How To Make Hot Chocolate Bread Pudding
Be sure to see the recipe card below for full ingredients & instructions!
This recipe is super easy to make! Since the bread needs to soak in the hot chocolate mixture for a while anyways, this is something you can easily prep ahead of time, and then just bake it before serving.
Let the bread pudding sit and cool for 20 minutes before serving. It comes out warm, chocolatey, and super delicious! Check the recipe card below for full recipe and more detailed instructions.
I mean, talk about ooey gooey. This Hot Chocolate Bread Pudding recipe will be all the rage this Christmas!
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The Ingredients And Possible Substitutes
Here are the ingredients youll need to make the Brazilian Chocolate Bread Pudding Flan Recipe:
- 5 cups of stale baguette pieces youll need to use a baguette that is stale so that it will be dry enough to soak up the milk. Also, too much moisture in the bread will impact the overall texture of the bread pudding. Cut the bread into ½-inch chunks and make sure to measure packed tightly . For a gluten-free version, use a GF bread!
- 3 cups milk, warmed whole milk is best for this recipe as it has a higher fat content, which adds flavor and creaminess. To make this recipe dairy-free, use canned coconut milk instead.
- 3 cups sugar part of the sugar will be incorporated into the bread pudding, while the other part will be used to create the caramel.
- ½ cup water to make the caramel
- 4 large eggs be sure to bring the eggs to room temperature by setting them out on your counter for at least 30 minutes before using them. Or soak them in warm water for 5-8 minutes if you are in a hurry.
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder this ingredient adds rich chocolate flavor to the bread pudding flan. It contrasts with sugar, resulting in a bittersweet chocolate flavor.
Serving The Bread Pudding
Always let bread pudding settle for a few minutes and then serve it warm. Although, you can have it cold too. Its perfectly delightful on its own, but a scoop of chilled vanilla ice cream delivers a whole lot more satisfaction to the soul. Or you can pair the chocolate bread pudding with a dollop of cream.
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Variations Of Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding
Bread pudding uses the most ordinary of ingredients. Yet you can make the dessert as simple as you want or as extravagant as you wish. Think of it as a blank slate, ready for your inspiration:
- Add a few nuts like toasted almonds or walnuts to accent the flavor.
- Gussy it up with fresh cherries as I did with my cherry bread pudding.
- Strawberries, apples, or any berry you prefer would work like a charm.
- Blend in a hint of coffee powder to heighten the perception and flavor of chocolate.
- Spiking the custard with a shot of rich rum or bourbon is a recipe for success .
- As an afterthought, I definitely should have added some cinnamon to deepen the vanilla flavor.
Which bread to use for bread pudding?
Some say enriched breads with a good chew, like brioche, is what you need for bread pudding. I didnt have the energy to make brioche, let alone wait for it to soak up the custard. So, regular store-bought bread did the trick for me.
Any bread will work, as long as it is stale. Please go ahead and use what you have in hand milk bread, white bread, or any other.
But if you have access to a fluffy Italian or French bread thats crisp on top and soft inside, then use that. Their stretchy texture lends itself incredibly well to the pudding.
Which chocolate is best for bread pudding?
I prefer dark chocolate because it lifts the standard bread and milk pudding to gooey decadence. And even with a hefty amount of it, the sweetness is subtle.
Which milk to use for the recipe?
Chocolate Bread Pudding Recipe Details

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The best thing about bread pudding is that it is a dessert that is not too fussy, and not too difficult to make. If you have slightly stale bread, its perfect for bread pudding. If your bread is fresh, its a good idea to toast it in the oven first, because that way it will absorb the liquid custard better.
You can use any type of bread you want. If you use French or Italian bread, the bread pudding will be a bit chewier and heartier, and a Brioche pudding will be more tender, soft, and buttery. A denser bread, like Challah, may not absorb as much custard as a more open-crumb bread like Sourdough. But regardless of the bread, it makes a superb Chocolate Bread Pudding!
You can also use any pan, from casserole dish to cake pan to cast iron skillet. For this recipe, I used a 13×9 pan, but in the past, Ive used a 10 springform for a more formal presentation at the end. Youll want to cut or tear your bread into small pieces about 3/4 cubes. Then, if they arent quite stale, its nice to dry them in the oven. 300F for 20-30 minutes should do the trick!
- Cut bread into cubes
- Toast if desired
Then, make the custard. You can also slightly vary the amounts of cream or milk, just as long as the total liquid amount is the same. I used a quart of Half-and-Half, instead of 2 cups milk plus 2 cups cream.
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Easy Chocolate Bread Pudding
Even those who didnt love bread pudding raved about how delicious our chocolate bread pudding recipe is. The sweet melted chocolate with soft tender bread pudding is divine! Its even better when served with milk or hot coffee. Bread pudding is perfect for Holidays, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Breakfast and Brunch. Basically, its great for any time of year that you want a unique chocolate dessert thats delicious and easy to make.
Chocolate Chip Bread And Butter Pudding
First published:
- 8 thick slices wholemeal raisin toast or sourdough fruit bread
- 2½ tablespoons reduced-fat table spread
- ¼ cup apricot jamjellyX
- ¹³ cup dried apricots, roughly chopped
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips
- 3 cups reduced-fat milk
- 1 teaspoon icingfrostingX sugar, to serve
- 1 cup reduced-fat vanilla custard, to serve
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How To Make Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding
I wanted to make something heartening, something we use to make as kids. I also wanted to use regular pantry ingredients because deliveries are iffy, and most of us are making do with what we already have.
So, bread pudding it was. The recipe requires just bread, milk, eggs, and sugar ingredients everyone has at home.
- Start by cutting the bread into cubes. Its nice to have the crust off, but I didnt bother with it.
Dry bread keeps the pudding from being too soggy. Thats why I recommend using a day or two-old stale bread.
If you have only fresh bread, leave it out for three to four hours or bake it at a low temperature for about 20 minutes. Thats sufficient to dry it out. I skipped this step entirely!
- Mix in chocolate chips or a chopped chocolate bar into the bread cubes. I added a bit of both, but the choice is yours.
The only advice I give is to stick to good quality dark chocolate. Because the recipe uses basic ingredients, the quality makes a world of difference. Callebaut, Amul or Carra: all are great options.
What Does Chocolate Bread Pudding Taste Like
This chocolate bread pudding tastes like warm brownie squares, monkey bread, and French toast casserole all in one. Its as fabulously rich as my flourless chocolate cake. Do I really need to continue? Pair this with rivers of salted caramel, pockets of melty chocolate chips, juicy raspberries and fresh whipped cream on top and you basically have a mountain of chocolate covered calories. I mean a mountain of underrated delicious texture that totally deserves a chance in your kitchen too. Dont waste another second dismissing bread pudding. This dark chocolate bread pudding is legit!
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Video: Best Bread Pudding Recipe
How to Make Easy Chocolate Bread Pudding Recipe
Heres our step-by-step photos to help guide you through the chocolate recipe. Print out the full recipe in the recipe box below. You can adjust the sweetness level by adding a little less chocolate dips. Or for all you dark chocolate lovers, use dark chocolate for extra chocolatey flavor! This is great for breakfast and serve it with milk or coffee!
How Did You Like This Recipe
Wasnt this so amazingly delicious and simple?! When you are looking for an easy but impressive chocolate dessert, this bread pudding recipe is the one youll want to go for! How did it turn out for you? Did you make any changes or add a sauce? Let me know in the comments, and feel free to ask questions too!! I love hearing from you!
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Chocolate Bread Pudding The Brazilian Way
Bread pudding as we know it can be traced back to the 12th century. It was likely a dish born out of need, as it was a great way to use up stale bread and make it more palatable. In 13th century England, bread pudding was known as the poor mans pudding because it was usually eaten by the lower classes. As with many of our favorite comfort foods, this dish that was once looked down upon as simple food for peasants, is now a beloved tradition.
Many countries have their own version of bread pudding: for example, in Venezuela, there is pudín de pan, Spain has pan de Calatrava, Puerto Ricos bread pudding is called budin, Mexico has a type of bread pudding called Capirotada, and in Portugal and Brazil it is pudim de pão. In the U.S. bread pudding is a popular dessert in the Southern states.
Brazilian bread pudding is much smoother in texture than most others, which are more chunky. We bake the dessert in a Bundt pan with a caramel glaze. When you turn the baked bread pudding out of the pan onto a serving plate, the delicious caramel coats the pudding, much like a flan. It is heavenly!
In short, this is not your old-fashioned bread pudding!
How To Make Chocolate Bread Pudding

Begin by chopping the chocolate. Set aside 2/3 of a cup, which youll use to sprinkle on top of the bread pudding before baking.
Bring the half and half, brown sugar, and cocoa powder to a boil in a medium saucepan. Off the heat, whisk in the chopped chocolate, bourbon and cinnamon.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs.
Gradually pour the warm chocolate mixture into the eggs, whisking constantly.
It will look like this.
Slice the bread, then cut into 1-inch cubes.
Add the bread cubes to the chocolate custard and let soak for at least 1.5 hours, or overnight.
Pour the soaked bread into a greased 9×13-inch baking dish, then scatter the reserved chocolate over top. Using a spoon, poke some of the chocolate down into the pudding.
Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until slightly puffed and set in the center.
Let cool slightly. If serving family style, dust the whole pan with Confectioners sugar.
For an even prettier presentation, spoon or cut portions onto plates and then dust with Confectioners sugar. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
Note: This recipe makes a ton. If you want to halve the recipe, it works well in an 8-inch square baking dish.
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Dark Chocolate Bread Pudding With Vanilla Ice Cream
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When topped with vanilla ice cream, this warm chocolate bread pudding tastes like a grown-up brownie sundae.
Served warm out of the oven with vanilla ice cream, this chocolate bread pudding tastes like a grown-up brownie sundae. Youll need quite a bit of chocolate for the recipe: 10 ounces of semi-sweet baking chocolate plus cocoa powder. I also like to add a little bourbon, which doesnt make it taste boozy like you might think, but rather enhances the chocolate flavor. If you are avoiding alcohol, you can use brewed coffee instead.
What Is A Bread Pudding Flan
Very simply put, bread pudding flan is a fusion of bread pudding and flan. It is baked in the oven using a bain-marie and has the delicious caramelized glaze.
Youll find my chocolate bread pudding recipe to be smooth and creamy with a texture similar to a flan, although denser and firmer. It also has a bittersweet chocolate flavor!
As you can see, it is different from its American cousin, which has a chunky texture and doesn’t have that caramel glaze cascading down the sides.
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Dark Chocolate Bread Pudding
This sinfully rich dark chocolate bread pudding tastes like a pan of warm fudgy brownies. For the best taste and texture, use challah bread and real chocolate.
Offer me bread pudding and Ill take a hard pass. The thought of soggy white bread swimming in a pool of cream sauce sounds like an epic waste of calories. But as I work to expand my baking repertoire this year, I decided to dive into this mysterious dessert. Like, what really is bread pudding? What are you? What are you not? What can you be? Why am I talking to you?
Pull up a chair and listen up. Bread pudding can be delicious. REALLY REALLY DELICIOUS. And this is coming from someone who said nope!!!! to this dessert only a few weeks ago. Theres all sorts of ways to bake bread pudding, but this chocolate bread pudding recipe complete with buttery challah bread and real chocolate is my favorite. My only regret is waiting so long to try it this way!
By Step Instructions For Chocolate Bread Pudding
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How To Make The Chocolate Bread Pudding Flan With 5 Ingredients
Watch the video for complete instructions!
How To Store And Freeze Chocolate Bread Pudding
Bread pudding should be refrigerated within 2 to 3 hours of serving. It will keep in the refrigerator if it’s covered for 3 to 4 days. Reheat in the oven.
You can also freeze a baked bread pudding for 2 to 3 months. Wrap it in a couple of layers of plastic wrap and then foil. Defrost in the fridge for 24 hours and then bake as directed in the recipe.
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