Brioche Pumpkin Bread Pudding
Why Is My Brioche Pumpkin Bread Pudding So Good!
My son wouldn’t touch bread pudding for years, no matter how many times I made it. The pumpkin version changed that. Once he realized it was dessert made out of bread, flavored with his favorite pumpkin, and topped with ice cream, he started circling the kitchen like a little shark waiting for a bite, and he’s been asking for it every fall since.
- Brioche’s high butter and egg content lets it soak up the custard fully without falling apart.
- Real pumpkin puree brings actual pumpkin flavor instead of the muted taste you get from pie filling.
- A full day of staling firms up the bread so the middle sets instead of turning mushy.
- Butter Rum Sauce takes about five minutes on the stove and turns a good dessert into a memorable one.
- Ice cream melting into the warm custard gives every bite a mix of hot and cold, which is half the reason people keep coming back for seconds.
Table of Contents
Ingredient Notes
Brioche bread – Rich, buttery, egg-based bread that holds its shape once soaked in custard. Challah is a good swap if your store doesn’t carry brioche.
Pumpkin puree – Use plain pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. Pie filling already has sugar and spice mixed in and will throw off both the sweetness and the seasoning.
Evaporated milk – Adds creaminess and body to the custard without watering down the pumpkin flavor the way regular milk alone would.
Pumpkin pie spice extract – An optional flavor booster usually found in the baking aisle near the vanilla extract, though it’s not always in stock. If you can’t find it, just add an extra teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice.
Spiced rum – A dark rum blended with warm spices, sold at any liquor store. For an alcohol-free sauce, swap in 1 teaspoon of rum extract plus a splash of water.
How to Make Brioche Pumpkin Bread Pudding
- Dry out the bread. Cut the brioche into half-inch cubes and spread them on a baking sheet a day ahead of time. Stale, slightly firm bread soaks up custard instead of turning to mush.
- Whisk the custard. Combine the eggs, sugar, both milks, pumpkin puree, melted butter, and spices in a large bowl until smooth and fully blended.
- Soak the bread. Pour the custard over the bread cubes and press down all over so every piece gets coated evenly.
- Bake until set. Bake until the top turns deep golden and the center springs back instead of jiggling like liquid. Tent loosely with foil partway through if the top is browning too fast — don’t seal the edges, or trapped steam will leave you with a soggy top.
- Make the sauce. Melt butter with brown sugar and cinnamon, stir in the spiced rum, and simmer for a few minutes until it thickens slightly.
Pro tip: Let the bread pudding rest about 10 minutes after baking. It firms up just enough to cut clean slices instead of falling apart on the way to the plate.
Tips for a Great Pumpkin Bread Pudding
- When making bread pudding, you want to start with stale bread. Start prepping the bread a day before you will be making bread pudding. Just cup bread into small, about 1/2 inch, cubes and spread the pieces evenly in a large baking sheet and just let them dry for about 24 hours.
- Once the bread is stale, it only takes about 1 minutes to prep the bread pudding. Transfer bread pieces into a greased 9×13 baking dish and whisk your filling ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Then, pour the egg mixture over the bread, evenly.
- Press on the bread all over to soak it with egg minutes and bake.
- One problem that my bread pudding often faces is the top few pieces of bread getting burned while the inside is still baking. That is easily remedied by placing a sheet of foil over the top once the bread start to get dark brown on the top. DON’T cover tightly or tuck the edges of foil over the pan, just place the sheet of foil over top and pat it down. This will help keep the top of your bread from burning.
Brioche Pumpkin Bread Pudding Recipe FAQs
Yes. Challah is the best swap since it’s also a rich, egg-based bread. (Skip soft sandwich bread it turns mushy too fast to hold up in the custard.)
It’s usually available in the baking section of the grocery store, where they have vanilla and other extracts. I’ve seen it at Walmart, but it might be seasonal. It’s basically the same warm spices as pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and nutmeg), just infused into a liquid extract instead of a dry blend. So you can add some of that and omit the liquid kind.
Yes. Cube and stale the bread up to a day ahead, then keep the assembled, unbaked dish covered in the fridge overnight. Bake the next day, adding a few extra minutes to the bake time since it’ll start cold.
It’s almost always fresh bread or too little bake time. Make sure the bread is fully stale before you start, and bake until the center springs back instead of jiggling like liquid.
Keep leftovers covered in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat individual portions in the microwave, or warm the whole dish in a 300°F oven until heated through.
More Pumpkin Recipes To Try
- Creme Brulee Pumpkin Cheesecake
- Halloween Pumpkin Cookies with Pumpkin Frosting
- Easy Pumpkin Caramel Pull Apart Bread
- Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake
- Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Homemade Caramel
- Caramel Pumpkin Blondies
Brioche Pumpkin Bread Pudding Recipe
Ingredients
Bread Pudding:
- 22 oz Brioche bread
- 5 eggs
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter melted
- 12 oz evaporated milk
- 1 cup whole milk
- 15 oz pumpkin puree
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp pumpkin spice extract
- 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 tbsp cinnamon
Butter rum sauce:
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 tbsp cinnamon
- 1/4 cup spice rum
Instructions
24 hours before making bread pudding:
- Cut bread into ½ inch cubes and spread it out on a large baking sheet. Leave it out uncovered to get stale for about a day (can let it stale for 2 days if needed).
Bread Pudding:
- Preheat the oven to 375℉ and lightly grease a 9×13 casserole dish.
- Spread stale bread in the baking dish evenly.
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, milk, evaporated milk, pumpkin puree, melted butter, vanilla extract, pumpkin spice extract, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon. Whisk until all smooth and combined evenly.
- Pour pumpkin mixture over the Brioche bread cubes evenly, all over. Press down all over the bread so that it all gets soaked.
- Bake bread pudding for 45-50 minutes until baked through in the center, feels firmed to the touch and not jiggly or squishy. (If the top is browning too fast, you can cover the top loosely with a sheet of aluminum foil half way through or so.)
Sauce:
- Heat a cooking pan over medium heat and melt butter. Add sugar and cinnamon, stir well. Add spiced rum and simmer for 3-5 minutes, until thickens slightly, stirring slowly.
- Take off heat until ready to serve. Pour some sauce over bread pudding slices while serving.(If not using all the sauce at once, you can keep it in the refrigerator, in an air-tight container. Reheat and stir before using again.)
Nutrition
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Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
This was really good! I added some chopped dried cranberries to the mix and it lent a nice tart accent. Didn’t have time to make the rum butter but a scoop of vanilla ice cream was lovely on a warm slice!
Maybe some toasted walnuts or pecans for crunch?
Thank you!
That sounds delicious, the dried cranberries are such a great idea! And yes, I think walnuts or pecans would be wonderful for a bit of crunch. So glad you enjoyed it!
Is the spice rum alcoholic (liquor store) or an extract found in regular store? Thanks!
Hi Sanay,
Yes, spiced rum is alcohol that you can find in your local liquor store.
Is there no sugar added intentionally? I just made the bread pudding but not the rum sauce and it turned out ok but it really needs some sweetness. It didn’t even dawn on me when I was preparing it that there was no sugar listed.
I added 3/4c of sugar to the pumpkin mix and baked the bread pudding at 350 for 48 minutes. Everyone really enjoyed it.
Oh no, that was absolutely not intentional. I’m so sorry and thank you for bringing it to my attention. I will fix it right away.
Thank you, Candy!
Thank you, Alice!!
Did you make your own spiced rum for the sauce or can you purchase it from a liquor store? What kind did you use?
Hi Melissa!
I definitely got it at the store 🙂 It’s very common, you shouldn’t have any trouble finding it.
Where can I find pumpkin pie extract? Or is all around and I’ve just never looked?
Hi Joanne!
Pumpkin pie extract is usually available in the baking section of the grocery store, where they have vanilla and other extract. I’ve seen it at WalMart but it might be seasonal.
If you can’t find it, you can use extra pumpkin pie spice.
Wow… this is going to be my fall show-off dessert… fantastic idea!
Thank you so much, Marc! I hope you like it 🙂