The Best Pecan Bread Pudding Recipe (And Why It's Almost Impossible to Mess Up)
Andy's World Famous Pecan Bread Pudding — serves 6 to 8
This pecan bread pudding recipe has been fifteen years in the making, even though it comes together in under an hour.
It started in Jackson, Mississippi, when our restaurant review site, Eat Jackson, hosted a Bread Pudding Throwdown. We watched more than a dozen presentations that night, then went on to host an event built specifically for pastry chefs, which gave Andy an even closer look into that world.
Andy cooks on taste and feel, not precision, which puts him about as far from a trained pastry chef as you can get. That same instinct is exactly what turned bread pudding into his go-to creative outlet for dessert. He's made it for friends and family year-round ever since, with a new seasonal version nearly every time.
These days, the testing ground is Montmartre in Paris, France. Andy tinkers with whatever fresh produce the neighborhood has on hand, pairs it with Prime Pecans, then hands portions to the business owners around the corner to taste-test. At this point, half the neighborhood has tried a version of it.
The results have been the same everywhere we've made it, Jackson, Montmartre, and the countries in between.
This bread pudding is dynamite, and it doesn't require advanced math to perfect.
This is not a recipe you need to be a baker to pull off. It's forgiving, it's flexible, and the version below is the exact one I use, glaze and all.
Watch How It's Made
In the video, I walk through making the custard, building the glaze, and the one step almost everybody skips that makes the biggest difference in texture.
Why This Recipe Works With Whatever Bread You Have
Brioche gives you the richest texture, but this recipe doesn't require a special trip to the bakery. Leftover sourdough, a baguette that's gone a little stale, even brioche buns from the weekend all work the same way once they're cut into 1 to 2 inch chunks. The bread is a delivery system for the custard. As long as it can soak, it'll work.
The Step Most People Skip
Before the bread ever touches the custard, it gets dried out in the oven at 250°F for about 10 minutes. Skip this step and the pudding turns gummy instead of custardy. It takes 10 minutes and it's the difference between good and great.
The Recipe
Quick overview: a simple custard of eggs, cream and vanilla gets soaked into dried bread, then a full cup of Prime Pecan Pieces gets added, with Prime Pecan Halves scattered on top to toast while it bakes. It comes out of the oven golden, gets a warm lime glaze poured over the top, and that's it.
Variations: Make It Yours
The base recipe is a crowd-pleaser exactly as written, no additions required. But once you've made it a couple of times, this is where it gets fun:
Mix-ins:
Chocolate chunks
Golden or dark raisins
Dried cranberries
Seasonal fruits:
Stone fruit (peaches, apricots, cherries, etc.)
Berries (blueberries, raspberries, etc.)
Pineapple
Apples
Banana chunks
Whatever's in season
None of these change the method. Same custard, same bread, same Prime Pecan Pieces mixed all the way through. You're just deciding what mood you're in.
It's Genuinely Hard to Mess Up
If you pull it out of the oven and the middle still looks soft or soggy, that's not a failure. It just needs more time. Put it back in until the edges go crisp and golden. There's no version of this recipe where more oven time makes it worse.
Why Prime Pecan Pieces Make the Difference
A pecan that's spent months in a warehouse turns dark and bitter, and that flavor comes through in a bake like this one. A truly fresh pecan is golden and naturally sweet, which matters in a recipe where the pecans are mixed all the way through, not just sitting on top as decoration.
Every lot of Prime Pecan Pieces and Halves is third-party verified clean before it ships, with no mycotoxins or pesticide residue detected. The lot number, harvest state, and harvest year are printed right on the bag. You won't taste the testing directly, but you'll taste the freshness it protects.
How We Serve It
At home, this goes straight from the cast iron skillet to the table, glaze poured on right before serving. For sharing, we spoon it into ramekins, or mini cocottes as the French call them, the small ceramic dishes you'll find in any Montmartre kitchen shop. They're the right size to carry a portion to a neighbor without committing them to half a skillet.
Get the Pecans That Make This Recipe Worth Making
This recipe is only as good as what goes into it. Order Prime Pecan Pieces and Halves here and have them delivered straight to your door, harvest-fresh and third-party verified clean, with free shipping always.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Yes. Brioche gives the richest texture, but sourdough, baguette, and brioche buns all work using the same method. Slice into 1 to 2 inch chunks and dry it out in the oven before soaking, regardless of which bread you use.
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Drying the bread first, for about 10 minutes at 250°F, keeps it from turning gummy once it soaks up the custard. It's the single step that determines whether the texture comes out mushy or with a nice firm texture with crunchy corners.
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Whatever's in season. Peaches, apricots, cherries, blueberries, raspberries, apples, pineapple, and banana chunks all work using the same method, added alongside the Prime Pecan Pieces before baking.
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Yes. The bourbon in the glaze can be left out entirely, or replaced with an extra splash of juice or water to keep the consistency right. Or muddle in a little bit of your chosen seasonal fruit to add even more fresh fruit flavor.
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Yes. Assemble it and bake it, store in the refrigerator for up to two days before serving. You can serve cold or reheat. The glaze is best made fresh and poured on right before serving.
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Prime Pecan Pieces are harvest-fresh and third-party verified clean on every lot, with no mycotoxins detected and no pesticide residue detected. Most grocery store pecans have no such testing and are often oxidized by the time they reach the shelf, which shows up as a flatter, more bitter flavor.