! Thank you for the recipe, I will try to make it so I can eat it all....
Thanks so much!