Brown Butter Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Pumpkin bread pudding with brown butter, pumpkin puree, and pumpkin spice is autumn in a bowl! Use day-old bread for the perfect fall dessert. Brown butter is easy to make in the microwave in just a few minutes, so no worries about burning it on the stove. Brown sugar adds an extra caramel note here and sour cream a bit more richness, for a very comforting dessert. Top with instant pot dulce de leche or your favourite caramel sauce.

This pudding is made in muffin cups for a beautiful single-serve dessert. For some more seasonal pumpkin recipes, try our pumpkin coffee cake, perfectly smooth pumpkin custard pie, or no-cook pumpkin mousse without gelatine.

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

• Pumpkin puree: use either canned or homemade. Any sweet winter squash can be used for this recipe if you’re making your own puree.
• Bread: use day-old white bread, or fully stale bread, for the best results. Dry bread can absorb the pumpkin custard more effectively and will be more moist.
• Pumpkin spice: homemade or store-bought. If you don’t like pumpkin spice, use cinnamon or a spice blend that you prefer, like chai spice or apple pie spice.
• Sour cream: substitute thick Greek-style yogurt for sour cream if you’d like.
• Milk: for an even more decadent pudding, you can use whipping cream or half-and-half in place of the milk.

Method

Step 1: beat the custard ingredients together to combine.

Step 2: brown the butter, then pour over the bread cubes.

Step 3: add the custard mixture to the bread.

Step 4: mix very well to combine, and let the bread soak up the custard.

Step 5: spoon into greased muffin cups.

Step 6: bake until golden, about 40 minutes.

Top Tips

• Use stale bread: it allows the custard to better soak into the bread than fresh. If you only have fresh bread, cut it into cubes and dry out in a warm oven for about 20 minutes before using.
• Top it off: while it’s not mandatory to top the bread pudding, it makes it all the more decadent – even store-bought caramel sauce is delicious. Chantilly cream or sweet cream ice cream are good too.
• Let it rest: it’s key to chill the pudding before baking to ensure even absorption of the custard into the bread. If you don’t let the mixture rest before baking, you’ll get dry pockets. This goes for any bread pudding.

How to Store

Storage: pumpkin bread pudding can be kept in a tightly sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in the oven or serve cold, as the microwave makes it soggy.

Freezing: once fully cooled, transfer the pudding(s) to an airtight container and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating as usual.

Recipe Notes

Browning the butter adds an extra layer of flavour and richness to the pumpkin bread pudding. If you want to skip the extra step, you don’t have to brown the butter if you don’t want to. Just melt it and proceed with the recipe as written.

You can bake this pudding all together in a 8-inch (20-cm) square or round baking dish if you prefer that to individual servings. Mix and soak as usual, then bake for about 45 minutes at 350°F (180°C).

Most bread will work in this recipe. We like French bread, country loaves, brioche, or sourdough bread for this recipe.