Apple Pie Bread Pudding
If you like apple pie, you'll go crazy for this delicious caramel apple pie bread pudding... it's one of our favorites!
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Servings: 16 servings
Ingredients
- 8 cups day old French bread or brioche cut into 1 inch cubes, about one 16 ounce loaf
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup vanilla yogurt full fat, Greek or regular
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar for the custard
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon for the custard
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 3 medium Granny Smith apples about 1 1/4 pounds, peeled, cored and chopped
- 1/2 cup raisins optional
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar for the cinnamon sugar topping
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon for the cinnamon sugar topping
Caramel Sauce
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cup heavy cream 35 percent
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Dry the bread. Spread the cubes on a baking sheet and leave them out for a few hours, or bake them at 350 degrees F for 10 to 15 minutes until dry but not toasted. Dry bread is what holds its shape instead of turning to mush.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, yogurt, milk, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and the nutmeg until smooth.
- Stir in the apples and the raisins, then gently fold in the bread cubes until every piece is coated.
- Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and pour in the mixture. Press the bread down into the custard with the back of a spoon, then let it stand 30 minutes at room temperature, pressing down once more halfway through. This soak is what turns the cubes into custard instead of dry bread, so do not skip it. You can also cover the dish and refrigerate it overnight at this point.
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Stir together the 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon and sprinkle it over the top.
- Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until the top is golden and puffed and the center is set. A knife slipped into the middle should come out clean. If the top browns before the center sets, tent it loosely with foil. Straight from the refrigerator, add 5 to 10 minutes.
- While it bakes, make the sauce. In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter, then whisk in the brown sugar, heavy cream and salt.
- Bring it to a gentle boil, whisking the whole time, then cook 5 to 8 minutes until it coats the back of a spoon. Keep whisking, because that is what holds the butter and cream together. Take it off the heat and stir in the vanilla. It thickens more as it cools.
- Let the bread pudding rest 10 minutes, then pour the warm caramel over the pan or spoon it over each serving. Vanilla ice cream on top is not optional in this house.
Notes
Which bread. Day old French bread or brioche is best. One 16 ounce loaf gives you roughly 8 cups of 1 inch cubes. Challah, croissants, leftover cinnamon rolls and stale dinner rolls all work. Whatever you use, it has to be dry, because fresh bread collapses into mush.
Which apples. Granny Smith holds its shape and its tartness cuts the caramel. Honeycrisp and Braeburn work too. Softer apples like Red Delicious break down and release water, which is what makes a pudding soupy and stretches the bake time.
No vanilla yogurt? Use 1 cup sour cream plus 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, or 1 cup plain Greek yogurt plus 1 teaspoon vanilla, or 1 cup heavy cream plus 1 teaspoon vanilla. All three have been tested by readers and all three work. The yogurt is there for tang and body, not for sweetness.
Making it the night before. Assemble it through the soak step, cover the dish and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, sprinkle on the cinnamon sugar and bake straight from the fridge, adding 5 to 10 minutes. It goes in the refrigerator, not the oven, and it is genuinely better this way.
Freezing. Bake it first, cool it completely, then freeze without the sauce. Individual portions in ramekins reheat from frozen in 10 to 20 minutes at 325 degrees F. A whole pan is better reheated covered at 325 until hot through. Make the caramel fresh when you serve it.
The caramel sauce. Whisk it the entire time it cooks. If you let it sit and boil, the butter separates and floats to the top and it will not come back together. It should coat the back of a spoon when it is ready and it keeps thickening as it cools, so stop before it looks thick in the pan. Leftover sauce keeps a week in the refrigerator and reheats gently.
Serving the sauce. Pour it over the whole pan right before serving, or spoon it over each portion so the leftovers do not go soggy. One reader pours the sauce on for the last 10 minutes of baking so it soaks in, which is excellent if you are serving it all at once.
Halving it. Cut everything in half and bake in an 8x8 dish for 35 to 45 minutes. The soak time stays the same.