Blueberry Bread Pudding

Blueberry Bread Pudding is everything we look for in a dessert—and it is also satisfying enough to double as a breakfast or mid-day pick-me-up when paired with a steaming cup of hot coffee. While blueberry cobbler is a star dessert option whenever fresh blueberries are in season, we think this blueberry bread pudding deserves attention as well. 

It's crispy, custardy, sweet, and decadent. The hero ingredient of this dish is of course fresh blueberries, and you may want to get a bunch because this recipe calls for lots of them. If you have extras, don’t worry—we have lots of blueberry recipes to give you inspiration.

While there's plenty of berries in the bread pudding itself, the blueberries get to pull double duty as they are the foundation of a glorious blueberry sauce that will be drizzled over the top just before serving—it brings the decadence to another level.

Blueberry Bread Pudding Ingredients

• Eggs: Eggs texture and body when we bake with them, as well as a certain level of richness.
• Heavy whipping cream: Whipping cream forms the base of the custard for this bread pudding.
• Whole milk: Milk helps create a soft, silky texture you look for in bread pudding.
• Vanilla extract: In baking, vanilla extract is incredibly important. Typically, you only use a little, but that little bit will enhance the flavor of all the other ingredients involved.
• Table salt: Much like the vanilla extract, salt acts as a flavor enhancer. You won't know it's there, but it's doing important work to balance flavors.
• Granulated sugar: Obviously, sugar adds sweetness. We want that in dessert. But it’ll also help to thicken the custard.
• Lemon zest: Citrus beautifully balances out all the rich, creamy, and sweet flavors. Also, lemon and blueberries make delightful companions.
• Day-old French bread: For bread pudding (and French toast, too, for that matter), you want to use bread that is semi-stale and has begun to dry out, as it will absorb the custard without falling apart.
• Fresh blueberries: The recipe calls for a basket's worth of fresh blueberries—and fresh truly is best in this case. These are in season all summer long, so take advantage if you can. If fresh blueberries are not available, frozen are fine, but make sure to defrost (and drain) before using so as to avoid adding excess moisture to the recipe.
• Demerara sugar: As these sugar crystals are a bit larger than granulated, they will not dissolve as quickly in custards or batters. They also help to add a bit of texture to the final results.
• Cornstarch: This is the secret hero of so many recipes, from cooking to baking. It’ll add texture and keep the pudding tender so that each slice is perfect.

How To Make Blueberry Bread Pudding

The full recipe for blueberry bread pudding is below, but this outline explains the process in brief?

This simple recipe begins with preheating the oven and lightly greasing a baking dish. As the oven preheats, you'll whisk together the eggs, cream, milk, vanilla, salt, granulated sugar, and the lemon zest before adding in the cubed bread.

After the mixture has sat at room temperature for a bit, stir in those beautiful fresh blueberries and then transfer everything to the baking dish and sprinkle with the demerara sugar.

Now, as the pudding bakes, you can prepare your blueberry sauce. This is a mixture of cornstarch, lemon juice, lemon zest, and granulated sugar. Heat it all together in a saucepan and stir until it’s at a boil. Then, add in your fresh blueberries and let the mixture thicken into a sauce.

This blueberry sauce can be enjoyed either on top of the bread pudding or on the side for dipping.

How To Avoid Soggy Blueberry Bread Pudding

When in the oven, ignore the impulse to cover bread pudding with foil. Doing so will trap the moisture of the cooking dish, which can result in a soggy bread pudding.

While you don’t want bread pudding to be dry, you don’t want it to be damp or wet either. If covering, make sure there’s some slits in the foil to allow moisture and steam to escape.

How To Serve Blueberry Bread Pudding

While this dish will be delicious either hot or cold, it’s best enjoyed when it’s freshly made and straight from the oven. If you really want to take it over the top, serve with a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream, too.

How To Store Leftover Blueberry Bread Pudding

Put leftover bread pudding in the fridge within two hours of serving, and it can stay in the fridge for up to three days, covered with plastic wrap. You can also freeze leftover bread pudding for several weeks, but you should aim to freeze without any sort of sauce or toppings, as that will leave it soggy when the time comes to defrost and enjoy.

Editorial contributions by Aly Walansky.