This Pumpkin Spice Bread Pudding Couldn't Be Easier

Bread pudding is one of those classic repurpose-excess-bread dishes, like French toast, or strata. It's something that's attractive as a homemade dessert because of its utter simplicity for the cook: Cube bread and cover it with a sweet, eggy custard before baking. Well, it's just gotten even simpler-and a little bit more festive, too.

A loaf pan makes more tender bread pudding

Bread pudding should be decadent and buttery, marbled with a tender and flavorful custard. Most recipes will advise you to cube the bread and lay them out in a large, wide baking dish. This setup allows the bread to make plenty of contact with the custard and soak it up. Sadly, I've found that this method leads to dry, lackluster bread pudding. The surface is so exposed that the bread pudding ends up more crunchy than custardy.

My easy bread pudding makes the most out of two perfectly matched items: the pre-sliced bread in your grocery aisle and the loaf pan in your kitchen. Prepare to have your mind blown: Small loaves of sliced bread fit perfectly inside of the average loaf pan. It's like they were made for each other. An entire sleeve of sliced cinnamon raisin bread, or (my favorite) Thomas' croissant bread, slides right into an average loaf pan (an eight- or nine-inch by five-inch pan) with just enough wiggle room to accommodate a rich custard. It completely removes the need to cube your bread.

I also incorporate a water bath in my recipe. The deeper dish of a loaf pan combined with the gentle heating of a water bath prevents the custard from overcooking and becoming rubbery, assuring a soft, pudding-like texture.

How to make bread sleeve bread pudding

You can do this bread pudding style with any kind of pre-sliced grocery store bread and with any type of custard recipe you like. So if you already like the flavor of one recipe, you can still use it, but I'll tell you right now, my pumpkin spice bread pudding recipe below is incredible. As I mentioned, I used Thomas' croissant bread-which is complete buttery decadence all on its own-but with a pumpkin custard soak, it transcends the earthly realm. The finished dish is like the most tender pumpkin pie but buttery and scoop-able.

Two components make this elite pumpkin spice bread pudding. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

Simply take the entire loaf out of the plastic sleeve, and slide it into a well-buttered loaf pan. If you're picking a different loaf, it is wise to consider the width of your loaf pan, otherwise you may have to trim it. It's not the end of the world, but that's the little bit of work we're trying to eliminate. I almost used the Pepperidge Farm raisin cinnamon swirl bread, which is a good size for my loaf pans, but I ended up choosing croissant over raisin this time.

Mix the custard ingredients in a large mixing bowl and pour this mixture over the bread slices in the loaf pan. Move the slices around by opening and shifting them so the custard can flow into all of the spaces, and everything can get cozy in there. Go do something else for about five minutes, like tidy up the kitchen or do the dishes, so the bread can soak up the custard.

Use a second, larger dish to make the water bath. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

Come back to the bread and give it a smoosh. This will help fill up the space in the pan and also allow the top of the bread to soak up the custard too. Your fingers will get custard on them, if you're doing it right. Once the bread looks well-soaked, sprinkle the top of the loaf with a bit of cinnamon and sugar. This will bake into a crunchy, caramelized cinnamon toast layer. It's delightful.

Next, make an easy water bath. Set up the loaf pan in a larger baking dish and fill it with boiling water so it comes halfway up the side of the loaf pan. Put the entire thing on a baking sheet and slide it into the oven. Bake it at 350F for about 50 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted into the center reads 160F to 170F.

The flaky layers absorb the custard, infusing the bread with flavor. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

This recipe serves six to eight, but I'll have you know that it is also appropriate for one person too. The leftovers reheat gloriously in the microwave, completely restoring the tender custard. Do make whipped cream or buy a pint of vanilla ice cream to scoop on top.

Easy Pumpkin Spice Bread Pudding Loaf Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 sleeve of Thomas' croissant bread

• can Libby's pumpkin puree (3/4 cup)

• cup sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• ground cinnamon

• teaspoon ground ginger

• teaspoon ground allspice

• teaspoon nutmeg

• Pinch salt

• 1 whole egg

• 2 yolks

• cup milk

• cup cream

• Extra cinnamon and sugar to sprinkle on top

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Generously butter or grease a loaf pan.

2. Slide the entire sleeve of Thomas's bread into the loaf pan.

3. Whisk the pumpkin and sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Next mix in the vanilla, spices, and salt. Followed by the egg and yolks. Mix in the milk and then the cream until the custard is uniform.

4. Pour the custard over the bread in the loaf pan. Shift and move the slices so the custard can get all around every slice. Allow it to soak for five minutes. Press the bread down into the pan so the custard flows up and around the tops of the slices too. The slices should lose a little height here. Sprinkle the top with a bit of cinnamon and sugar.

5. Put the loaf pan in a larger baking dish and fill it with just-boiled water so the water comes halfway up the loaf pan. Place this water bath situation on a sheet pan and put it all in the oven. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until the top is browning and a thermometer inserted into the center reads 160F to 170F. Remove the loaf from the water bath and let it cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before serving.