Hot Cross Bun Bread and Butter Pudding

Recipe highlights

• This recipe is PERFECT to use up stale or leftover hot cross buns, and transforms them into an incredibly cozy dessert!
• Highly adaptable, customizable recipe.
• You can substitute the hot cross buns with other stale bread as well.
• I also share simple tips on how to elevate and add depth of flavor to this bread pudding dessert.
• Can be prepared ahead of time, so perfect for Easter baking and holiday gatherings.

What is bread and butter pudding?

Bread and butter pudding vs regular bread pudding

Bread pudding and bread and butter pudding are virtually the same. The difference is that bread and butter pudding has the addition of butter (as the name suggests). While bread pudding doesn’t usually contain butter, you can certainly add butter to it too.

With bread and butter pudding, butter is usually spread on the stale bread slices before adding it to the casserole dish or baking dish. It’s also sweeter because it’s traditionally eaten as a dessert, instead of as a breakfast or brunch dish (which can be the case with bread pudding, like this croissant bread pudding).

Bread pudding can also be more dense than bread and butter pudding (which is custardy and soft). But, growing up in New Zealand, we called them bread pudding and bread and butter pudding interchangeably, with butter being the main ingredient that set them apart. We even added more eggs to the dish to make it taste richer.

French toast casserole vs bread and butter pudding

The difference between bread (and butter) pudding and French toast casserole is the amount of eggs in the custard. French toast casserole is simply French toast slices all baked in one dish, instead of individually cooked slices.

The bread is soaked in a rich, egg-heavy custard because it’s a breakfast dish. As such, the French toast casserole has more eggs than a bread pudding. Bread and butter pudding is made with a custard that has fewer eggs and a higher milk / cream ratio, and a higher sugar amount. Resulting in a milkier, sweeter dessert than French toast casserole.

I grew up eating bread and butter pudding and queen of puddings, and honestly these recipes and methods are very interchangeable.

Add-ins

I used classic hot cross buns here, so I added extra raisins to the bread and butter pudding to complement the flavor. But you can use other types of add-ins as well.

• Raisins
• Chocolate chips
• Nuts
• Mixed peel

Flavoring

Vanilla is the standard flavoring added to the custard. I also like to add a little salt to balance the sweetness level. But you can also add other flavoring, depending on your preferences.

• Cocoa powder – To make chocolate hot cross bun bread pudding.
• Espresso – To make a coffee flavored bread and butter pudding.
• Orange or lemon zest – To add a little citrus zing to the bread and butter pudding.
• Malt powder – Malted bread and butter pudding.

How to make hot cross bun bread and butter pudding

Step 1 – Make brown butter (optional)

This step is optional, but the caramelized butter adds tons more flavor to the pudding! Heat the butter in a pot, whisking frequently to separate and caramelize the milk solids (image 1). There are different stages of making brown butter, and you can follow my recipe on how to make brown butter to ensure you’re on the right track.

Step 2 – Prepare the hot cross buns

Slice the hot cross buns in half (image 2). Brush each half with the brown butter (image 3), OR spread a thin layer of softened butter on each half of the buns.

Brush the baking dish with butter as well (image 4), and place the hot cross buns in the dish. You can choose how you want to layer the hot cross buns. Either two halves on top of each other, or layered at an angle. You can also use a square or round dish, depending on how the buns will fit in the dish (images 5 – 6).

Since I’m using small homemade hot cross buns, I need 9 of them to equal 6 standard storebought hot cross buns.

You can also choose to sprinkle any add-ins at this stage. Make sure the raisins / chocolate chips / nuts are spread evenly throughout the pudding and in between the bun portions.

Step 3 – Make the custard base

Place all the ingredients for the custard in a large jug or bowl. You can either whisk everything together to form a smooth custard, or blend it. Blending is my preferred option, since it’s fast and convenient (images 7 – 8).

Step 4 – Soak the bread

Pour the custard over the surface of the hot cross buns (image 9). Then using clean hands, press down on the buns so that the buns are at least partially submerged in the liquid (image 10). Cover the dish and let the bread soak up the milk, for at least 30 minutes. I prefer to let it soak for at least 2 hours, or overnight is even better (image 11).

Step 5 – Bake

Preheat the oven and bake the soaked hot cross bun bread and butter pudding until the custard is set. This takes about 40 – 50 minutes depending on how thick the layer of pudding will be in the pan. I like to bake the pudding with a foil on top for about 20 minutes, and then the rest of the time without the foil. This will make the crust caramelize and be crispy (image 12).

Step 6 – Serve

Remove the baked pudding from the oven and let it cool down slightly. You can choose to dust the slightly cooled down pudding with confectioner’s sugar (images 13 – 14). Then serve the pudding while still warm, with chilled creme anglaise or vanilla ice cream.

My best tips

• Use stale hot cross buns. Stale hot cross buns will readily absorb the custard, so that the insides will be soft, rich, creamy, and custard-like! You can also make your buns stale by letting them dry out in a low heat oven for a few minutes.
• Since this recipe doesn’t use a lot of eggs, make sure you don’t substitute the heavy cream. The richness for the dessert comes from the eggs and the fat in the cream and butter. Reducing either of these will make the dessert less rich.
• Let the hot cross bun bread pudding soak in the custard overnight, if you can! Giving the buns this time to really soak up the custard will make a delicious difference in the final texture.
• This can be served hot or cold. But I love the flavor of warm bread and butter pudding. So you can warm up leftovers in the oven or in the microwave before eating too.
• Feel free to use other types of bread to make this bread and butter pudding for Easter or other holiday gatherings, if you prefer. Brioche bread, Hawaiian bread rolls, chocolate babka, cinnamon babka, and even these Easter bunny buns will work well in this context.

Recipe variations

You can change the flavor of the hot cross bun pudding in different ways.

• Change the flavor of hot cross buns
  • Use chocolate hot cross buns or chocolate chip hot cross buns
  • Apple cinnamon
  • White chocolate raspberry
  • Jam hot cross buns
• Add flavor to the custard base
  • Cocoa powder
  • Coffee
  • Banana
  • Blended fruits like berries
  • Different spices
• Change the add-ins and mix-ins
  • Fresh fruits like apple, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries
  • Add dollops of jam or marmalade
  • Use other spreads like peanut butter, chocolate hazelnut spread
  • Add chocolate chips or butterscotch chips or other chopped candy
  • Add dried fruits or nuts

Storage instructions

Unbaked dessert

The unbaked hot cross buns bread pudding can be placed in the fridge up to 48 hours.

Baked bread and butter pudding

In the fridge – The pudding can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 – 4 days, depending on how fresh the ingredients are.

In the freezer – You can also cut the bread and butter pudding into portions and then wrap each portion with plastic wrap and place them in an airtight container and transfer it to the freezer. These will last in the fridge for about 1 month minimum. Only take out the portion you need and let it thaw out before eating. Do not thaw and refreeze.