Gluten Free Bread Pudding

This Gluten Free Bread Pudding brings back so many nostalgic memories of my pre-coeliac days visiting the bakery! Slabs of squishy, old fashioned bread pudding studded with dried fruit and a sugary topping. This is my gluten free take on a proper nostalgic bake.

I’ll always remember seeing big, fat squares of squishy, old fashioned bread pudding on the bakery shelves before I was gluten free.

And this recipe is my gluten free homage to that fond memory!

My Gluten Free Bread Pudding Recipe takes me right back to my childhood, when I also remember my Mum baking this at home before I was diagnosed with coeliac disease.

Old fashioned bread pudding – sometimes known as ‘poor man’s pudding’ – was a great way to use up stale bread and create something delicious when food was scarce.

And not only does it taste absolutely delicious, but it’s also a great way to use up any holey gluten free bread.

I’m always so upset when I open a pack of gluten free bread to find giant air bubbles or the slices falling apart, and it is just useless for anything but making gluten free bread crumbs.

But now you just need a few simple ingredients – including milk, eggs, sugar, butter and spices, along with dried fruit and peel – to create the most delicious bread pudding ever!

And if you love this, don’t forget to check out some of my other nostalgic British bakes, like my Gluten Free Tea Loaf, my Gluten Free Malt Loaf and Gluten Free Scones.

Ingredients

There’s a printable recipe card for this homemade gluten free bread pudding below. But for the shopping list here are the main ingredients you’ll need.

• Gluten Free White Bread: I find gluten free sandwich bread slices work best for bread pudding. You can use any gluten free bread, and it’s a great way to use up holey or stale bread slices.
• Mixed Dried Fruit and Peel: I use a mixture of raisins, sultanas and currants with peel.
• Milk: Full fat or skimmed milk both work fine, or replace for dairy free milk.
• Butter: You can also use gluten free vegetable suet or a dairy free margarine.
• Light Brown Sugar: This gives a lovely taste and texture to the bake.
• Egg: I use a large UK egg, which is an XL in the US.
• Mixed Spice: This is very similar to a Pumpkin Pie Spice in the US and is a mixture of cinnamon, coriander, caraway, nutmeg, ground ginger and cloves.
• Cinnamon
• Demerara Sugar: Sprinkling this on top gives a lovely crunch as it bakes. Granulated sugar would also work well.

If you want some variations on bread pudding you could swap the dried fruit for chocolate chips to make a chocolate bread pudding.

You could also add some extra dried fruit like cranberries or chopped apricots to add some variety to the traditional bread pudding recipe.

How to Make Gluten Free Bread Pudding

There’s a printable recipe card below with the method. But here are some step-by-step photos to show you how easy this gluten free bread pudding is to make.

Preheat the oven to 180C / Fan 160C / Gas Mark 4. Line a 20cm baking tin (square or round) with baking paper. Set to one side.

Tear the bread into small pieces and add to a large mixing bowl. Alternatively you can cut the bread into little bread cubes.

Pour over the milk, melted butter, beaten egg, light brown sugar, mixed spice and cinnamon.

Use your hands to ‘squish’ the mixture together, until the bread has broken up and absorbed the liquid. It should be quite a wet mixture.

Add the dried fruit and mix together well using a wooden spoon or spatula.

Pour the mixture into the lined baking tin and smooth out into one thick, even layer. Sprinkle the top with demerara sugar.

Bake in the oven for 1 hour 30 minutes, until the top is brown and firm. (You can cover with foil if it starts to become too dark in the oven).

Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack for at least 30-40 minutes before removing from the tin and cutting. Enjoy warm or cold.

Storing and Freezing

This gluten free bread pudding, once baked, will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. It does not need to be refrigerated.

You can also freeze slabs of bread pudding and defrost at room temperature whenever you fancy a sweet treat.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some FAQs about this easy bread pudding recipe. If you can’t find the answer to your question here or in the post above, please comment and I’ll try answer!

If you make this recipe and love it, please do let me know by tagging me on my Instagram or using #theglutenfreeblogger. You can also share your creations in my Facebook group! And please do leave a 5* review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ to let others know you loved it too! It would mean the world to me and really helps support my website.