Cinnamon Bun Bread Pudding is perfect for a special occasion brunch! It can be made the night before and baked in the morning for a no-fuss recipe that family and friends will go crazy for.
Cinnamon buns are right up there with bagels for me as far as favorite special occasion breakfasts go.
Bagels are a rare treat (made even rarer by the fact that in Kuwait it isn’t nearly as easy to find a decent quality bagel as it is in New York). But ironically (because there’s a Cinnabon that’s just a two-minute walk from where we live), cinnamon buns are an even more rare treat.
But last Christmas I had a serious cinnamon roll craving and I made it my business to copycat the Cinnabon recipe (which I will definitely be sharing with you at some point!). After a couple tries, I think my recipe was even better than Cinnabon’s (of course I’m biased though), and now regular Cinnabon doesn’t hold the same appeal that it used to. But delicious as they are, cinnamon buns are not something I make very often.
However, sometimes a special occasion warrants an insanely good cinnamon bun…right?
And sometimes when a killer cinnamon bun is in order, you just don’t have the time to whip up a batch.
But bread pudding. Oooh, bread pudding.
The genius thing about bread pudding is that it takes truly minimal effort (read: 10 minutes, and that’s if you do it while enjoying a cup of coffee and a chat with a friend) the night before you want to have it. Then after a quick bake the next morning, you can serve what is sure to be the hit of brunch to friends. Gooey cinnamon swirl, custard-y bread pudding, and rich frosting. It’s the stuff cinnamon dreams are made of.
- ½ cup (110 g) light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 5 large eggs
- 2 cups (475 ml) whole milk
- 4 tablespoons light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 cups cubed stale French bread
- ½ cup (60 g) powdered sugar (also called confectioner’s sugar, icing sugar, or 10X sugar)
- 4 tablespoons whole milk
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Butter or coconut oil, for greasing the casserole dish
- Generously grease a 1.5-liter casserole dish with butter or coconut oil.
- For the cinnamon swirl syrup, add all ingredients to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Once boiling, cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly, and then remove from heat. Cool to room temperature.
- For the bread pudding, whisk together the eggs, milk, brown sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl.
- Add half of the bread cubes to the prepared casserole dish and drizzle on half of the cooled Cinnamon Swirl Syrup. Add the remaining half of the bread on top and drizzle on the remaining half of the syrup. Pour in the egg mixture, gently pressing down on the top of the bread with a spoon to make sure all of the bread pieces are soaked.
- Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate 12 hours or overnight.
- The next day, preheat the oven to 350F and let the pudding sit at room temperature while the oven preheats.
- Once the oven is up to temperature, bake the pudding until the custard is set and light golden on top, about 25 to 30 minutes.
- Whisk together all ingredients for the icing and drizzle on the pudding while it’s still hot.
- Serve warm.
I’m Faith Gorsky, the writer, cook, and photographer behind An Edible Mosaic. My goal is to inspire you to get in the kitchen and try something new! Feel free to 
Rosa says
April 11, 2014 at 5:10 amLuscious! This bread pudding is simply divine.
Cheers,
Rosa
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
April 11, 2014 at 10:50 amLove this decadent bread pudding, Faith!
Dixya @ Food, Pleasure, and Health says
April 11, 2014 at 11:37 ambread pudding with cinnamon – i die.
Anna @ Bashful Bao says
April 11, 2014 at 1:13 pmWhat a fabulous bread pudding–I love when dessert doubles as breakfast the next morning!
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says
April 11, 2014 at 2:33 pmOh wow!! This looks so yummy!
Christina @ but i'm hungry says
April 11, 2014 at 6:16 pmWhat a fabulous idea! I love cinnamon rolls, too, but rarely find the time to pull them together. (It’s that planning ahead thing, darnit.) Thanks for sharing!
Anna Johnston says
April 12, 2014 at 10:36 pmDROOL! I adore this time of year, the buns, the hot cross buns… yarm! I never would have thought to turn it into a pudding. Nice idea.
Hope you are well Faith, wishing you a wonderful weekend. :)
Barbara says
April 13, 2014 at 6:58 amOh my….how fabulous is that?! Love sweet and savory overnight puddings. Makes life so much simpler AND this one is a major winner. What an awesome idea for a holiday breakfast!
Lisa @ Simple Pairings says
April 13, 2014 at 3:01 pmWow – this looks incredible! So much easier than cinnamon buns. Can’t wait to try!
Brian says
March 2, 2015 at 8:22 amby far the best bread pudding ever!! directions call for 12 hour chill, however works FANTASTIC with 1 hour chill as well (i made it last night). simply was amazing and my family loved it!!
lisahgolden says
April 21, 2015 at 6:59 pmI made this tonight. It is marvelous. Thank you for sharing it.
Lisa says
January 24, 2016 at 5:07 amI made this for Christmas brunch, and it was out of this world, Faith! Everyone was sitting around the table with their mouths hanging open after the first bite. And just moments ago, I made another batch for Sunday brunch (it’s soaking up all the goodness now). I make it with a brioche that I buy from Whole Foods, and it is simply divine. Thank you for sharing this recipe with us!
Faith says
January 24, 2016 at 8:49 amLisa, Thank you so much for your sweet comment, I’m so glad this was a hit! You made my day. :)
Laura Sloan says
December 25, 2018 at 12:34 amI just put this in the fridge and will bake tomorrow, Christmas morning, as I have done for four years now. Such a treat and a tradition that will continue for years to come I’m sure. It is known as THE bread pudding in our house. I double the recipe and use half challah bread, and half cinnamon bread. So looking forward to everyone enjoying this together tomorrow morning! Thanks for an amazing recipe :)
Faith says
December 25, 2018 at 6:45 amLaura, I’m truly honored that his has become part of your family’s Christmas tradition. Merry Christmas to you and yours!