Slow Cooker Bread Pudding Recipe

Let’s bring in fall with the most comforting dessert we can–slow cooker bread pudding for two. It’s ready in just a few hours, and you might be tempted to eat both servings.

I seem to make the same recipes over and over in the crockpot. I memorized nearly every recipe on my slow cooker recipes for two page. Hardly a week goes by without slow cooker taco soup (a small batch, of course), or my creamy crockpot chicken for two. I was growing tired of making the same things over and over, and almost got rid of it!

Almost. And then, I started making small batch desserts in the crockpot. I first made creme brulee in the crockpot, which is so fun because it takes all the guess-work out of making custard. Plus, it’s a hands-off easy way to make a fancy dessert! Effortless and impressive is always the way to my heart.

So, I started thinking about what else I could put in ramekins and bake in a water bath in my slow cooker. Bread pudding came to mind. If you have two ramekins, this is exactly what to make!

Ingredients

Bread. The best bread for bread pudding is challah, in my humble opinion. The second best choice is your favorite type of bread! I have made this with stale ciabatta bread, sliced sourdough, and even leftover brioche hamburger buns. No bread is safe from this delicious slow cooker bread pudding recipe hehe.
Egg. Two large eggs, beaten before being added to the mixing bowl.
Milk. One-half cup milk; whole is best but 1% or 2% is fine, too.
Cream. One-quarter cup of heavy cream, because bread pudding is a custard base dessert, after all.
Vanilla. Two teaspoons of vanilla extract is the real shining star in the recipe. It seems like a lot, but trust me here!
Sugar. Just 1/4 cup of granulated sugar for the dessert, but an extra 2 teaspoons if you want to sprinkle it on top and torch it like I do in the video.
Cinnamon. One-half teaspoon of cinnamon.

How to Make Slow Cooker Bread Pudding

First, use a bread knife to cube the bread. You should have about 2 cups of bread cubes. Place in a large bowl, and set aside.

Next, make the custard: whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, vanilla, sugar and cinnamon. Whisk the cinnamon very well to dissolve it. Pour this over the bread cubes and gently toss very well to combine and ensure every bread piece is soaked in the mixture.

Use two large pieces of foil to form rings for the ramekins to bake on. Place in the bottom of the slow cooker.

Divide the bread pudding mixture between two 6-8 ounces ramekins, and place in the slow cooker.

Pour 3 cups of warm water in the slow cooker, being careful not to splash any of the water on the dessert. Place the lid on the crockpot, and set the timer to 2 hours.

After 2 hours, use a toothpick to test if any wet custard sticks to it. If so, return the lid and cook for another hour. If not, remove the ramekins from the crockpot gently. Sprinkle each with one teaspoon of sugar, torch, and serve.

Finally, let’s also talk about something else important: sogginess. So, the water bath in the slow cooker makes for the most incredible tender custard for the ‘pudding’ part of bread pudding. However, this means the top can be overly soggy. So, I sprinkled it with sugar and hit it with a kitchen torch. It’s totally your choice if you want a crispy top!