Vegan Pumpkin Bread Pudding – Easy & Healthy

This easy vegan pumpkin bread pudding recipe is the best way to turn stale bread into an amazing autumn dessert. Not only is it delicious, but it’s also healthy, refined sugar-free, oil-free, and can be gluten-free as well! Great autumn breakfast, dessert, and thanksgiving dish.

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So the other day, I went to my aunt’s house because he wanted me to cut her hair. If you don’t know, I used to be a full time hairdresser. And after that my aunt, uncle and I went on a little shopping trip in the neighbourhood and had a lot of good time. I mainly bought fruits, veggies and some DIY tools like paints. And my aunt got me a loaf of bread from a lovely local bakery shop.

The loaf was still warm with a nice yeasty bread smell because it came right out of the oven. The baker had told her to wait a bit to slice because the bread was very soft, so I left it in a paper bag to slice later. And you know what happens next. I ate the other little bread she got me and completely forgot to slice the loaf! And because it was in a paper bag, it went stale straight away. I was gutted! But I couldn’t waste a good loaf my aunt got me. Hence this recipe was born!

Bread pudding is such a great way to save a stale loaf of bread. Honestly, my loaf was rock hard but the pumpkin bread pudding turned out super soft and moist. It was also easy and simple to make which I love about this recipe. And another thing I love about it? Is that it’s refined sugar-free and oil-free which makes it healthy and great for breakfast. And it’s also nut-free and can be gluten-free and soy-free too if you make a little change to the ingredients. 

I topped the pumpkin bread pudding with vegan caramel sauce and melted biscoff spread and mmmmmwah! It’s so delicious.

Main ingredients and substitutions

Stale bread: You need stale bread to make this homemade pumpkin bread pudding recipe. It has to be stale because if you use fresh bread, it will be too goopy and too moist as fresh bread is soft already. So this recipe is best when you have leftover stale bread that needs to be used! If you want to make this recipe even healthier than it already is, you can use wholemeal bread instead of white bread. To make this recipe gluten-free, use gluten-free bread.

Pumpkin puree: Of course, lots of pumpkin puree to flavour the bread! I used my homemade pumpkin puree but you can use store-bought pumpkin puree too. Making pumpkin puree is super easy. All you have to do is cut up a pumpkin into pieces, bake until cooked, remove the skin, and then process in a food processor until smooth with a dash of filtered water. That’s it!

Brown sugar: I used brown sugar to sweeten the bread pudding. Brown sugar is less processed than regular white sugar so I like using it to make my recipes a little healthier and refined sugar-free. You can use regular white sugar instead too if you don’t have brown sugar on hand. Coconut sugar also works very well too!

Maple syrup: I also used some maple syrup alongside brown sugar because I love the taste of it! The subtle sweetness of maple syrup pairs with the flavour of pumpkin very well too. You can replace maple syrup with other liquid sweeteners too such as agave syrup, date syrup, etc., 

Soy single cream: To make this recipe creamy and soft, I used soy single cream alongside soy milk. Because soy single cream has a good amount of fat content, I didn’t have to use any butter or oil in this recipe! You can also use other single creams made with other plant-based ingredients, or use coconut cream. This way the recipe can be soy-free too!

Soy milk: I used some soy milk for this recipe. You can substitute for other plant milk like almond milk, oat milk, etc. if you want to make this recipe soy-free!

Oat flour: Oat flour thickens the wet mixture when baked and makes the pudding creamy as well as healthy to eat for breakfast. If you cannot find oat flour, make your own by grounding up porridge oats in a food processor until very fine. If you are making this recipe gluten-free, use gluten-free oat flour!

Other ingredients:  pumpkin spice and salt.

*I use bone char-free sugars for all of my recipes. I cover the topic in my article Vegan Baking 101. Go to the “Is sugar vegan?” section to learn more!

Recommended equipment for this recipe

Baking dish: You need a big baking dish to bake this recipe. I used a large glass baking dish(a 24cm wide and 5cm deep square dish) from Pyrex to make this recipe. I recommend you make this recipe with a similar size dish. 

Food processor: If you are making your own pumpkin puree and oat flour, make them with a food processor. I have a Kitchenaid food processor and it works perfectly to make them! 

Bread knife: Because the bread you need for this recipe is stale, you want to use a good bread knife that can slice smoothly. If your bread knife is blunt, sharpen it with a knife sharpener before slicing.

*The ingredient list and measurement for this recipe can be found in the recipe card at the bottom.

How to make vegan pumpkin bread pudding

Step 1

First, cut your stale bread into about 4-5cm cubes. The bread is hard, so use a well-sharpened bread knife to make this process easy! Place the bread cubes in a large baking dish and set aside.

Step 2

Let’s make the pumpkin bread pudding mixture! In a large bowl, mix all the rest of the ingredients with a whisk until very smooth. 

Step 3

Pour the pumpkin mixture over the bread cubes and mix with 2 large wooden spoons to coat each cube completely. Make sure the bread is all covered in the mixture so they come out of the oven nice and soft! It looks like the bread cubes are in a pool of the pumpkin mixture and might look like it’s too liquidy, but don’t worry! The bread will soak up all the moisture and bake nicely in the oven.

Step 4

Bake in the oven for 30-40 mins until the top is golden amber. Take it out of the oven, and cool slightly to room temperature. Scoop the bread pudding out with a large serving spoon and top with some ice cream and melted biscoff spread. Enjoy!

Tips and tricks

Use stale bread instead of fresh bread

Freshly baked bread is so good for a toastie and butter. But for this homemade pumpkin bread pudding, use rather hard stale bread. This recipe uses a lot of liquid ingredients so if you use fresh bread it won’t bake nicely and end up being soggy. This pumpkin bread pudding recipe is perfect for when you have leftover stale bread and looking for what to do with it!

Or, you can also buy a hard and crusty type of bread that has less moisture content such as a crusty french baguette. Some hard crusty bread have larger air pockets inside the crumb which means the actual bread part is less than stale bread per cup, so if you are using bread with large air pockets adjust the amount of pumpkin mixture as you might need less than the actual recipe.

Use everything large in size

This recipe makes one big baked pumpkin pudding so use large tools from baking dishes to mixing tools. The last thing you want is over flooding mixing bowls or struggling to mix with a small whisk or spoons and end up making a mess on the kitchen top!

How to store this vegan pumpkin bread pudding

This bread pudding recipe keeps well in the fridge for about 2-3 days separately from the ice cream and melted biscoff spread. Cover the dish with a cling film or in an airtight container to keep it fresh. For a longer storage method, you can separate the pudding into one serving, put it in a freezer-friendly airtight container, then store it in the freezer for up to 2 months. Do not store puddings that are already topped with ice cream and biscoff spread as it will ruin the texture and become soggy.

Q and A

Can I make this recipe ahead of time?

You can mix the bread and pumpkin mixture in a dish, cover, and refrigerate to bake the next day. This way, bread has a longer time to soak up the pumpkin mixture, making it even softer and more moist.

Can I make it gluten-free?

Yes! If you want to make this recipe gluten-free, simply use gluten-free bread and oat flour. 

Want to master the basics of vegan baking?
Check out Vegan Baking 101 – the beginner’s guide to vegan baking for you to become an excellent vegan baker and familiar with the basics of vegan baking, ingredients, and techniques with useful tips!

You will LOVE this vegan pumpkin bread pudding because they are:

• hearty and cosy
• delicious
• full of pumpkin flavour
• healthy
• easy to make

Want more recipes like this?

Try my other delicious cake recipes you might enjoy!

• Chocolate chip pumpkin bread
•  Peach cobbler – gluten-free
•  Lemon blueberry loaf cake
• Cinnamon rolls
• Pumpkin brownies

Visit the breads and loaves page and recipe page for more delicious recipes!

Please leave a comment and rate this recipe in the comment section below if you like this recipe! Let me know and tag me @thechestnutbakery on Instagram too. Thank you for making my recipe, friends!

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