Rich and decadent cranberry apple bread pudding finished with maple cream sauce is the perfect holiday bread pudding recipe.
And if you enjoy this recipe, you'll love my cranberry apple pear pie with crumb topping!
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Why You'll Love this Recipe
Simple to Make - You don't need any fancy tools or techniques to make cran apple spice bread pudding from scratch!
Festive Family Favorite - My go-to holiday bread pudding recipe is filled with tender fruit, nuts, and layers of flavor. This nutty bread pudding makes for a memorable special occasion dessert that your loved ones will request all the time.
We love unique bread pudding recipes around here. Check out my cinnamon roll bread pudding next. Sweet potato bread pudding with praline sauce is the most popular on the web and in real life. And this chocolate chunk bread pudding with red wine chocolate sauce is pure perfection!
What does it taste like?
Think spiced apple raisin bread pudding but with cranberries instead. The base of this recipe is a classic bread pudding made with French bread in a creamy egg custard. The cranberries and apples are spiced and cooked down in butter for super tender texture and deep fruity flavor.
You'll get warmly sweet spice notes from the cinnamon and nutmeg as well as nutty flavor from toasted pecans and almond extract. Vanilla extract brings everything together and allows each flavor to shine.
What You'll Need for this Recipe
This apple cranberry bread pudding calls for common and easy-to-find ingredients. You probably have many of them on hand already.
Apples - Use whatever fresh apples you can find in season. I like to mix up Honeycrisp and Granny Smith apples for a combination of sweet and tart flavor. Dried apples or apple chips can work in a pinch but do not use apple pie filling.
French Bread is my loaf of choice for this recipe but you can use challah, brioche or even Texas toast instead, if needed.
Heavy Cream and Half & Half combine with a few other ingredients to make the custard that we'll soak the bread in.
Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and Vanilla Extract round out the cozy flavor vibes.
Maple Vanilla Bread Pudding Sauce only requires five ingredients. Making creamy sauce for bread pudding is easier than you think!
Check out the recipe card below for full ingredients list, measurements, nutrition facts, and step-by-step instructions!
Substitutions & Variations
Cranberries - I make this bread pudding with dried cranberries but you can use fresh cranberries if you like. Just note that they will release a bit of water while cooking and have more of a compote consistency.
Nuts - You cake your bread pudding with pecans or use walnuts or sliced almonds.
Vanilla Extract - Don't have vanilla extract? Try a splash of brandy, rum or whiskey instead. Even if you do have vanilla on hand, adding liquor to bread pudding is a great flavor move.
How to Make Holiday Bread Pudding from Scratch
Step One: Dice the apples and cook with cranberries, nuts, spices, and butter until tender.
Step Two: Tear or cut bread into small pieces.
Pro Tip #1: You can prep the fruit mixture and bread up to three days ahead of time. Just store in an airtight container until ready to use.
Step Three: Mix up the cream, half & half and other custard ingredients until uniform.
Step Four: Combine torn bread, cooked fruit and nuts, and custard the spread into a baking dish.
Pro Tip #2: No need to let the bread soak in the custard overnight! It's ready to bake right away.
Pro Tip #3: I prefer baking the bread pudding in a clear glass dish so that I can see the sides of the pudding to ensure an even bake.
Step Five: Transfer pan to oven and bake until golden brown and cooked through.
Making Maple Cream Sauce for Bread Pudding
Step Six: While the bread pudding cooks, mix up the maple cream sauce ingredients and cook until thickened.
Step Seven: Serve the apple berry bread pudding warm with sauce.
Grab my Holiday Dinner Guide for a memorable meal from start to finish!
Frequently Asked Questions
Use a dense, substantial bread for making bread pudding at home. I typically use a loaf of French bread but you can also use challah, brioche, Texas toast, or even baguette.
Most bread pudding recipes will call for stale bread as a nod to the original recipe and because old bread is easier to cut. But you can use fresher bread in a pinch. I recommend using at least day-old bread.
Eggs add richer texture, flavor, and some structure to bread pudding, especially in the absence of any leavening or rising agents.
You can but it's really not necessary. Especially if you don't want soggy bread pudding. I make bread pudding all the time without soaking more than a few minutes.
Yes. You can prep bread pudding and refrigerate it unbaked up to one day in advance.
You'll notice that the pudding puffs up while baking then collapses or flattens to be about even with the rim of the baking dish. This is normal as there's no rising agent used in baking bread pudding.
Store leftover bread pudding with fruit in it in an airtight container and refrigerate. It will keep for up to four days.
Baked bread pudding can be frozen for up to three months. Don't freeze bread pudding with the sauce--reserve that until ready to eat. To freeze, allow the bread pudding to come to room temperature then wrap snugly in plastic wrap then aluminum foil. Reheat in the oven for best texture results.
More Decadent Dessert Recipes
I hope you'll enjoy a square of the best holiday bread pudding soon and very soon and don't forget the drench of maple bread pudding sauce! And sharing is caring so be sure to pin this fruity bread pudding recipe for later and follow me over on Pinterest. Thanks for reading!
📖 Recipe
Cranberry Apple Bread Pudding with Maple Cream Sauce
Equipment
- 1 skilet
- 1 9 by 9 baking dish
- 1 saucepan
Ingredients
For the Apple Cranberry Bread Pudding
- 2 apples
- 5 tablespoons butter divided
- 1 loaf French bread
- 4 eggs beaten
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 ½ cups half & half
- 1 cup granulated sugar plus 1 tablespoon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- ⅓ cup dried cranberries
- ½ cup pecan pieces
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon divided
- ¾ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
For the Maple Vanilla Cream Sauce
- 4 tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Bread Pudding
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a square 8 x 8 inch baking dish with non-stick oil spray and set aside.
- Chop apples into ½ inch pieces and set aside.
- Place four tablespoons butter in microwave-safe dish and microwave until melted. Meanwhile, tear French bread into small (about one-inch) pieces and place in rectangular baking dish.
- In a large bowl, beat eggs until smooth then add heavy cream, half & half, melted butter, 1 cup sugar, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Mix until uniform. Pour mixture over torn bread pieces and set aside.
- Melt remaining tablespoon of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add chopped apple pieces, dried cranberries, pecans, remaining tablespoon of sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sea salt to pan. Stir until fruit and nuts are evenly coated and cook until tender (about three minutes).
- Add fruit and nut mixture to pan with bread pieces and custard. Mix and smooth pan contents to ensure that all pieces are evenly distributed and coated.
- Transfer pan to oven to bake for 45 minutes to an hour or until top of pudding is firm (but not hardened) to touch and golden brown. Pudding should slightly pull away from edges of the pan. Allow to cool to room temperature before cutting and serving.
Maple Vanilla Cream Sauce
- Make sauce while bread pudding cools: In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add sugar and cream and mix until uniform.
- Allow sauce to bubble and thicken for a few minutes then reduce heat to medium low. Stir in maple syrup and vanilla extract and simmer for another five minutes or so. Serve warm with bread pudding.
Jessica Lawson says
I brought this bread pudding to a holiday pot luck and came home with an empty dish. Everyone was raving about it. It's perfectly sweet and tart and the custard to bread ratio is on point. I don't know if I can wait another year to make this recipe again!
Marta says
I'm a bread pudding lover, but this nutty apple cranberry version is next level. I made it for the family for breakfast today and had to sneak back in and grab a serving for lunch. Loved the combination of sweet and tart here.
Ruthie Ridley (@RuthieRidley) says
Your recipes are the best! This one looks divine!!
kage2015 says
We love bread pudding and the apple cranberry sounds so yummy. Your vanilla topping would be to die for and make the perfect topping.
Kate says
This looks amazing! I've never had bread pudding but looks like I'm going to need to change that!
Annette Dattilo says
Bread pudding is one of my favorite desserts. And YES I want to chomp on that photo lol. Thank you for sharing this looks so delicious. Had to pin this one. Happy holiday. xo
Nancy says
What a twist on traditional bread pudding, which I find boring and uninspired. This looks delicious and like something we would all enjoy!
Jazz says
Thanks, Nancy! There's so much you can do with bread pudding. I hope you'll try this one out. 🙂