One of my all-time favorite winter time desserts is bread pudding. Hot and satisfying this is truly Irish comfort food for cold winter evenings.
Traditionally in Ireland and England, bread puddings are steamed, but sometimes there just isn’t enough time in the day to dedicate a few hours to steaming a raisin pudding.
My kids love cinnamon raisin bread, so I buy many loaves each week. As I toasted a few slices one day I got to thinking what a perfect ingredient for bread pudding. It already has raisins and cinnamon, so I decided just a few more ingredients might create a very simple bread pudding, that could be baked in the oven, instead of steamed.
Once I developed my recipe, I was in heaven. I hope you enjoy my hassle-free, bread pudding recipe, no boiling required.
Ingredients for Cinnamon Raisin Bread Pudding:
Here you’ll find a quick list of what you’ll need for this recipe. Check out the printable recipe at the bottom of this post for US and Metric equivalent versions of the recipe. There you can choose the measurement system that works best for you.
- cinnamon-raisin bread
- eggs
- whole milk
- sugar
- brandy
- ground cinnamon
- chopped crystallized ginger
- golden raisins
- cooking spray (for baking dish)
Directions for Cinnamon Raisin Bread Pudding:
Here you’ll find step-by-step photographic instructions to help you recreate this recipe successfully.
Crack the eggs into a large mixing bowl and add the milk.
Pop in the sugar.
Pour in the brandy and whisk. If you like a little less brandy flavor, reduce to 1 tablespoon instead of two, or even omit if you prefer. The alcohol is burnt off during the cooking process, so all that remains is a lovely, warm, cognac flavor throughout the pudding.
Sprinkle the cinnamon into the egg mixture.
Chop the crystallized ginger into small pieces before adding to the egg mixture. The pieces can be a little large straight out of the bottle, and could be overwhelming when chewed in large chunks in the pudding.
Next come the golden raisins.
Now, it’s time to cut up the bread into 1 inch square pieces. I usually cut each slice into nine relatively equal squares. Make sure you break up the bread pieces before adding them to the egg mixture. They tend to stick together, especially if you cut five or six slices together at a time, like I do.
Add half the bread and mix gently.
Mix in the rest of the bread and press it down into the egg mixture to make sure it is well covered. Leave the pudding mixture sit for 15 minutes to make sure the bread soaks up as much milky egg mixture as possible.
While waiting for the bread to soak, turn the oven to 350 degrees F to pre-heat. Prepare an 8 x 8 inch baking dish by coating it with cooking spray.
When the bread has soaked for 15 minutes and the oven is hot, pour the pudding mixture into the prepared baking dish.
It should look wet and soggy like this.
Bake it in the oven for 45 to 50 minutes. When it is cooked a knife can be inserted and should come out clean.
Serve with hot custard, a favorite Irish and English accompaniment to any pudding. My custard recipe is available by clicking here.
Or perhaps you might prefer some hot cinnamon bread pudding with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Whichever way you choose to serve it, this pudding is simply delicious. I hope you enjoy it during the coming winter days.
Here is a printable version of the recipe:
Easy Cinnamon Raisin Bread Pudding
Ingredients
- 14 slices cinnamon-raisin bread 1 loaf minus the outer crusty slices
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cups whole milk
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 fluid ounce brandy
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons crystallized ginger diced
- ½ cup golden raisins
- 1 tablespoon sugar to sprinkle on top of pudding
- cooking spray for baking dish
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, and brandy together. Add the sugar, chopped ginger, golden raisins and cinnamon. Mix well.
- Cut the bread into 1-inch pieces. Gently stir the bread pieces into the egg mixture. Let stand for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, while the pudding soaks.
- Coat an 8-inch square baking dish with cooking spray.
- Pour the pudding mixture into the baking dish. If desired, sprinkle the top with a little sugar.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 to 50 minutes. When cooked a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Serve warm with egg custard sauce or vanilla ice cream.
Nutrition Information is estimated based on the ingredients and cooking instructions as described in each recipe and is intended to be used for informational purposes only. Please note that nutrition details may vary based on methods of preparation, origin and freshness of ingredients used.
I hope you enjoy this warm and comforting dessert.
Thanks for following my recipes and ramblings.
Slán agus beannacht,
(Goodbye and blessings)
Irish American Mom
Here are some more recipes and ramblings you might enjoy…
Other recipes you might enjoy…
Drop Scones
Irish Buttermilk Pancakes
Irish Potato Cakes
This looks lovely!! I absoltely love cinnamon so can not wait to try this!!!
I love this bread pudding on a cold day with lots of warm custard poured over it. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Mairead
I’ve done a few bread & butter puddings in my time but this one looks fantastic. And so easy. A great idea to add step by step photos too – I can teach my son to make.
Mairead I was very interested in the addition of the crystallized ginger (had not seen that before in a bread and butter pud) it sounds good and wanted your opinion , as from one Irish woman to another I do consider you a great Irish cook 🙂 your brown bread is like my mums perfect!! What do you think it adds to the recipe? Do you always add it in? I like ginger but am a bit nervous of adding it.
Hi Deirdre – Crystallized ginger is not a typical ingredient in an Irish bread pudding, but I like the spicy-sweet flavor it adds. I think it compliments the hint of brandy I use. If you are afraid of biting into a large piece of spicy ginger, make sure to chop it extra fine. That way you will not bite into a large moist, chewy lump limiting potential flavor explosions as you chew. Have a great weekend!
Hi Mairead,
Hope you all are well. I love the recipie for the bread pudding, 🙂
Maureen – Quick and easy with no wrapping and boiling required – that’s my kind of recipe.
All the best,
Mairéad
Does it have to be warm? My daughter needs to make a cultural food and I thought maybe this would be OK.
Yvonne – This pudding is best served warm with custard or cream. I eat it cold and love it, but that may be an acquired taste. Also I would omit the brandy even though the alcohol burns off in cooking. The brandy flavor is more intense when it is eaten cold.
Best of luck finding a good cultural recipe. Shortbread is an easy one for transporting. Originally Scottish, these cookies are a favorite in Ireland. I have not shared my recipe for shortbread yet, but will try to get it done before Christmas.
All the best,
Mairead
Thank you for your help! I am going to still try it for the kids, but I will be omitting the brandy and ginger.
Is it something that can be left out for half a day or does it need to be placed in the refridgerator? My daughter will be taking it to school for a cultural experience.
Yvonne – I store left over pudding in the refrigerator. It is stickier than cake and contains a lot of eggs that are best stored at cool temperatures.
All the best,
Mairead
I just made two batches of this tonight for dessert. All I can say is “YUM.” I didn’t have time to make the custard sauce and my son needs to take one batch to school for family heritage day so I substituted a small can of sweetened condensed milk in place of the custard. It was delicious and great thing to use when you are short on time.
Can’t wait to try your shepherd’s pie next! Thanks for posting your recipes.
Stephanie – I’m delighted to hear you enjoyed this bread pudding. I hope it was also a great success at your son’s family heritage day. Good thinking on using condensed milk as a pouring sauce. I would never have thought of that in a million years.
I hope you’ll enjoy my shepherd’s pie when you make it. A big thank you for checking out my recipes and ramblings.
All the best,
Mairéad
I thoroughly enjoyed making and, of course, devouring this recipe. The custard is heaven. I made this for Thanksgiving with the in-laws and will be making it again for my family Thanksgiving. I’m going to experiment using a Hawaiian bread, without raisins for the little ones who hate raisins.
Thanks for putting this up. I look forward to trying your other recipes, as well.
Hi Shauna – I’m delighted to hear your family gave this recipe their thumbs up. I love your idea of trying it with Hawaiian bread for your little ones who do not like raisins. Brioche is another slightly sweet bread that works out great.
Best wishes, and thanks for checking out my recipes and ramblings.
Mairéad
Could you substitute brown sugar and add chopped apples? I have tried the original recipe and love it. It’s always a hit.
Hi Nick – I think your ideas sound wonderful. Brown sugar will increase the depth of flavor and would perfectly compliment the addition of apples. I hope your pudding is a great success. Thanks so much for checking out my recipes and ramblings.
Best wishes,
Mairéad
I am using a dutch style bread that is sweeter than brioche and some really sweet Amish raisin bread. Can you tell me if I should reduce the sugar because of this? and also, how many cups of cubed bread is 14 slices of raisin bread? I’ve already cubed the bread. it wasn’t sliced so I can only measure it by cups. Thanks
Hi Linda – You can definitely reduce the sugar if your bread is very sweet. I didn’t measure the slices of bread in cups but my best guess is that it is about 6 cups. I hope this helps.
Mairéad
Thank you for sharing this recipe. It’s sure to become a family favorite. Adding the ginger is genius!
Hi Lisa – So glad your family liked this pudding. The ginger does add a lovely zing to the flavor profile.
All the best,
Mairéad
I’ve used this recipe a few times already and I had to tell you how delicious it is! I don’t have brandy but its still really good without it. My kids and husband love this bread pudding, I love it even more. Lol 😊Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Hi Rubi – I’m delighted to hear this recipe was a great success in your house. It definitely is just as good without the brandy, and as the weather gets colder in the fall, it seems to taste even better.
All the best,
Mairéad
This looks wonderful.
Thanks, Sally.
All the best,
Mairéad