Grandma’s Old Fashioned Bread

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🍞🤎 Grandma’s Old-Fashioned Bread Pudding with Warm Vanilla Sauce
Soft, cozy, and straight from the heart of the kitchen

🧡 Introduction

This is the kind of dessert that smells like Sunday afternoons, worn recipe cards, and love baked right in. Grandma’s bread pudding wasn’t fancy—but it was perfect. Made to use up day-old bread, stretched with milk and eggs, and finished with a silky vanilla sauce, this dessert proves that comfort food doesn’t need to show off to steal hearts. One spoonful and suddenly the world slows down.

🥖 Ingredients

For the Bread Pudding

  • 4 cups day-old bread, cubed (white bread, brioche, challah, or French bread)
  • 2 cups milk (whole milk is best)
  • 2 large eggs
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 2 tbsp melted butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp nutmeg
  • Pinch of salt

Optional but loved:

  • ¼ cup raisins
  • ¼ cup chopped dates or dried cranberries

🍮 Vanilla Sauce

  • ½ cup heavy cream or milk
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp cornstarch (optional, for thicker sauce)

👵 Instructions

Step 1: Prepare the Bread

Preheat oven to 175°C / 350°F.
Grease an 8×8 baking dish with butter. Spread the cubed bread evenly in the dish. Sprinkle raisins or dried fruit if using.

Step 2: Make the Custard

In a bowl, whisk together:

  • Milk
  • Eggs
  • Sugar
  • Melted butter
  • Vanilla
  • Cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt

Pour this mixture slowly over the bread. Press gently so all the bread gets soaked. Let rest 10–15 minutes so the bread drinks it all in.

Step 3: Bake

Bake uncovered for 40–45 minutes, until the top is golden and the center is set but still soft.
Let it cool slightly—this is important for perfect slices.

🍯 Vanilla Sauce Instructions

  1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine cream (or milk), sugar, and butter.
  2. Stir until sugar dissolves and butter melts.
  3. Simmer gently for 3–5 minutes.
  4. Stir in vanilla.
  5. For thicker sauce, whisk cornstarch with 1 tbsp cold milk, then add and cook until glossy.

Serve warm. Always warm. 💛

🔥 Methods & Variations

  • Extra-rich: Use brioche and heavy cream in the custard
  • Dairy-free: Substitute almond or oat milk and plant butter
  • Spiced: Add a pinch of cloves or cardamom
  • Crispy top: Sprinkle 1 tbsp sugar on top before baking

📜 History & Formation

Bread pudding dates back to 13th-century Europe, created as a way to avoid wasting bread. Known as a “poor man’s pudding,” it became beloved across generations for its simplicity and heart. Grandmas perfected it—not with measurements, but with instinct. A splash here, a sprinkle there. That’s the magic.

🤎 Why Everyone Loves It

  • Warm
  • Soft
  • Nostalgic
  • Budget-friendly
  • Feels like a hug in a bowl

Kids love it. Elders swear by it. Bakers keep it close.

🥄 Conclusion

Grandma’s bread pudding isn’t just dessert—it’s a memory keeper. Whether you serve it after dinner, at brunch, or sneak a midnight spoonful, it always delivers comfort. Drizzle that vanilla sauce generously and let the silence fall… because everyone will be too busy enjoying it.

If you want, I can turn this into:
✨ a Facebook viral post,
✨ a print-ready recipe card, or
✨ a twist version (apple, chocolate, or caramel).

Just say the word 🤎🍞

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