Bread and butter pudding with hot cross buns is a great way to use up leftover buns. It's so delicious and easy to make! Everyone will love this Easter dessert.

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- 👛 Cost To Make
- 🌟 Why You'll Love This Recipe:
- 🥘 Ingredients In This Recipe
- 🍳 Step By Step Instructions
- 💭 Recipe Tips
- 📖 Variations
- Scale The Recipe
- 👪 Serving Size
- 🍬 Calories Per Serve
- 🥗 Serving Suggestions
- 🌡️ Storage
- 🔥 Reheating
- 📝 Frequently Asked Questions
- 🍮 More Sweet Recipes
- 📋 Recipe Card
- 💬 Comments
Quick and simple to make, bread and butter pudding with hot cross buns is a great way to use leftover buns.
👛 Cost To Make
Estimated cost = $7.90 or $1.30 per serving
🌟 Why You'll Love This Recipe:
- This recipe is mixed in one bowl, which means you have less to clean.
- It is a quick dish that you can prepare in less than 15 minutes.
- You are saving money because instead of throwing out leftover bread, you are using it to make a delicious dessert.
- Bread and butter pudding can be enjoyed hot or at room temperature.
🥘 Ingredients In This Recipe
The printable recipe further down the page has the complete list of ingredients, including quantities and step-by-step instructions.
Hot cross buns - you will need three average-sized hot cross buns that are at least one to two days old.
Milk and cream - We like this combination with a little more milk than cream, but you can use all milk or all cream depending on how rich you like your bread puddings.
Eggs - use large eggs.
White sugar - we use one tablespoon in this recipe to give the custard a hint of sweetness. If you like a sweeter dessert, add a little more sugar.
Sultanas - or use another dried fruit of your choice. These will give you mouth bursts of sweetness as you eat the pudding.
Flavorings - vanilla extract, orange zest, and mixed spice powder. If you don't have mixed spice powder, use cinnamon powder instead.
Butter - is a must because without the butter it won't be a bread and butter pudding. We use salted butter but you could also use unsalted butter.
Brown sugar - helps with browning the top of the pudding and gives it a nice little crunch.
🍳 Step By Step Instructions
Step 1 - Grease the inside of a baking dish with butter.
Step 2 - Whisk together the wet ingredients and flavorings.
Step 3 - Gently fold in the bread, sultanas, and nuts and leave to soak for 5 - 10 minutes.
Step 4 -Transfer to a baking dish, dot with butter and sprinkle over brown sugar.
Step 5 - Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until just set. Remove from the oven and allow to stand for 30 minutes before serving. Serve hot or at room temperature.
💭 Recipe Tips
- You will need about 3 average-sized hot cross buns for this recipe.
- Cut or tear the bread into 2 cm cubes (a little smaller than 1 inch).
- Weigh the bread rather than using a cup to measure because it will give you the best results. We like to weigh the bread because not all hot cross buns are the same size and weight.
- If using cups to measure, lightly pack it just to the top of the cup, rather than forcing the bread into it. If you over-pack the bread into the cup, there will be too much bread in the pudding, and it won't be the right consistency.
- The average-sized hot cross buns that we can buy locally, weigh about 80 grams (almost 3 ounces) each which is equal to about 1 cup of cubed bread.
📖 Variations
- To make this Easter bread and butter pudding with hot cross buns with no cream, replace the cream in this recipe with milk.
- Make a chocolate hot cross bread and butter pudding using chocolate chip hot cross buns and replace the nuts in this recipe with chocolate chips.
- Don't have hot cross buns. Use leftover fruit loaf, fruit buns, or any sweet type of bread to make bread and butter pudding.
- For a lighter version, instead of using one cup of cream, use one cup of milk.
Scale The Recipe
We used this base recipe which makes 2 servings: 1 average-sized hot cross bun (80 grams / 1 cup) cubed + 1 large egg + ½ cup milk or cream + any add-ins or flavorings you like to add. For example:
- To make a 2 hot cross bun bread and butter pudding (serves 4). You will need 2 hot cross buns (160 grams / 2 cups) cubed + 2 large eggs + 1 cup milk or cream + any add-ins or flavorings you like.
- To make a 3 hot cross bun bread and butter pudding (serves 6), please scroll down the page for a printable recipe.
- To make a 4 hot cross bun bread and butter pudding (serves 8). You will need 4 hot cross buns (320 grams / 4 cups) cubed + 4 large eggs + 2 cups milk or cream + any add-ins or flavorings you like.
👪 Serving Size
This recipe makes 6 large servings.
🍬 Calories Per Serve
The calories in the recipe are based six serving, each serving being about 467 calories.
🥗 Serving Suggestions
Serve bread and butter pudding with hot cross buns hot or at room temperature with ice cream, custard, or whipped cream.
🌡️ Storage
Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 2 days. You can reheat the leftovers in the oven or the microwave.
🔥 Reheating
To reheat in the oven - cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C (350°F) for about 10 minutes or until hot.
To heat individual servings in the microwave oven - place in a microwave-safe dish and microwave in 10-15 second bursts on high until heat through.
📝 Frequently Asked Questions
To tell if a bread and butter pudding is done, bake until the custard has set around the edges and the center is still a little wobbly when you touch it.
Remove from the oven and allow to stand for 30 minutes before serving to allow the custard to set without becoming overcooked.
I do hope that you try this recipe for bread and butter pudding with hot cross buns. If you do, please come back and leave a comment below because I would love to know how you went.
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📋 Recipe Card
Bread And Butter Pudding With Hot Cross Buns
EQUIPMENT
- Baking dish that has a 4-5 cup capacity
- Large mixing bowl
- Whisk
- Spatula
- Bread knife
- Cutting board
- Mixing bowl
- Micro plain or fine grater
- Measuring cups
- Kitchen scales
INGREDIENTS
- 30 grams (1 tablespoon) softened butter
- 240 grams (8.4 ounces / 3 cups) stale hot cross buns cut into 2 cm (1 inch) cubes
- 60 grams (¼ cup) sultanas could also use raisins or currants
- 55 grams (½ cup) chopped toasted nuts like pecans, walnuts, or hazelnuts
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup cream
- ½ cup milk
- ¼ teaspoon mixed spice powder can also use cinnamon powder or nutmeg powder
- 2 teaspoon orange zest
- 1-2 tablespoons brown sugar
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F)
- Use a small portion of the softened butter to grease the inside of the baking dish.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, white sugar, vanilla extract, cream, milk, mixed spice powder, and orange zest until well combined.
- Next, add the cubed bread, sultanas, and nuts to the mixture, use a spatula to gently mix in, and allow the mixture to stand for 5 minutes.
- Pour the egg mixture into the greased baking dish and spread out into an even layer.
- Drop small amounts of the remaining softened butter over the top of the custard and sprinkle the top with brown sugar.
- Place into the preheated oven and bake for 25 - 30 minutes, or until the custard is set but still a little wobbly and the edges of the bread have browned.
- Remove from the oven and allow to stand for 30 minutes before serving.
- Serve warm or at room temperature garnished with a light sprinkle of powdered sugar or grated orange zest.
- Enjoy with a serving of custard, cream, or ice cream.
Notes
- You will need about 3 average-sized hot cross buns for this recipe.
- Cut or tear the bread into 2 cm cubes (a little smaller than 1 inch).
- Weigh the bread rather than using a cup to measure because it will give you the best results. We like to weigh the bread because not all hot cross buns are the same size and weight.
- If using cups to measure, lightly pack it just to the top of the cup, rather than forcing the bread into it. If you over-pack the bread into the cup, there will be too much bread in the pudding, and it won't be the right consistency.
- The average-sized hot cross buns that we can buy locally, weigh about 80 grams (almost 3 ounces) each which is equal to about 1 cup of cubed bread.
- To make this Easter bread and butter pudding with hot cross buns with no cream, replace the cream in this recipe with milk.
- Make a chocolate hot cross bread and butter pudding using chocolate chip hot cross buns and replace the nuts in this recipe with chocolate chips.
- Don't have hot cross buns. Use leftover fruit loaf, fruit buns, or any sweet type of bread to make bread and butter pudding.
- For a lighter version, instead of using one cup of cream, use one cup of milk.
- To make a 2 hot cross bun bread and butter pudding (serves 4). You will need 2 hot cross buns (160 grams / 2 cups) cubed + 2 large eggs + 1 cup milk or cream + any add-ins or flavorings you like.
- To make a 4 hot cross bun bread and butter pudding (serves 8). You will need 4 hot cross buns (320 grams / 4 cups) cubed + 4 large eggs + 2 cups milk or cream + any add-ins or flavorings you like.
Sandra says
Looks delicious and a lovely Easter treat.