Blueberry Vanilla Bean Bread Pudding

This recipe is incredibly simple and quick to throw together. Some of my bread pudding recipes are loaded with a long list of ingredients, but this one requires just a handful of basic pantry/fridge staples and some berries. Everything comes together beautifully to create a dish that can be served for breakfast, brunch or dessert.

If you have some day-old bread, milk, eggs and sugar, you have the foundation for bread pudding. From there, it's pretty much just about flavoring(s) and any add-ins that suit your fancy. I love the combination of blueberries, lemon and vanilla. (Here, I've utilized a vanilla bean to amp up the vanilla flavor, but a good-quality vanilla extract would work wonderfully, as well.)

Whether you serve this hot out of the oven, at room temperature or cold out of the fridge is entirely up to you. I have found that most people who enjoy bread pudding have an opinion on which of the three they prefer. So, it's totally up to you.

Yields 6 - 8 servings.

Ingredients:

5 tablespoons butter, cut into small cubes (plus more for greasing baking dish)
3 cups whole milk
2 large eggs plus one egg yolk
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped out (or 2 - 3 teaspoons vanilla extract)
6 - 7 cups day-old French or Italian bread, cut into cubes
1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries
Powdered sugar, for garnish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a medium sized baking dish. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, sugar, lemon zest and seeds from vanilla bean until well-blended. Fold in cubed bread pieces. Allow bread to soak in liquid for ten minutes - gently stirring once or twice to thoroughly coat.

Pour half of the soaked bread into baking dish, Sprinkle with half of the blueberries. Pour remaining bread in dish, then top with remaining blueberries. Dot the top of pudding with the cubed butter.

Bake for 65 - 75 minutes or until middle is "set" and top/edges become slightly browned. (For a "wetter" bread pudding, remove from oven after 65- 70 minutes of baking. For a firmer set and "dryer" bread pudding, bake for about 75 minutes.)

Remove from oven and serve with a dusting of powdered sugar. Store any leftovers in refrigerator.

NOTE:  I've found that the leftovers are best if used up by the following day.  After that, the bread pudding can get quite soggy.  I recommend reheating individual pieces/portions of leftovers on a foil-lined baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for about 10 - 15 minutes if you'd like the leftovers hot.

More Bread Pudding Recipes from Joyously Domestic

Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Apple Cider Butter Sauce



Chocolate Chunk Glazed Doughnut Bread Pudding