How to Make Pumpkin Sourdough Bread Pudding

This delicious pumpkin sourdough bread pudding is the perfect way to use up stale bread in this easy and perfect fall recipe.

Sometimes, we need an easy dessert recipe in our back pocket. This is where this pumpkin sourdough bread pudding comes in!

With all the delicious flavors of pumpkin and earthy pumpkin spice, this recipe comes together in about one hour.

This recipe is actually perfect for using up stale bread.

And best of all, this bread pudding recipe is the perfect launching pad for experimenting with ingredients – I will give you lots of ideas and substitutions below!

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The basic ingredients for pumpkin sourdough bread pudding

Most of the ingredients you probably already have at home. Let’s look at them:

Bread:

We love to bake bread at home and my artisan-style sourdough bread is a family favorite. It doesn’t happen too often but we sometimes wind up with stale bread. That is it’s a bit too dry. Using it for this bread pudding is the perfect way to use it.

Alternatively, you can use any bread you have at home. That can be white bread or whole-grain bread. Some people like using a fluffy brioche. Or you can mix and match what you have at home.

You will need about 5 cups of cubed bread for this recipe.

Pumpkin:

This I would call the next important ingredient.

Even though I am calling it pumpkin sourdough bread pudding, I actually like to use butternut squash. I find the flavor a bit better and deeper than pumpkin. Either way, I like to steam the pumpkin or butternut squash. You could also roast them. Then I puree it in my high-speed blender.

If you can’t get any fresh or you’re pressed for time, you can absolutely use canned pumpkin.

You will need ¾ of pumpkin or butternut squash puree.

Pumpkin spice:

I like to use a pre-made pumpkin spice mix. However, you can make your own by mixing ground cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and cloves.

You will need 2 teaspoons of pumpkin spice mix or the equivalent of the individual spices.

Sugar and salt:

As with most sweet recipes, we like to use coconut palm sugar. And we often use less than what the recipe says. You see, you can train your taste buds to not want to eat too sweet.

However, feel free to use any sugar you like. Regular works fine. Or use brown sugar. And play with the amounts.

½ cup of sugar is a good starting point and adjust from there.

Salt helps to bring out the sweetness of any recipe. We like to use sea salt.

You will need ¼ teaspoon salt.

Cream and eggs:

We like to skim the cream of the raw milk that we get each week. Use any cream you like. I find that heavy whipping cream works best here.

You will need 1 cup of cream.

And you will need 3 whole eggs.

Butter:

You will need 6 tablespoons of melted butter in this recipe. It’s surprisingly easy to make your own. Or use store-bought.

Optional ingredients:

I like to add vanilla extract (and I use my own). You can leave it out if you don’t have any. 1 teaspoon for this recipe.

Also, we love the addition of nuts for their crunchiness. I am throwing a handful of chopped walnuts into this pumpkin sourdough bread pudding. This is totally optional!

How to make the Pumpkin Sourdough Bread Pudding:

1. Turn your oven to 350˚ F.
2. In a medium bowl, mix well the pumpkin puree, cream, eggs, sugar, salt, spices, and vanilla extract (if using). Set aside.
3. Put the bread cubes in an 8″x8″ baking dish and pour the melted butter over it. Give it a quick stir. You can also leave this sitting on the counter for a bit longer.
4. Pour the pumpkin mix and nuts, if you’re using them, over the buttered bread cubes. Again, mix this well to make sure the bread cubes are coated well with the pumpkin mixture.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
6. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

What is your favorite bread pudding? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

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