Donut Bread Pudding | Easy Dessert Recipe Made With Leftover Donuts! (2024)

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!

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.

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