Two favorites, sweet potato casserole and bread pudding, are wrapped into one delicious dish: sweet potato bread pudding.
Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: This recipe is a unique twist on sweet potato casseroles. Serve it as a dessert, side dish, for brunches, or on a Thanksgiving buffet.
How long it takes: 1 hour, 10 minutes (but it can be prepped ahead)
Equipment you’ll need: mixing bowl, large baking dish
Servings: 12
I seriously love bread pudding. It’s a fantastic dessert, so unassuming but SO delicious.
And it also works as breakfast. At least in my book. Eggs, milk, bread. It’s totally breakfast food.
My favorite bread pudding up until now has always been blueberry bread pudding although I do love traditional bread pudding with raisins. But move over, blueberry bread pudding, there’s a new kid on the block!
With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I wanted to create a twist on the classic side dish that everyone associates with Turkey Day: sweet potato casserole.
Of course, there are already a lot of different takes on the familiar marshmallow-topped classic dish. Check out my healthy sweet potato casserole; it’s gluten-free, nut-free, and dairy-free. Kids especially love hand held sweet potato casserole, complete with marshmallows, of course. And then there’s over-the-top scalloped sweet potatoes with bacon and Gruyère (no marshmallows on this one!).
Sweet potato bread pudding might be something new to you. I just know you’re going to love it!
About Sweet Potato Bread Pudding
Bread pudding might not be the most photogenic lady but it’s what is inside that counts.
It’s a creamy custard made with flavorful (and healthy!) sweet potatoes. No plain white bread in this lady, she’s loaded with cinnamon swirl bread. Plenty of warm fall spices dress her up: cinnamon, nutmeg, and a dash of cardamom.
Add marshmallow topping: sweet, perfectly browned and just a little bit of crispy perfection that will make you feel like you’re sitting around the campfire roasting marshmallows.
Sweet potato bread pudding will quickly become a favorite Thanksgiving dessert or a special breakfast.
Prepare the casserole but don’t bake it. Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours or even overnight. Add five to ten minutes to the baking time.
If you have leftover mashed sweet potatoes, sweet potato bread pudding is a great way to re-purpose them.
Store leftover sweet potato bread pudding in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. It can be served cold, at room temperature, or warmed up slightly in the microwave.
More Sweet Potato Recipes
Sweet Potato Bread Pudding with Marshmallow Topping
Ingredients
- 2 large sweet potatoes
- 4 large eggs
- 2 ½ cups whole milk
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (or ground nutmeg)
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 10 cups cubed cinnamon bread (see note)
- 3 to 4 cups mini marshmallows
Instructions
- Scrub sweet potatoes and prick holes all over with a fork. Wrap in paper towel and cook in microwave on high for 5 to 10 minutes or until soft. Cool slightly. Scoop out flesh and mash or puree. You should have 1 ½ cups mashed sweet potato. Let cool almost completely. You can do this ahead.
- In a large bowl, whisk eggs until blended. Add mashed sweet potatoes, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg and salt; whisk until well-blended.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9 × 13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- Put cubed bread in prepared pan and pour sweet potato mixture over bread. Press down slightly so that the bread is immersed in the sweet potato mixture.
- Allow bread mixture to stand for 10 minutes to soak up the sweet potato mixture. You can also cover the dish and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
- Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the bread pudding is set (stick a knife in the center and look for liquid — if there is still liquid, continue baking. Internal temperature should reach 165°F).
- Take the dish out of the oven and sprinkle mini marshmallows over the top in an even layer. Place pan under the broiler for about 1 minute (WATCH CAREFULLY!), until the marshmallows puff up and brown.
- Allow to cool about 15 minutes before cutting into squares and serving.
Notes
- If cinnamon swirl bread isn’t available, substitute white bread and increase cinnamon to 1½ teaspoons.
- Add nuts, if desired. Fold in ½ cup chopped toasted pecans or toasted walnuts.
- Make ahead tip: Prepare bread pudding but don’t bake. Refrigerate, covered, up to 24 hours. Bake as directed.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
I always cringe when looking at my first posts too. Bread pudding is hard to photograph, but I think this looks excellent!!
I totally cringe at most of my early blog photos, too! This is such a great twist on the classic sweet potato casserole!
Oh how we’ve grown! :)
Love this yummy topping on this bread pudding!
This recipe looks amazing! I am definitely going to test this out before I add it to my Thanksgiving menu. Enjoy a restful weekend, Rachel :)
I’m a HUGE fan of both sweet potatoes AND bread pudding, so you are completely speaking my language :) Also, I love how you shared some of your earliest work! It just goes to show how far you’ve come :)
Bread pudding is always a winner with me. I love that you made this a sweet potato bread pudding and finished it with toasted marshmallows!
Yumm — I’m a recent bread pudding convert — this one looks amazing!!
My boys would go crazy for this and that gooey marshmallow topping!
PS. My first post is pretty horrific!
I love the idea of sweet potato bread pudding and that marshmallow topping looks absolutely divine!
Love that you did the classic as a bread pudding!