Leftover bread or buns is no longer an issue thanks to this simple bread pudding recipe. It's spiced, moist, and fluffy. You're never going to complain about the stale hamburger buns in the pantry again.
I can't be the only one who has kids that eat the hot dogs but not the buns, right? Or has a family that won't touch the ends of a loaf of bread because it's "too much crust"? Thankfully this recipe for bread pudding with leftover bread has saved me from wasting bread for YEARS.
Once the bread is all cut up and soggy in an egg mixture, you can't really tell what belonged to what. But you can tell that it's going to taste great. This is one of my "mom hacks" that I swear by.
You can even take these unwanted pieces of bread to make Oreo Bread Pudding or leftover bagels to make Blueberry Bagel Bread Pudding. There's so much possibility.
Why This Recipe Works
- You can use any bread. This hot dog bun bread pudding uses any stale bread, really. I often do a mixture of hot dog buns, hamburger buns, or sandwich bread, depending on what I already have on hand.
- It's easy. Just whisk up some egg mixture and dice up some bread, toss it together in a pan, and bake.
- Simple ingredients. By repurposing leftovers like unwanted bread and adding in other simple ingredients like eggs, vanilla, sugar, and butter, we can have a frugal dish to serve for your morning meal.
Jump to:
🥘 Ingredients
Stale bread- you can use any bread here, but I recommend sticking with day-old bread (or bead that's older than that) for the best results. Fresh bread is fine in a pinch, but may "dissolve" in the mixture.
Butter-Adding in butter will give us a good amount of rich flavor.
Eggs- These are the binder in the recipe, holding everything together.
Milk- Use milk to get the egg mixture to the correct consistency so that it can nicely coat all of the bread.
Sugars- You will want to use both granulated sugar and brown sugar for this recipe. This will make it sweeter, and give it a depth of flavor and caramelization as well.
Spices- for a nice bit of warmth, add in some cinnamon and nutmeg.
Vanilla extract- This is a flavor enhancer.
Salt- This is a natural flavor enhancer.
For the Glaze, you will need:
Butter- Use butter to get make the icing taste incredible.
Vanilla extract- A flavor enhancer.
Powdered sugar- Powdered sugar is the base of the icing, making it smooth and sweet.
Milk- Use just enough milk or water to get the icing to the correct drizzling consistency.
🍽 Equipment Needed
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🔪 Instructions
Check out how to make Bread Pudding With Hamburger Buns with these simple step-by-step instructions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and grease the inside of an 8x8 baking dish or a 2 quart-sized casserole dish.
Place your cubed stale bread inside the pan.
Drizzle melted butter over the top of the bread.
In a mixing bowl, combine all of the other ingredients until smooth and well blended.
Pour the mixture over the top of the bread. Try to get it to coat as much surface space as possible.
Lightly press down on the bread so that it's submerged into the egg mixture and becomes wet.
Bake the pudding in the oven for 40-45 minutes or until a knife can be inserted and it comes out clean.
For the glaze, melt the butter and mix with the remaining ingredients in a small bowl with a whisk. Drizzle over bread pudding and enjoy!
🍴 Recipe Tips
Hard bread works best
One of the best tips for making glazed bread pudding is to use already stale bread. Buying fresh soft bread for this recipe will not work as well as the three-day loaf sitting on the counter. You can speed up the stale process by simply laying bread cubes on a baking sheet and cooking them for 10 minutes at the lowest oven heat setting.
Mix the eggs well
Make sure that when mixing the egg mixture, you mix the eggs well enough that they aren't leaving streaks of egg whites behind. This will be noticeable in the end product and will be like you mixed scrambled eggs into your pudding. If needed, you can always use an electric mixer or blender to get a smoother finish on the egg mixture.
You can adjust the sweetness
You can adjust the sweetness by adding more or less sugar than what is requested. I find that this amount (in the recipe card) is perfect for being sweet but not overwhelmingly sweet. You may have a different taste preference, though so adjust as needed.
⏲️ Make Ahead Instructions
Absolutely! Make this dish the night before and leave it covered in the baking dish in the fridge for up to two days before baking. If using a glass pan I recommend letting the pan sit out for 30 minutes on the counter as the oven preheats to prevent the pan from breaking as a result of cold to hot happening too quickly.
💭 FAQs
You can be stored baked bread pudding in the freezer for up to 4 months if it has not had any sauce poured over the top and it is kept well covered/wrapped. This would mean a few layers of aluminum foil, at the least.
The top of the bread should look golden brown, and the center should still have a little jiggle to it, as it's supposed to have a custard-like center. The internal temperature should reach at least 160 degrees F (because of the eggs) to be safe to eat.
It can be served as a dessert or breakfast food. I often found it in the dessert section of Truck Stop Restaurant's Salad Bars, but ingredient-wise it's basically a baked french toast casserole and, therefore could be classified as breakfast or brunch.
More great breakfast recipes to try
- Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread
- Strawberry Cheesecake Pancakes
- Sourdough French Toast
- Homemade Strawberry Pop Tarts
- Old Fashioned Blueberry Muffins
- Simple Crepes (with Pancake Mix)
📖 Recipe
Bread Pudding with Hamburger Buns
Ingredients
- 6 cups cubed bread ($0.88)
- 2-4 tablespoon melted butter ($0.36)
- 3 eggs beaten ($0.32)
- 2 cups milk ($0.38)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar ($0.05)
- ¼ cup brown sugar ($0.04)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon ($0.10)
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg ($0.05)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla ($0.02)
- ¼ teaspoon salt ($0.02)
Glaze
- 2 tablespoon melted butter ($0.18)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla ($0.02)
- ⅔ cups powdered sugar ($0.04)
- 2 teaspoon milk or water ($0.01)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven 350 degrees F and grease the inside of an 8x8 baking dish or a 2 quart sized casserole dish.
- Place your cubed stale bread inside the pan.
- Drizzle melted butter over the top of the bread.
- In a mixing bowl combine all of the other ingredients until smooth and well blended.
- Pour the mixture over the top of the bread. Try to get it to coat as much surface space as possible.
- Lightly press down on the bread so that it's submerged into the egg mixture and becomes wet.
- Bake the pudding in the oven for 40-45 minutes or until a knife can be inserted and come out clean.
- For the glaze, melt the butter and mix with the remaining ingredients in a small bowl with a whisk. Drizzle over bread pudding and enjoy!
Notes
- If you are unsure of doneness, make sure the internal temperature has reached at least 160 degrees F. The inside texture should be custard-like but 160F means that the eggs are cooked and you can consume safely.
- You can make your fresh bread stale by laying it out in an even layer on a baking sheet for 10 minutes at the lowest oven heat setting.
- Make sure the egg mixture is mixed well enough that there are no streaks of unmixed egg white. If needed a blender or electric mixer works great for this.
- You can adjust the sweetness in this dish to make it sweeter or less sweet. I find that it is a perfect balance as-is but you can choose to adjust to your tastes.
- You can freeze baked bread pudding for up to 4 months if in a well sealed container (at least a few layers of foil. Make sure sauce has not been added before freezing.
- You can prep this dish the night before and leave it covered in the baking dish until morning. Place it on the counter as the oven preheats and then bake as directed.
Tracy says
What temperature do you bake this at?
Nicole says
Bake at 350 degrees F
Victoria says
Delicious. Just the right amount of sweetness. The only thing only thing is that I didn't see instructions for the glaze so I just mixed the ingredients and poured over each piece individually as we didn't eat it all in one sitting.
Nicole says
Glad you liked it! 🙂