Julie Clark
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Caramel Apple Bread Pudding
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Caramel apple bread pudding is the perfect treat for breakfast, brunch, or dessert. It’s one of the best apple recipes you can make with festive fall flavors!
Can you believe that it’s almost September? How did this summer so so quickly? The one good thing about summer coming to a close is that it is apple season. And I LOVE baking with apples.
Apple dumplings, apple pie, apple cookies and apple cake. This Caramel Apple Bread Pudding will quickly win you over too. Custard filled bread is mixed with cinnamon apples and topped with a smooth homemade caramel sauce. I added a scoop of vanilla ice cream in there just for fun because really it does take this dessert over the top.
Why you’ll love this caramel apple bread pudding recipe:
- It’s versatile. Serve as a sweet breakfast casserole or dessert.
- Make ahead the night before and bake the day you want to serve it.
- A smooth, sweet homemade caramel sauce that is easier than you think.
- That traditional caramel apple flavor you love.
What is bread pudding?
Bread pudding is a bread based dessert that is popular in the United States, but in many other cultures as well. It’s the perfect recipe to use up stale bread, because you pour a sweet milk & egg mixture over the top and bake. That stale bread soaks up all of the liquid and creates a sliceable “pudding” like dessert.
You make many different flavors, even almond bread pudding.
Doesn’t it just taste like soggy bread?
It might seem like that, but it really doesn’t. Especially if you watch how much egg and milk you add to the bread. I like to lower the liquids in my bread pudding recipes so they don’t get overly soggy. I like to see & taste the bread texture when I’m eating it.
Start with Apple Pie Filling
Buy a can of Comstock “More Fruit” apple pie filling. They didn’t pay me to say that, its just my favorite brand of canned pie filling. Or if you have the time, make our homemade apple pie filling. It’s delicious in this bread pudding!
How to Make Caramel Apple Bread Pudding
- Prepare. To prepare, cut a one pound loaf of bread into cubes and place in a greased 9×13 baking dish.
- Mix. Mix together the wet ingredients, then pour the milk mixture over the bread in the prepared baking dish.
- Pie filling. Spoon the pie filling over the top of the bread and smooth as evenly as possible. Then sprinkle with pecans.
- Bake. Bake the casserole covered for 20 minutes, then uncovered for 25 minutes.
- Caramel sauce. The caramel sauce is super easy. Heat the butter, sugar and cream just until it starts to boil, then remove from heat. Add the vanilla and mix well, then drizzle it over the bread pudding.
Overnight Instructions
If you’d like you can make this caramel apple bread pudding the evening before, but cover it and place it in the fridge before baking. The morning you’d like to bake it, remove it from the refrigerator about 1 hour before you bake it so the chill comes off. Bake as the recipe calls for.
Recipe Variations:
Another perk of bread pudding is that you can interchange ingredients! Use Italian, brioche, challah, French bread or croissants! Craving berries? Switch out the apple pie filling for blueberry and raspberry, if desired.
The possibilities are endless, and here are different bread pudding recipes:
- Cinnamon Roll– The perfect amount of cinnamon with the classic Cinnabon inspired glaze we all love makes the perfect cinnamon roll bread pudding recipe.
- Apple Almond– Perfect for fall evenings, almond apple bread pudding with a cup of hot spiced cranberry apple cider is perfect in front of the fire.
You may also love our pudding rolls, peanut butter pudding pie and corn pudding.
Caramel Apple Bread Pudding
Caramel apple bread pudding is the perfect treat for breakfast, brunch, or dessert. It's one of the best apple recipes you can make with festive fall flavors!
Servings 12
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Ingredients
- 16 ounces French bread diced into 1" pieces
- 1 cup 2%`milk
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 5 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 21 ounces apple pie filling I used Comstock More Fruit Pie Filling
Caramel Sauce
- 1/4 cup salted butter
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the bread pudding:
- Preheat oven to 350º Fahrenheit. Spray a 9×13 baking pan with cooking spray and spread the bread cubes evenly in the pan. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, cream, sugar, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg until combined.
- Pour this mixture over the diced bread in the pan. Use a spatula to lightly mxi the bread and make sure it is completely coated.
- Spoon the apple pie filling evenly over the bread.
- Cover the casserole with foil.
- Bake for 20 minutes, then uncover and bake for another 25 minutes or until cooked through and golden brown.
Make the caramel sauce:
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the butter, cream and brown sugar. Mix and allow the butter to melt.
- Heat the mixture, stirring often, until it starts to bubble.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.
- Pour the sauce over the bread pudding.
- Slice and serve. Ice cream is optional, but delicious!
Video
Notes
The calories shown are based on the casserole being cut into 12 pieces, with 1 serving being 1 slice of bread pudding with sauce. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate. **We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information. The information in the nutrition box are calculated through a program and there is room for error. If you need an accurate count, I recommend running the ingredients through your favorite nutrition calculator.**
Nutrition
Calories: 425kcal | Carbohydrates: 54g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 137mg | Sodium: 305mg | Potassium: 168mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 26g | Vitamin A: 786IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 87mg | Iron: 2mg
Should I refrigerate the leftovers?
Was disappointed with this recipe. It sounds so good but could never get it to be firm enough to cut, center stayed mushy even though I increased cooking time. Loved the caramel sauce
Can this be done in a. Crock. Pot?
Can this be made ahead and refrigerated before adding the caramel sauce? Thanks