Bread, milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla, just to name a few ingredients went into this comfortubg dessert casserole dish.
She then made her special sauce with vanilla (or bourbon sauce for the adults) to pour over the top while still warm, our family favorite..
Grandma lived with us when I was a child and made this often since dad worked at a bakery back then and we always had so much leftover bread in the house, this was a staple dessert in our home.
Mom would make Italian french toast, bruschetta, and many times with the stale bread, she used it up for old-fashioned homemade bread crumbs.
Nothing went to waste in our Italian household, they were very creative when it saved time, money, and trips to the grocery store.
Dad even had a garden, and occasionally grandma even added apples or berries to the bread pudding when in season.
Easy to make and the most comforting way to serve a dessert when you feel nostalgic since this is a blast from the past 1960s recipe.
If you love bread pudding you may also like to try our Limoncello bread pudding that's also an incredibly delicious version!
Scroll down to get her yummy recipe and let us know how you like it.
Traditions and Memories
Grandma's Bread Pudding Recipe will always be the best no matter how much we remake her recipe, nothing compares to the love that went into her recipes.
One of the fondest memories growing up as a child is the smell of cinnamon and pure vanilla.
Grandma always took pride in cooking and enjoyed the smiles and thank you's from everyone.
Whenever I smell cinnamon baking I always think of bread pudding and the cozy warm feeling it brings to a home.
We usually had this on a cold day in Utica, New York area, the winters were really long and bread pudding always warmed us up.
I could eat that whole bowl of pudding topping which is the best part to me!
Ingredients You Will Need To Make Grandma's Bread Pudding
- bread cut into small cubed pieces day old preferred and Italian bread
- raisins soaked in bourbon or rum overnight and drained (you can use vanilla instead if you wish)
- milk
- butter
- sugar
- eggs
- vanilla
- cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- cooking spray ( grandma didn't have that luxury in the 60s, I do both butter and spray to ensure nothing sticks to the pan)
- Pudding Sauce for the top
- butter
- heavy cream
- brown sugar
- white sugar
- pure vanilla extract or bourbon
Tools You Will Need Grandma's Bread Pudding Recipe
- Whisk
- Bowl
- Saucepan
- Baking Pan
- Cooking Spray
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- If using fruits a potato peeler
Grandma's Old Fashioned Bread Pudding Recipe Pin for later
More Recipes We Love:
Grandma's Rice Pudding
Grandma's Vanilla Strawberry Cake
Grandma's Sponge Cake
Grandma's Anisette Cookies
Love Old Fashioned Desserts?
Grandma's grew up in the depression era, she passed away in 1976 at 94 years old, you can do the math.
Saving money, being frugal were a way of life and she learned early on how to save money and feed a large family with creative delicious heartwarming foods.
Historians on bread pudding recipes trace back as early as the 11th and 12th centuries, and again frugal cooks looked for ways to use stale, leftover bread instead of letting it go to waste as grandma did.
Sometime in the 13th century in England, bread pudding was known as “poor man's pudding,” as it was a popular dish with the lower-income struggling families like my grandmother's.
Hope you enjoy this vintage recipe as much as we do, let us know how you like it in the comments and enjoy!
Grandma's Bread Pudding Recipe
Yield: 8
prep time: 10 Mcook time: 1 hourtotal time: 1 H & 10 M
This is a vintage family recipe Grandma made with stale bread. It became the moved comforting loved dessert as a child and especially during the cooler months of winter in Upstate New York. Her bread pudding was always the bread using hard crusted Italian bread and simple to make. We all still carry this traditional recipe on by making it when the chill hits the air.
ingredients:
- Here's her recipe:
- 4 cups bread cut into small cubed pieces day old preferred and Italian bread
- 1/2 cup raisins soaked in bourbon or rum overnight and drained (you can use vanilla instead if you wish)
- 2 cups of milk
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 beaten eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- Optional: 1 cup sliced fruits of any kind like apples, bananas, berries
- Pudding Sauce for the top
- 1 /2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated white regular sugar
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract or bourbon
instructions:
How to cook Grandma's Bread Pudding Recipe
- Grease a deep casserole dish with cooking spray and butter and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add cubed bread.
- Melt the butter with milk in a small saucepan.
- Place all remaining ingredients into the milk then pour over bread cubes that have been placed into the greased casserole dish.
- Bake 50 to 60 minutes at 350-degree hot oven.
- In the meantime, place the pudding sauce ingredients into a small saucepan and cook until the mixture is boiling and thickens.
- Serve this dessert warm.
- Spoon the pudding sauce over the top of baked warm bread that has been added into individual serving bowls. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.
Calories
225
225
Fat (grams)
11
11
Sat. Fat (grams)
8
8
Carbs (grams)
21
21
Net carbs
11
11
Sugar (grams)
9
9
Grandma's Old Fashioned Bread Pudding Recipe Pin for later
Favorite Dessert Recipes We Love
Mom's Blueberry Muffins
Bing Cherry Loaf
Best Ever Mango Muffins
I'm going to make this the next time I want bread pudding! I love the raisins are soaked in rum. :)
ReplyDeleteBoy does this bread pudding sound amazing!! And that pudding sauce??? Wow!
ReplyDeleteI love retro recipes like this! It's just like my mom's bread pudding from when I was a kid ... thanks for sharing, Claudia.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds absolutely delicious and a very clever way to deal with old bread! Vanilla is one of my favorite flavors and I also love cinnamon. And I definitely put more than a dash of it when I bake cannolis, a recipe that I got from my Italian mother.
ReplyDeleteI'm also collecting classic recipes from the old country. And this would make a great addition to my collection. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. If you have more classic Italian recipes, especially from the Sicily and Lombardy regions, I'd really appreciate it.
I have never tried to make bread pudding before but I love it when I'm at a restaurant. It looks easy so I think I'll give it a try.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to comfort food desserts, this is top! This sounds so delicious and so fulfilling.
ReplyDeleteThis bread pudding sounds absolutely amazing! Such a comforting dessert. I love the minimal prep too.
ReplyDeleteI always seem to have leftover bread and this sounds like a great way to use it. The sauce looks amazing!
ReplyDeleteI love old-fashioned desserts like this! This bread pudding looks so decadent and comforting. I can't wait to try it!
ReplyDeleteGrandma's recipes are the best. Delicious and mouth melting. Quick and easy and yet so special.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to make this. I love that you've soaked the raisins in rum. I wonder if I can soak even more of it in rum?! I may have to try it this weekend. It's been one of those weeks where a great dessert is in order.
ReplyDeleteLove how classic and authentic this recipe is! I haven't eaten bread pudding very much in my life but it sounds like I'll have to change that :)
ReplyDeleteOne of my all time favorites! Can't wait to try your version!
ReplyDeleteSuch a simple but totally comforting dessert!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a yummy recipe. 😊 What is the amount of bourbon/rum you use to soak the raisins in? Also, if you use vanilla to soak them, is it the same amount as the bourbon? Thank you and I’m looking forward to making this delicious dish!
ReplyDeleteyou just need a little bit to cover the raisins to soak them in hope that helps
DeleteThis was my last ditch effort in making bread pudding, husband's favorite.
ReplyDeleteHooray, I was successful and he loved it! The sauce was excellent!
Thanks so much!
So happy to hear that he likes this version, so many out there, I love the sauce also it makes this extra special, my son always makes me add apples or blueberries he loves it with fruit
DeleteI made this recipe once before and it was DELICIOUS! I got so many compliments on it. I want to make it again, but I only have half n half in the house! What are your thoughts on substituting half n half for the heavy cream?
ReplyDeleteHalf and Half has less flavor for butter and heavy cream has more butter content if you were to substitute I would add half-and-half and substitute for 1 cup of heavy cream, mix 7/8 cup of half-and-half with 1/8 cup of melted butter.
Delete