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My panettone bread pudding is the perfect way to use Christmas panettone. It makes a delicious breakfast or a tasty dessert.
I think panettone might be one of my favorite things about the holiday season. It starts popping up in the stores around Thanksgiving, and I will happily buy it until it disappears again in January.
If you have ever had panettone, it’s a soft Italian sweet bread that is eaten a lot around Christmastime. It can be packed with fillings such as raisins, currants, chocolate chips, citrus peels, and dried cranberries. My favorite is the traditional flavor, made with candied citrus peel and raisins. Pick whichever panettone sounds good to you.
Because I wanted to switch things up, I decided to turn a leftover panettone into a delicious, comforting bread pudding.
I’m a massive lover of bread pudding because it’s perfect for both breakfast and dessert. Yes, it’s on the sweet side, but sometimes the holidays call for a sweet breakfast – just like my Apple Pie Baked French Toast.
Recipe highlights
Panettone Bread Pudding
Why you will love this: This dish is comforting and a great use for holiday Panettone bread. The dish is easy to make, can be prepped ahead (think stress-free Christmas morning breakfast), and is an excellent option for both breakfast and dessert. For a little added protein, I like to top it with a dollop of vanilla Greek yogurt.
Recommended tools:`The great thing about this dish is that you don’t need a lot of fancy equipment. All you’ll need is a 9×13 baking dish and a mixing bowl. How easy is that?
Cooking time: It will take 50-60 minutes for your bread pudding to bake fully. I find that 55 minutes is the sweet spot in my oven, but your oven may bake differently.
Serving: Since panettone is a rich, sweet bread, I like to break this into 10 servings. Especially if I top it with something sweet like maple syrup, salted caramel sauce, or ice cream.
This Homemade Panettone Bread Pudding is rich, buttery, and bursting with festive flavor—made with sweet, fluffy Christmas panettone and topped with whipped cream! It’s pure holiday comfort, whether you serve it warm or at room temperature.
Recipe Breakdown
- Panettone bread: I usually pick up a Panettone from my local grocery store. They always get them in starting around Thanksgiving. In fact, my favorite place to go is Aldi. It has excellent flavor and texture.
- Eggs: I’m using farm-fresh large eggs. If you need to use smaller (medium-sized) or larger (jumbo-sized) eggs, you need to adjust the number of eggs. I would add one extra egg for medium and one less egg for jumbo.
- Half-and-half: We always have half-and-half on hand, so it’s an excellent option for my family. Other options are a mix of heavy cream and whole milk, nut milk, or just regular milk.
- How to serve: Serve warm, room temperature, or cold. I like to top my panettone bread pudding with a mix of Greek yogurt and maple syrup. It’s a great vehicle to use up any leftover cranberry sauce you might have on hand.
- Storage and leftovers: Store in the fridge, covered, for up to 4 days.
- Reheating: You can easily heat any leftover slices of bread pudding in the microwave or by warming a slice in a toaster oven.
One bite of this rich, custardy panettone bread pudding and you’ll swear it came straight from a holiday bakery!
Panettone Bread Pudding FAQ’s
My Pro Tip
Substitutions
Because who actually has everything on hand?
- Panettone Bread
- Sweeter breads like brioche, challah, or Hawaiian sweet rolls will work in a pinch, but you’ll want to add chopped dried fruit and orange zest to replicate the flavor of panettone.
- Cubed store-bought cinnamon raisin bread (or try my Cinnamon Raisin Sourdough Bread) or any soft fruit and nut-studded bread.
- Eggs
- I personally think plain old chicken eggs work best, but if you’re in a pickle, you could use egg beaters or something special like duck eggs. However, if you’re using something like duck eggs, you’ll want to adjust how many you add, since they’re much larger.
- Half-and-half
- This recipe is really flexible when it comes to what “type” of milk you use. I like using just half-and-half because it adds a nice body to the custard. However, if you’re not a fan (or maybe you ran out?), you could make your own half and half by mixing 1.5 cups of whole milk with 1.5 cups of heavy cream. Other options are nut or non-dairy milk. I think it’s best to use something with creaminess, so if you’re going the non-dairy route, I would pick something like coconut or creamy oat milk.
More Delicious Recipes
Panettone Bread Pudding
Ingredients
For Bread Pudding:
- 1 (750 gram) loaf panettone bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 6 large eggs
- 3 cups half and half
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
For bread pudding:
- Spray a 9×13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
- Arrange the bread cubes in the prepared dish.
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, half and half, brown sugar, vanilla extract, grounc cinnamon, and kosher salt.
- Pour the custard over the bread cubes, and press the bread cubes gently to submerge.
- Let stand for 30 minutes, occasionally packing the bread cubes into the custard mixture. Can be prepared in advance and stored in the refrigerator for up to 12 hours.
- Shortly before baking preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Bake until the pudding puffs and set in the center, about 50-60 minutes.
- Serve bread pudding warm, room temperature, or cold. Before serving sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar.
Notes
- You can find Panettone in most grocery stores around Christmastime. They are typically sold in 750-gram packages, but sometimes they are sold in smaller packages. Make sure to check the size and, if needed, scale down the eggs and milk.
- If you want more fruit flavor, you can add one tablespoon of freshly grated orange zest.
- You can make the bread pudding mixture in advance, cover it, and store it in the fridge for up to 12 hours before baking.
- Don’t worry if your bread is slightly stale; it will still work! The custard will soak and soften the bread.
- For added sweetness, you can add 1/3 cup of chocolate chips.
- For serving, sprinkle powdered sugar and top with whipped cream, yogurt, jam, jelly, or ice cream.
- This dish can be served warm, at room temperature, or cold. It’s also an excellent option for breakfast or dessert.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
You and I are totally twins. Why?
Because I planned on making this until my husband ate it all without me noticing. I had it in the box, and assumed it was all there.. until one day the box disappeared! Turns out he sliced it down little by little! Ah!
Yumm, this looks so good. What a great idea to use pannetone for the bread pudding!
I’ve had panetonne, but have never made it from scratch. There was a good recipe online this month….can’t wait to try it.
What a delicious bread pudding that would make! I’m drooling at your photos!
It’s our favorite dessert…I like the cinnamon syrup idea!
I recently tried panettone for the first time in Bed Bath and Beyond, of all places. They had samples cut up in the store… I guess they were trying to push them after the holidays. Anyway, it was delicious, and I bet this bread pudding is too!
oh no! I hope you’re feeling much much better. I haven’t had panettone, but it sounds delicious. I think I’d really enjoy a slice with a cup of coffee. The bread pudding was a fabulous way to use it up. And I bet it made it nice and sweet!
I am sorry to hear you are not well! Shame on me for taking so long to get here! This recipe looks so comforting and delicious and soft and lush – and easy to make! YUMMERS.
Take care to get better and keep warm.
Brilliant recipe!
🙂
valerie
I am loving the cnnamon in this pudding – yum!
There are leftovers and then there are glorious leftovers. This sounds to die for. I’m new to your blog and have spent some time browsing through your earlier entries. I really like the food and recipes you feature here. I’ll definitely be back. I hope you have a great day. Blessings…Mary
Oh yummy! I love bread pudding. I’ve never tried it with Panettone bread… great idea! The cinnamon syrup sounds divine as well.
I hope that was the last cold to hit you for this winter. I like panettone but I prefer pandoro more. But you found a perfect way to transform a simple panettone to a beautiful dessert.