Donut Bread Pudding

This warm and toasty donut bread pudding recipe is the perfect excuse to use up leftover donuts! Once you add the homemade buttery rum sauce on top, you won’t believe how quickly it disappears!

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Table of Contents

• Why You’ll Love This Donut Bread Pudding Recipe
• What You’ll Need
• How to Make Donut Bread Pudding
• Tips for Success
• Can I Prepare This Bread Pudding With Donuts Recipe Ahead?
• How to Store Leftover Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding
• More Must Make Easy Dessert Recipes
• Get the Recipe

Why You’ll Love This Donut Bread Pudding Recipe

The moist center and fluffy golden exterior will be your favorite part about this sweet breakfast recipe.

• Easy. Soak the donuts, assemble, and bake!
• Perfect for dinner with guests. Prep it ahead and pop it in the oven for an impressive, easy-to-share dessert everyone will love.
• Use up leftovers. By using leftover donuts, this is a great way to minimize waste!
• Sweet. There’s glazed donuts, brown sugar, and earthy cinnamon for the perfect amount of sweetness. With a drizzle of sweet rum sauce on top, each bite is more addictive!

If you love bread pudding, make sure to also try my Nutella croissant bread pudding and this Mexican bread pudding.

What You’ll Need

Evaporated milk is the secret to this recipe’s creamy richness. For full detailed directions see the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

• Evaporated Milk: Feel free to use heavy cream, half and half, or whole milk instead.
• Eggs
• Orange Zest: Lemon zest is great as well.
• Vanilla Extract
• Cinnamon: You can also use ground nutmeg or pumpkin spice if you have some.
• Salt
• Glazed Donuts: Krispy Kreme donuts are my favorite for this. You want to use stale leftover donuts, not soft fresh donuts.
• Raisins: Golden or regular raisins both work great.

Rum Sauce

• Unsalted Butter: Skip the salt in the rest of the recipe if you use salted butter.
• Light Brown Sugar: Dark brown sugar is okay as well.
• Heavy Cream: Half and half works too.
• Rum: I prefer spiced rum, but use your favorite.

How to Make Donut Bread Pudding

Soak the donuts, assemble, and bake the casserole. That’s it! Check the recipe card for full detailed instructions.

• Prepare: Preheat the oven. Place the baking dish inside a larger baking pan. Fill the larger pan with water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the smaller baking dish.
• Soak: Whisk the evaporated milk, eggs, zest, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and salt. Add the donuts and raisins. Soak for 15 minutes.
• Bake: Transfer the donut mixture to the prepared baking dish. Pour any excess soaking liquid on top. Bake for an hour or until the top is puffy and springy.
• Cool: Remove it from the oven and let it cool while you make the sauce.
• Rum Sauce: Melt together the butter and brown sugar in a sauce pot over medium heat. Mix in the cream and rum, then bring to a simmer. Remove it from the heat and let cool.
• Serve: Serve the bread pudding warm and drizzle it with the buttery rum sauce. Add a scoop of ice cream for extra pizazz!

Tips for Success

Nailing a donut bread pudding recipe is all in choosing the right kind of donut!

• Choose the right donuts. For this recipe, you need traditional glazed donuts and they need to be stale. Fresh donuts will fall apart when you soak them. Avoid cake-style donuts or any with thick style frostings or toppings.
• Use more add-ins. Chopped pecans, walnuts, dried cranberries, shredded coconut, and mini chocolate chips are great ways to add more flavor and texture.
• Make individual portions. Assemble the pudding in the cavities of a muffin pan. Reduce the baking time to 25 to 30 minutes, or until the tops spring back.
• Add toppings. Whipped cream, fresh berries, and sliced bananas can also add more flavor to each bite. Or, skip the rum sauce and drizzle chocolate sauce on top instead!
• Pick the right dish. Avoid glass baking dishes as they’re more likely to burn the bottom of your pudding. Go for lightly-colored metal or ceramic baking dishes for best results.

Can I Prepare This Bread Pudding With Donuts Recipe Ahead?

Absolutely! This is a great dessert for a dinner party as you can prepare it in advance. Here’s how:

1. Soak the donuts and raisins for only 5 minutes before assembling and transferring to baking dish.
2. Reserve the liquid in a separate container and refrigerate. Cover the pudding with Saran Wrap or foil and refrigerate the pudding for up to 12 hours.
3. When ready to bake, remove from fridge 30 minutes before baking and set on the counter at room temperature.
4. Pour the reserved liquid on top. Let pudding sit for 10 minutes to soak up the extra liquid and then bake as directed in the recipe.

How to Store Leftover Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding

Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days. You can also cover the baking dish with foil to reduce clean-up.

To reheat, pop it into the microwave for 30 seconds at a time until warm. You can also heat it in the oven (with foil over the top) at 350°F for 15 to 20 minutes.

More Must Make Easy Dessert Recipes

Arroz Con Leche (Spanish Rice Pudding)

Banana Pudding Lasagna

Berry Cobbler

Tembleque (Puerto Rican Coconut Pudding)

• Easy Cinnamon Bread
• Easy Banana Pudding Recipe
• Dulce de Leche Cake
• No Bake Cherry Cheesecake

4.6 from 14 votes

Print Pin Recipe

Yield: 6 servings

Donut Bread Pudding

This donut bread pudding is the perfect excuse to use up leftover donuts! Once you add the homemade buttery rum sauce on top, you won't believe how quickly it disappears. You can also prep it ahead for an impressive, but easy dessert for a dinner party!

Prep Time15 minutes minutes

Cook Time50 minutes minutes

Total Time1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes

Ingredients

• 1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk, or half and half
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons orange zest, optional
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 6 stale glazed donuts, torn into large chunks
• ½ cup golden raisins

Buttery Rum Sauce

• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• ½ cup heavy cream, or half and half
• 2 tablespoons spiced rum

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Instructions 

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously butter an 8×8-inch baking dish. Prepare a water bath by finding a deep, heat-proof dish that will comfortably fit your baking dish inside of it, with an inch or two of space around all sides. Place the baking dish in the larger pan, and fill the larger pan with water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the baking dish.
• In a large bowl, whisk together evaporated milk, eggs, orange zest, vanilla extract, cinnamon and salt. Fold in donuts and raisins and let soak for 15 minutes.
• Transfer the bread pudding mixture into the prepared casserole dish. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the top springs back when lightly tapped (the pudding should be puffy but firm).
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool so that it firms up before serving. I like to serve it still slightly warm. While the bread pudding is cooling, make the rum sauce.
• Rum Sauce: Combine the butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring often, until smooth. Add the cream and rum and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.
• Serve bread pudding warm with a drizzle of buttery rum sauce. Add a scoop of vanilla or cinnamon ice cream to take it over the top!

Notes

Storage: Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days. You can also cover the baking dish with foil to reduce clean-up.

Reheat: Pop a serving into the microwave for 30 seconds at a time until warm. You can also heat it in the oven (with foil over the top) at 350°F for 15 to 20 minutes.

Donuts: For this recipe, use day old, stale glazed donuts. Fresh donuts will fall apart when you soak them. Avoid cake-style donuts or any with thick frostings or toppings.

Add-ins: Chopped pecans, walnuts, dried cranberries, shredded coconut, and mini chocolate chips are great ways to add more flavor and texture.

Individual portions: Assemble the pudding in the cavities of a muffin pan. Reduce the baking time to 25 to 30 minutes, or until the tops spring back.

Toppings: Whipped cream, fresh berries, and sliced bananas can also add more flavor to each bite. Or, skip the rum sauce and drizzle chocolate sauce on top instead!

Prepare Ahead:

1. Soak the donuts and raisins for only 5 minutes before assembling and transferring to baking dish.
2. Reserve the liquid in a separate container and refrigerate. Cover the pudding with Saran Wrap or foil and refrigerate the pudding for up to 12 hours.
3. When ready to bake, remove from fridge 30 minutes before baking and set on the counter at room temperature.
4. Pour the reserved liquid on top. Let pudding sit for 10 minutes to soak up the extra liquid and then bake as directed in the recipe.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 426kcal, Carbohydrates: 47g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 25g, Saturated Fat: 15g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 7g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 127mg, Sodium: 237mg, Potassium: 192mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 44g, Vitamin A: 879IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 72mg, Iron: 1mg

© Jessica

Cuisine: American

Category: Desserts

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