Lemon Bread Pudding Recipe - Something Swanky Dessert Recipes (2024)

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Lemon Bread Pudding Recipe

This Lemon Bread Pudding will quickly become one of your favorite recipes. I used fresh-squeezed lemon juice in both the custard filling and the creamy lemon syrup drizzled on top, and this dish is absolutely bursting with sunny lemon flavor!

I used Rhodes Warm-n-Serve Artisan French Rolls to make this recipe extra quick, easy, and delicious. This post has been sponsored by Rhodes Rolls. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Related Recipes

• Easy Vanilla Bread Pudding
• Chocolate Bread Pudding
• Apple Pie Bread Pudding

Recently, I shared how much I love making bread pudding with Rhodes Artisan French Rolls. I’m back at it again with this delicious lemon version for Springtime.

One of my favorite recipe “hacks” is to use my favorite homemade pie filling recipes to make bread pudding. I originally made this recipe back in 2013, and it’s more than stood up to the test of time since then. I think you are going to love it!

Ingredients

• 6 Rhodes Artisan French Rolls
• 6 tablespoons melted butter
• 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (the juice from about 3 lemons)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 2/3 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 5 large eggs
• creamy lemon syrup for topping (recipe below)

Q&A: Bread Pudding

How do you make bread pudding from scratch?

Bread pudding is a beautifully simple recipe in general. It involves coating bread pieces in an egg/milk custard mixture and baking it in a casserole dish for nearly an hour. Have you ever made baked French toast? There are some similarities between the two dishes– but I like bread pudding better, because it’s less egg-y!

Bread pudding is usually served with a creamy sauce drizzled over top. And IMHO, that’s the best part 🙂

Can I prepare bread pudding the night before?

Absolutely! In general, the more time the bread pieces have to absorb the custard mixture– the better. So letting it rest in the refrigerator overnight and baking it in the morning is actually preferable.

As I mentioned before, this particular recipe for Lemon Bread Pudding is actually made with a homemade pie filling instead of the more traditional egg/milk custard mixture. Which means that the bread doesn’t really need any extra time to absorb the filling– the lack of egg whites in the mixture makes it easily and rapidly absorbed into the bread.

However, you won’t be any worse off for letting it chill overnight. So if you need to do that for convenience reasons, go for it!

Do you eat bread pudding warm or cold?

Bread pudding can be served at any temperature. But my very favorite way to eat it is after it has cooled completely at room temperature; then I slice a big, fat square and nuke it for about 30 seconds. Top it with a warm sauce and voila! The perfect piece of bread pudding EVER.

Why do I let it cool and thenmicrowave it? I know that seems counterintuitive. And I guess my best answer is this: when you allow the bread pudding to cool completely after baking, it forms a more cohesive bake that you can slice. If served warm and fresh from the oven, you’ll end up with more of ascoop of individual bread pieces.

Which is fine. But somehow it’s just not as good to me, so I prefer to wait and let it cool all the way before I eat it.

Do you need stale bread to make bread pudding?

Here’s the skinny on what kind of bread you should use for the BEST bread pudding. Basically, the most important thing to know is that your bread needs to be able to absorb the filling. Otherwise you’ll just have toasted bread sitting in baked eggs and milk. Gross.

That’s why a lot of recipes call for “day old bread” or “stale “bread.” But I’ve found that my favorite bread to use for any bread pudding recipe are these Warm & Serve Artisan French Rolls from Rhodes.

Here’s why:

✓ I can always have the bread on hand in my freezer. It’s ready to go whenever I am. Which is really important to me, because sometimes I think I’m going to make a recipe that day– but in reality, it may take meseveral days to get around to it.

✓These rolls are soft and steamy on the inside if you warm them in the oven to go with a meal. So just to be clear– they are NOT stale or dry. But if you let them thaw on the counter to room temperature, they are theperfect texture to absorb a yummy bread pudding filling! Like,perfect.

✓ One bag is perfectly portioned for a recipe (so you don’t have to measure out the sliced bread). My store carries these 6-count bags, which is exactly the amount of bread you’ll need for an 8×8 or 9×9 pan of bread pudding. Many stores carry the 12-count bags, which is perfect for a 9×13 pan of bread pudding!

Supplies & Baking Essentials

These are the kitchen tools I used in making this recipe. I use all of these products in my own kitchen regularly and highly recommend them!

Lemon Bread Pudding

Yield: 9

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

This Lemon Bread Pudding will quickly become one of your favorite recipes. I used fresh-squeezed lemon juice in both the custard filling and the creamy lemon syrup drizzled on top, and this dish is absolutely bursting with sunny lemon flavor!

Ingredients

• 6 Rhodes Artisan French Rolls
• 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 6 tbsp melted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 2/3 cups sugar
• 5 large eggs

Lemon Cream Syrup

• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 12 tablespoons butter
• 6 tbsp heavy whipping cream
• 6 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• approximately 1 tbsp lemon zest

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
2. Let the rolls thaw until they are soft enough to slice. Cut them into bite-sized pieces, and set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and cornstarch.
4. Mix in the butter, salt, and sugar. Lastly, whisk the eggs into the mixture.
5. Add the bread pieces to the bowl, and gently mix until the bread is thoroughly coated by the lemon filling and beginning to absorb.
6. Transfer the mixture to a greased 9x9 baking dish. Bake for 45 minutes.
7. Serve with the lemon cream syrup (instructions below).

Lemon Cream Syrup

1. In a small or medium saucepan, mix together the sugar and the cornstarch (before turning on the heat).
2. Add the remaining ingredients. Stir constantly over medium-high heat until mixture melts and comes to a boil. Continue to stir while allowing the mixture to boil for a minute or two, until the sauce begins to slightly thicken.
3. Let cool (sauce will thicken noticeably as it cools), and then drizzle over a slice of bread pudding.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 9Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 576Total Fat: 30gSaturated Fat: 18gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 176mgSodium: 360mgCarbohydrates: 77gFiber: 0gSugar: 72gProtein: 4g

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