🍌🍞 My Banana Bread Pudding recipe is the perfect mash-up of classic bread pudding and traditional banana bread. Made with a firmer exterior, a custardy interior, and finished with a vanilla sauce, it’s an EASY breakfast or brunch that everyone always loves!
Bread Pudding with Bananas
I cannot think of a more heavenly combination than banana bread and bread pudding. I am not the biggest fan of just plain bananas, but turn them into banana bread, anything from upside-down banana bread cake to banana bread donuts and banana bread bars, and I’m so down.
Embracing the best of both worlds, the top of this bake is lightly crusty and golden brown while the interior is custard-like with plenty of sweet bananas in every bite. Then, I pour an amazing vanilla sauce on top, adding sweet flavor and depth.
I serve this recipe for breakfast, brunch, or dessert and love to set it out for Easter, spring gatherings, or holidays. Ready in an hour, it’s foolproof, and I never have any leftovers to save!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- French bread: Similar to my overnight caramel French toast, day-old or two-day-old bread is best, soaking up the egg mixture without becoming soggy. I prefer bread with a thick crust to contribute to the crisp exterior, but any kind of bread will work
- Unsalted butter
- Custard mixture: Eggs, milk, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and salt. For a slightly warmer taste, include a sprinkle of nutmeg, too
- Bananas: Save super spotty, ripe bananas for six-bananan banana bread because they will fall apart during baking. If you want intact slices of bananas like I was going for, make sure your bananas are on the firmer side
- Raisins: I love biting into the chewy little nuggets, but omit them if you aren’t a fan. Feel free to include chopped walnuts or chocolate chips instead
- Vanilla sauce: Unsalted butter, cornstarch, granulated sugar, brown sugar, milk, light-colored corn syrup, salt, and vanilla extract
Dry out fresh bread
A tip to encourage the bread to dry out faster is to slice it into 1-inch cubes and place them on a baking sheet overnight, exposed to air, for 12 hours or so.
If you’re more of a pro in the kitchen and are comfortable drying it out in a low, 200F oven, flipping and turning the cubes every 15 minutes or so until it’s dry, but not toasted, go for it. Just be careful not to burn the bread!
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Banana Bread Pudding
- Add the bread cubes to a baking dish, and toss them with melted butter.
- In a large bowl, whisk the wet ingredients, cinnamon, and salt. Then, stir in the bananas and raisins (if using).
- Pour the egg mixture over the bread cubes, and toss to coat, spreading them in a single layer. There’s no need to let the bread soak!
- Bake until the top is lightly golden brown and there’s no liquid pooling in the center. Be careful not to overbake, or the center won’t stay soft and custardy!
- During the last 10 minutes of baking, make the vanilla sauce in a saucepan on the stove. Pour the sauce over the warm bread pudding and serve at room temperature.Â
Add toppings
Want an extra decadent treat? Top your banana bread pudding with fresh fruit, whipped cream, chopped nuts, or a sprinkle of powdered sugar before serving!
Banana Bread Pudding
Equipment
- 1 Medium Bowl
Ingredients
Bread Pudding
- 1/2- pound day-old French bread, cubed into 1-inch pieces
- ÂĽ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cups milk, I used 2%
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup firm bananas, sliced into 1/4-inch thick rounds (from about 2 medium/large bananas)
- ½ cup raisins, optional
Sauce
- ÂĽ cup unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- Âľ cup milk, I used 2%
- ÂĽ cup light-colored corn syrup
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1 to 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
Bread Pudding:
- Preheat oven to 375F, spray a 2 to 3-quart casserole dish with cooking spray, and add the bread cubes; set aside.
- Pour the butter over the bread and toss to coat; set aside.
- To a medium bowl, add the eggs and lightly beat them.
- Add the milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, and stir to combine.
- Add the bananas and stir to combine (Note – use firm bananas so they hold their shape and don’t fall apart while baking).
- Optionally stir in the raisins.
- Pour the wet mixture over the bread cubes and mix with your hands to toss and coat the bread evenly.
- Bake for about 45 to 50 minutes or until the top is lightly golden brown and there’s no liquid pooling in the center. When the bread pudding is in the final 5 to 10 minutes of baking, make the sauce.
Sauce:
- To a medium sauce pan, add the butter and heat over medium heat to melt.
- Add the cornstarch to the butter and whisk to combine until disolved.
- Add the sugars, milk, corn syrup, salt, and whisk to combine. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until the mixture comes to a full boil. Boil for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.
- Remove mixture from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Add the warm sauce over the warm bread pudding and serve immediately; you may have leftover sauce, which will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
- Bread pudding is best warm and fresh but will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat gently before serving.
- Adapted from Taste of Home.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Easy Banana Bread Recipes:
ALL OF MY BANANA BREAD RECIPES!Â
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Six-Banana Banana Bread – Yes, 6 bananas in 1 loaf means it’s super soft, moist, and robust banana flavor! Now you know what to do with all your ripe bananas!
Flour’s Famous Banana Bread – Made with Flour Bakery’s famous recipe to see if it lives up to the hype. Verdict? Totally fabulous! Make it!
Banana Bread Donuts with Browned Butter Caramel Glaze – Banana bread in the form of soft, fluffy baked donuts and donut holes! No-mixer recipe that’s as easy as making muffins! The glaze makes them IRRESISTIBLE!
Slow Cooker Banana Bread Cake with Brown Sugar Sauce – Soft, tender banana bread with a caramely, brown sugar sauce that develops while the bread cooks! If you’ve never made dessert in your slow cooker, start with this easy recipe!
The Best Strawberry Banana Bread — Super soft, moist bread with tons of juicy strawberries! Easy, no-mixer recipe, and a great use for ripe bananas!