Leftover Donut Bread Pudding Recipe - These Old Cookbooks (2024)

April 28, 2018November 5, 2023

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This Leftover Donut Bread pudding takes your uneaten glazed donuts and turns them into a delicious dessert.You can even freeze leftover donuts until you have enough to make this yummy dessert.

Leftover Donut Bread Pudding: A Frugal Recipe

Leftover donuts have never tasted this good. The original version of this Leftover Donut Bread Pudding recipe was posted on my first blog – Frugalista Farm Life. I am definitely channeling our Grandma K when I make this dish. Our grandma was the queen of frugal living. A child of the Depression, she did not waste ANYTHING!

Grandma’s frugal gene was passed to me – her youngest grandchild – a quality that I am proud of even if my family gives me a hard time about it. I now live in our grandparent’s house on our family’s farm. Many of the plates, bowls and baking dishes (like the one below) were our grandma’s and I still love using them when cooking for my family.

Ingredient List for Doughnut Bread Pudding

Have you ever had this thought? What can I do with leftover cinnamon donuts? Or maybe this one.What can I do with leftover Krispy Kreme doughnuts? If the answer is yes, then you and I are on the same page. As it turns out, this bread pudding recipe using stale donuts is so good that I buy extra donuts just so that I have some stale ones at the end of the week to make this sweet treat.

• Yeast Donuts (leftover works best such as stale Krispy Kreme Doughnuts) – Whenever I have leftover stale donuts like Krispy Kreme’s or Papa John’s bread sticks or even biscuits, I cut them up in small pieces and throw them in a resealable bag and toss the bag in the freezer. Then, when I have about 6 cups, I make this delicious bread pudding. The glazed donuts make it sweet enough that you don’t even need a sauce or glaze.
• Butter
• Eggs
• Milk (whole milk, 2%, or heavy cream)
• Granulated sugar
• Ground cinnamon
• Vanilla extract

How to make Bread Pudding with Donuts

Step by Step Instructions

1. Prep your baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Add donuts to baking dish and pour melted butter over them and lightly mix.
3. Mix the rest of the ingredients together in a separate bowl then pour liquid mixture over donuts.
4. Let sit for 5 minutes and then cover with foil.
5. Bake for 25 minutes and then remove foil and bake for another 25 minutes or until golden brown.
6. Cool for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Full recipe and ingredient amounts for stale donut bread pudding can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Recipe Variations

• Add chopped nuts such as pecans or walnuts.
• Use brown sugar instead of white sugar.
• Raisins are a classic addition.
• To make it extra rich, stir in chocolate chips.
• Serve with a drizzle of caramel sauce or chocolate sauce.
• Replace ground cinnamon with ground nutmeg.
• Serve with a rum sauce.
• It’s so rich, serve with vanilla ice cream.

What can I do with leftover donuts?

A leftover donut might be a rare occasion at your house, but it does happen from time to time. If your donuts have gotten stale and beyond repair, then try this tip straight from our Depression-Era grandma. Store the donuts in an airtight bag or container in the freezer.

Once you’ve got enough leftovers to equal approximately 6 cups, then you are all set to make bread pudding from stale donuts.

The best part is that it could be leftover yeast donuts, leftover cinnamon donuts, leftover jelly donuts – you get the picture, right? Use whatever you have on hand to make a decadent bread pudding recipe.

If your donuts are extra sugary to begin with, then you could even reduce or omit the added sugar in the bread pudding. It will still be great!

Recipe FAQs

• Store up leftover donuts as you acquire them in a resealable bag in the freezer. Once you have around 6 cups, you’ll be ready to make this recipe.
• Stale donut bread pudding is versatile – use leftover cinnamon doughnuts, Krispy Kreme donuts, yeast donuts, jelly donuts, jam filled donuts, and even plain breadsticks.
• The texture of the bread pudding will be affected by a couple different things:
  • The smaller the chunks of donuts, the softer the bread pudding will be.
  • The longer you soak the stale donuts, the softer the bread pudding will be.
• I’ve made this bread pudding a 100 different ways with varying ingredients, and it never looks the exact same but it’s always amazing.
• The cooking time could vary. The bread pudding is ready when it begins to brown around the edges and pulls away from the pan. It also begins to puff up in the oven.
• Check out our Amazon store to find our favorite pantry essentials and kitchen gadgets.

Our Favorite Dessert Recipes

We love desserts that are made in one dish and are meant to share. Whether they are topped with whipped cream, ice cream or served as is, these sweet treats are always a hit.

• Crock Pot Peach Cobbler
• Peach Batter Cake
• Blackberry Batter Cake
• Cherry Crisp
• Grandma’s Easy Apple Crisp
• Yellow Cake Mix Gooey Bars
• Grandma’s Rhubarb Streusel Dessert
• Mint Chocolate Bread Pudding

Old Fashioned Pudding Recipes

Homemade Chocolate Pudding

Classic Vanilla Pudding

Slow Cooker Pumpkin Pie Pudding

Vintage Persimmon Pudding

Old Fashioned Date Pudding

Can you make bread pudding with donuts?

Yes, donuts make an extra delectable bread pudding. It works best when the donuts are stale, so next time you have a dried up, dry donut left in the box, put it in the freezer to make bread pudding.

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