This vegan bread pudding is golden and crispy on the outside and soft and delicious on the inside. Super easy, perfect comfort food. Divine served warm with vegan cream or ice cream.
I grew up eating bread pudding, it was one of the few things my mom liked to make.
My mom freely admits she hates cooking and baking, but even she could get inspired to make a good bread pudding here and there. It’s easy enough and you pretty much always have the ingredients on hand.
This vegan bread pudding will surprise you with how good (and easy) it is. If you’ve never had bread pudding before, then don’t worry, it’s not nearly as weird as it sounds.
Sure, the main ingredient IS bread but let me tell you, it makes a great dessert. No really, it does.
Ingredients You’ll Need:
Ingredient Notes
- Stale white bread. The bread should be a bit stale for best results. But even if your bread is still pretty fresh and soft this bread pudding will still work out great. We tested it with some very soft thick cut sandwich bread and it still worked out just fine, but it’s most ideal if you use bread that is a little stale. Depending on the thickness of the bread you’ll use 10-12 slices. If you’re slicing the bread yourself nice and thick then 10 slices is probably perfect. If you’re using a pre-sliced bread (it should still be a thick cut pre-sliced version) then around 12 slices is going to be perfect. If you want to be really precise with the measures then 18 ounces (500g) is going to be the ideal amount of bread. You can probably use a brown or whole wheat bread (I have not tested this), but bread pudding is most commonly made with white bread.
- Raw cashews – these are the ‘egg replacement’ in this recipe creating thickness and texture to the sauce. You could likely also use slivered or blanched almonds.
- Vegan butter – is for brushing over the top of the pudding before it goes into the oven. This creates the lovely browning on top. We also brush more butter onto the pudding when it comes out of the oven.
- White granulated sugar – we only use ½ cup of sugar for this whole recipe, so it is not a super sweet dessert.
- Coconut cream – we used canned coconut cream (unsweetened). You could replace this with canned, full fat, unsweetened coconut milk.
How To Make Vegan Bread Pudding
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Cut white bread into cubes and place them into a mixing bowl with the raisins.
- Then blend up a sauce of canned coconut cream, raw cashews, coconut oil, white granulated sugar, cinnamon and vanilla extract.
- Pour it over the top of the bread cubes and raisins and toss together so that all the pieces are coated.
- Transfer to a 9×13 baking dish. Brush with melted vegan butter.
- Bake in the oven for 45 minutes at 350°F (180°C).
- When it comes out the oven all golden and crispy, brush on more melted butter generously to the top.
- And then sprinkle it with powdered sugar. The powdered sugar is optional, but it does look pretty and adds some extra sweetness to this dessert as well.
How To Serve Vegan Bread and Butter Pudding
This is a dessert that does need a topping.
The best options are vegan whipped cream, or vegan ice cream. Vegan custard would be really delicious too.
If you’re serving it with vegan whipped cream then definitely sweeten your cream with a little powdered sugar. This is not a super sweet dessert and if it’s served with plain cream it likely won’t taste sweet enough.
With sweetened vegan cream it is divine and this is how we served it in these photos, but vegan ice cream or custard are most definitely going to be great too.
Storing
This dessert is best served immediately, but leftovers can be kept covered in the fridge for 3-4 days and then reheated. It definitely must be served warm!
More Delicious Vegan Puddings
- Vegan Apple Crisp
- Vegan Malva Pudding
- Vegan Sticky Toffee Pudding
- Vegan Peach Cobbler
- Vegan Apple Cake
- Vegan Rice Pudding
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Bread Pudding
Ingredients
- 10-12 Thick Slices White Bread (500g)
- ½ cup Raisins (75g)
- 2 ⅔ cups Canned Coconut Cream (660ml) Unsweetened
- ½ cup Raw Cashews (75g)
- 3 Tbsp Coconut Oil (45g)
- ½ cup White Granulated Sugar (100g)
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 4-6 Tbsp Vegan Butter (60-90g) Divided, for brushing
- Dusting of Powdered Sugar Optional
For Serving (Optional):
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Cut the bread into chunks and then add to a mixing bowl with the raisins.
- To a blender jug add coconut cream, cashews, coconut oil, white sugar, cinnamon and vanilla and blend until very smooth.
- Pour the blended mix over the bread chunks and raisins in the mixing bowl. Toss it carefully, being careful not to break up the bread, so that all the bread pieces are covered with the sauce.
- Transfer to a 9×13 baking dish and smooth down evenly.
- Melt 3 Tbsp of the vegan butter and brush it over the top. If you have some leftover then keep it for later.
- Place into the oven (uncovered) and bake for 45 minutes.
- When it comes out the oven it should be all browned and crispy on top. Melt the remaining 2-3 Tbsp of vegan butter and brush over the top. I usually start with 2 Tbsp but if I run out then I melt another 1 Tbsp.
- Dust the top with powdered sugar (optional) but it does look pretty.
- Serve with vegan whipped cream, vegan ice cream or vegan custard.
Notes
- It’s ideal if your bread is slightly stale. Depending on the thickness of the slices you might need 10 or 12 slices. If you’re slicing it quite thick yourself then 10 slices is probably right, if you’re buying pre-sliced (but thick cut) bread then 12 slices is probably right. You can weigh it for accuracy (18 ounces / 500g) but it is not necessary to be exact for this recipe to work out.
- Use full fat canned coconut cream. It works out to 1 and ⅔ cans of coconut cream. Measure this in a measuring jug for accuracy, but you should have around ⅓ of a can left over from 2 cans (14 ounces / 400ml each) of coconut cream.
- Nutritional information includes the powdered sugar dusted on top but excludes vegan cream, vegan ice cream or vegan custard that you serve with it.
- This recipe was first published in February 2019. It has been updated with extra tips but the recipe itself is unchanged.
Made a mistake the first time through….
Second time this recipe was on point! I just switched over to vegan, it didn’t taste vegan at all. Even my “meat eating” family loved it! Thank you!
So glad it came out well the second time! Thanks so much for sharing David!
I made this using Brdrsly’s vegan GF organic sourdough. I love their bread and this pudding was absolute perfection using it.
Oh fantastic! Thanks so much for sharing Denise!
Can IU substitute stevia or erythol for the sugar? Can this be frozen?
I have not made this yet but it looks delicious
I don’t think it would freeze well. I think you could use a sugar substitute but you’d have to taste test to see how much to use.
Found coconut cream just as you said, in the asian isle next to the coconut milk. Followed this recipe to a T. Hands down BEST bread pudding Ive ever had! Served it as dessert at our weekly card game and the carnivores devoured the whole thing. Thanks so much. If I could rate this recipe as a 10 I would!!!
I am SO pleased to hear that! Thanks for the wonderful review Audrey!
Question, where will I find coconut cream? Do you mean cocowhip? Will canned full fat coconut milk work???
Hi Audrey, it’s not cocowhip no. It’s canned coconut cream, you would usually find it in the same section of the supermarket as the coconut milk. It’s the slightly thicker, higher fat version of coconut milk. But full fat, canned coconut milk will also work.
This recipe is delicious and very much like an egg-based bread pudding. I love it! It’s so simple too. I made it for Father’s Day and they all loved it.
Fantastic! Thanks Vanessa!
Delicious! Made it for Christmas brunch and the entire family loved it. Used a mix of dried fruits (raisins, craisins, blueberries, cherries) and added some toasted pecans too. Used the remaining coconut cream to make whipped topping. This will be a regular on our brunch menus from now on!
So glad everyone enjoyed it Kelly! Thanks so much for sharing!
Hello! Thank you for the recipe. I made it without any cashews to bind at all. Its mushy but still tastes amazing and has the crunch on top! Can you offer advice on how the best way is to store this once it cools?
Hi Mei, it keeps covered in the fridge for 3-4 days. 🙂
Hi there!! Wondering your thoughts about making this with homemade sourdough?? I’d love to try with sourdough and a salted caramel sauce ????
Hi Sarah, sure I think you could use sourdough!
Hello Alison
Absolutely love your blog and recipes incredibly clever and creative vegan makeovers! I have made quite a few things and they always turn out great. Also I have learnt so much more about baking with all your handy tips and advice thank you! Hoping to make this tonight but need it to be nut free due to allergies. Can I leave out the cashews or sub something else in nut free?
Hi Sahar, thank you so much, so glad you like the recipes! I am just thinking about this, and you may be able to leave out the cashews and just add in a couple of tablespoons of cornstarch instead. I am not 100% sure it will work but it’s worth a try! Also you could use a different vegan cream like a soy cream instead of the coconut cream if you need a sub for that as well. All the best and let us know how it goes!
Yum! So delicious!
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed it!
Very good recipe. Added vegan ice cream as topping.
Awesome! Thanks for the great review Gigi. 🙂
Love that it’s not too sweet. Enjoyed this a lot.
I tried this today and it is delicious. Not too sweet with a bit of crunch on top, yet moist. The only change I made to the recipe was swapping out cashews for macadamias, due to allergies. I love coconut cream, so will be making this again because it’s a winner!
Awesome! So glad to hear it worked out great! Thanks for sharing your adjustments and the great review!
Crispy, crusty and scrumptious! Ideal with stale bread too so a treat for all!
Yes, it’s a great way to use up any leftover bread! 🙂