Old Fashioned Bread Pudding Recipe
This old fashioned bread pudding recipe is sweetly spiced and filled with raisins, coconut, and tasty buttermilk biscuits. Talk about a bowl of honest-to-goodness comfort!
Bread pudding to me is like brownies, I’ve never met one that I didn’t like. Having said that, though, if you’ve never had a good, old fashioned bread pudding recipe that’s made with buttermilk biscuits, you’ve never had a real, honest-to-goodness old fashioned bread pudding. I just had to pause in my typing and close my eyes for a moment of silence to pray for those who have never had this. It’s that good. So good that I worry for your souls because I want you to get to heaven – for surely bread pudding will be served there.
This dessert recipe is the spitting image of the bread pudding they used to serve at Cracker Barrel in the old days. Like its counterpart, my traditional bread pudding is overflowing with delicious ingredients, like buttermilk biscuits, sweetened coconut flakes, raisins, and cinnamon. Together, they make a bread pudding that’s so flavorful and delicious!
Now, while most bread pudding recipes use stale bread, we’re working with buttermilk biscuits (it’s the Southern way, of course). You’re going to have to make them. I’ll share some recipes with you in a minute that will give you the amount you need for the dish and you’ll still have a few to eat to keep your strength up while we make the rest of the dish.
Recipe Ingredients
- Biscuits
- Sweetened flaked coconut
- Raisins
- Milk
- Eggs
- Sugar
- Salt
- Cinnamon
- Vanilla
Biscuit Recipes
Take a moment, if you will, to join me in light and fluffy biscuit appreciation. If you’re wearing a hat, now is one of those times where you take it off and hold it over your heart. These are the three-ingredient biscuits. I have other biscuit recipes, too, because biscuits are kinda like shoes to a Southern woman, different occasions call for different ones. You can see my tender buttermilk biscuits here and my hoe cake recipe is here, which is basically a big old giant biscuit. No, my hoe cake is not made with cornmeal. Some are and that’s fine. Mine isn’t and that’s fine, too.
How to Make My Old Fashioned Bread Pudding Recipe
Crumble about 1/3 of your biscuits into an ovenproof bowl or
Top with half of your coconut.
Unless you are a coconut hater.
In that case, wave a little air over it in this part just to say you did something and then skip to the next step.
Top with half of your raisins.
1/3 of your crumbled biscuits.
Then remaining coconut and remaining raisins…
And the rest of the biscuits.
Now, beat together your eggs, milk, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla.
Oh, wait! Save 2 tablespoons of sugar but add all of the rest.
Pour the over everything in your bowl/baking dish.
Sprinkle two tablespoons of sugar over the top.
Bake at 350 for one hour, or until lightly browned on top.
Serve warm. Mama likes hers with a good quality scoop of vanilla ice cream but I like mine on its own.
Either way you go, this old fashioned bread pudding is like a little bit of heaven in a bowl.
Storage
- In even better news, leftover bread pudding will last in an airtight container in your fridge for up to 5 days.
- You can also freeze individual portions in freezer-safe containers for up to three months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and then reheat in the microwave.
Recipe Notes
- To all the coconut haters: I know right now you are sitting there recoiling at this ingredient being featured in the recipe. Your conviction against this poor little seed (or large, such as it may be) has me almost second-guessing my lifelong friendly relationship with it – almost. I hear ya each time I post so I wanted to meet y’all out at the gate on this one and tell ya that yes, you can leave the coconut out. No, you don’t have to substitute anything for it. Just pretend it doesn’t even exist and your bread pudding will still be just fine. And just in case you feel a bit offended by me liking coconut in the face of your (sometimes extreme) dislike of it, rest easy, sister/brother. There’s room for all of us at this table. And I’ll just keep the coconut down on my end.
- Serve your pudding for with a drizzle of maple syrup or caramel sauce, a dollop of whipped cream, or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
- You could also use non-dairy milk in this pudding recipe.
- Here are some variations you can try with this old fashioned bread pudding recipe too:
- Substitute the raisins for dried cranberries.
- Spice it up and add some favorite fall spices, like ground cloves, ginger, and nutmeg, along with the cinnamon already included in this recipe.
- For a more dessert-style bread pudding, substitute the raisins for mini chocolate chips.
- Sprinkle some chopped walnuts on top along with the sugar.
- Speaking of… you could substitute the white you sprinkle on top for dark or for a more caramelized topping.
Here are more fabulous pudding recipes:
How To Make Rice Pudding Southern-Style by Mama Reed
Easy Homemade Banana Pudding with Meringue Topping
Vanilla Wafer Pudding Recipe With Pineapple
Chocolate Vanilla Wafer Pudding
Ingredients
- 2 cups crumbled leftover biscuits see post for recipes
- 3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut see post if you don't like coconut
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 4 cups milk
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a 2-quart baking dish or medium-sized pyrex ovenproof bowl.
- Layer 1/3 crumbled biscuits, 1/2 coconut, and 1/2 raisins in a bowl. Top with 1/3 biscuits, remaining coconut and raisins, and remaining biscuits.2 cups crumbled leftover biscuits, 3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut, 1/2 cup raisins
- In a large bowl, mix all other ingredients together, reserving 2 tablespoons of the sugar.4 cups milk, 2 eggs, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pour the liquid over the biscuit layers and sprinkle the remaining sugar over the top.3/4 cup sugar
- Bake for 1 hour, or until golden brown on top. Serve warm, with ice cream if desired.
Video
Nutrition
“When a thought takes one’s breath away a lesson on grammar seems an impertinence.”
~T.W. Higginson
Oh dear me–leftover biscuits–just what is that ;0) We NEVER have leftover biscuits. Thanks for the recipe and all the many others you have shared. Lord Bless you
Oh, Christy, I miss Cracker Barrel’s bread pudding too! I sometimes even glance at the dessert menu just to see if they have slid it back on there or brought back an “old favorite!” Thanks for the recipe – I am going to try this tonight. This South Carolina girl wants it all the way just like your mama – coconut, raisins AND vanilla ice cream – YUM!!
First……love, love, love your blog and all the recipes. My Mama used to make bread pudding from leftover biscuits also. She would split them in half, cover in butter and toast them in the oven. She would then make a sauce like your Mama’s recipe sauce she pours over pound cake. Layer the biscuits and pour that hot sauce all over the biscuits. So good and your posts always remind me of my Mama.
OH MY… my mama made bread pudding and rice pudding when we were small… those are my all time favorites ! and I like them alittle wet not dry enough to slice and no icing as I see in some places. Thank You for sharing another great recipe. I love your writings & descriptions…always makes me smile, makes me believe that I can do this… whatever THIS happens to be… a recipe or a life challenge…..THANKS
I enjoy your recipes, a lot! Thanks for letting it be okay to omit the coconut and for allowing me to send messages without worry…although I still will. (as I check and double check) Stay warm and enjoy your time with homeschooling. I had the privilege of homeschooling with a few of my kids and loved it! I believe we do not have to know it all, just know how to find it. Sounds like what you’re doing as well…God Bless.
*Coconut Hater…right here*
However, I am used to raisins and pineapple in bread pudding, so you know what I’ll be doing.
And just to clear it up…as a coconut hater, I am not attacking you for using coconut; I am reacting in agony because it’s a southern plate recipe that I can’t make because it will just sit pretty and not be eaten (which is part of the glory in making these dishes).
Oh I don’t ever think anything bad about it when folks tell me they don’t like coconut, I just think it is funny what ingredients usually end up being the most hated. Like water chestnuts. Seriously, I *CRINGE* when I even think about biting into one. I think it is much the same reason why folks hate coconut 🙂
I appreciate you adding another level of personal taste to SouthernPlate! 🙂
P.S. I love pineapple, too.
I think this is one of your best posts ever. Funny and educational. We love bread pudding. If you hate coconut you could substitute choc chips for coconut.