Panettone Bread Pudding

This panettone bread pudding is a wonderful way to enjoy the classic Italian sweet bread in an indulgent and comforting dessert. Filled with apples, raisins and topped with a creamy custard, it’s perfect for the holiday season.

Panettone epitomizes the holiday season for me. While most Americans grew up with standard holiday desserts like sugar cookies and peanut butter blossoms, no Christmas Eve, Christmas morning or New Year’s Day was complete without a loaf of panettone, dusted in powdered sugar, sitting on the table. Without any exaggeration, I love this bread so much, I was more excited to eat it Christmas morning than tear into presents as a child.

I grew up in a very Italian-American family. Sunday dinners of macaroni and meatballs were enjoyed at my grandparents’ house for years during our childhood, Christmas Eve was celebrated with the seven fishes (or close to it), my great-grandma called my brother “Adriano” instead of Adrian and bought us all underwear for Christmas, and panettone, which originated from the area of Milan close to where most of my mother’s side of the family comes from in Italy, was eaten Christmas Eve for dessert, Christmas morning for breakfast and usually again on New Year’s.

I remember trying to describe what panettone tastes like to my friends growing up and struggling to find the words to adequately convey the deliciousness. Calling it was it is, a sweet bread, just doesn’t do it nearly the justice it deserves.

It’s sweet, it’s cake-like, it’s moist (when they’re fresh) and it’s buttery. Honestly, it’s perfection in a bite. I’m sure the childhood memories that accompany it add a bit of bias to my opinion, but if you don’t like this stuff, you’re just not human. If you’re a raisin hater, I’ll give you pass, but then implore you to try its cousin, pandoro (which I love equally as much) instead.

Deciding to turn my favorite holiday bread into bread pudding (or baked French toast, whichever you want to call it) seemed like a no-brainer. I added chopped apples, more raisins and sliced almonds to the recipe, all of which complement the panettone perfectly.

It bakes up moist and sweet, and with a simple custard poured on top, might just be my new Christmas morning indulgence if I’m not making this cranberry mascarpone English muffin casserole, or these Christmas morning muffins. To be honest, I’m probably making all of them, after all, ’tis the season!

Panettone Bread Pudding Ingredients

• Panettone — Since this is the star ingredient, make sure to grab a high-quality, imported loaf, the brand Madi has never failed me. It should be moist and easily indent and slowly spring back to shape if you press your finger into it. There are many varieties of panettone, but the traditional one (and one used here) featured candied fruit and raisins.
• Apple — For almost all baking, I prefer sweet and tart apples like Honeycrisp or Gala or Fuji.
• Golden raisins — Make sure to soak these so they plump up nicely. I think more people would like raisins if they reconstituted them in water before using them in recipes. It’s my secret tip anytime I bake with them!
• Milk — Any milk or plant-based milk alternative will do.
• Molasses — An unexpected but flavorful and seasonal addition to the bread pudding.
• Eggs — These bind the bread pudding together.
• Sugar — The bread itself is sweet so you won’t need much.
• Spices — These include cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt.
• Vanilla extract — You can also use vanilla bean paste.
• Sliced almonds — These garnish the dish on top and are optional, but offer a nice crunchy addition to the otherwise soft texture of bread pudding.

How To Make This Panettone Bread Pudding Recipe

The full recipe can be found below in the recipe card with detailed ingredient amounts and directions, but here’s a run-down with some step by step pictures to help you through making this bread pudding.

Step 1: Preheat the oven and prepare a 9×13-inch baking dish by liberally greasing it with butter or oil.

Step 2: Toast the cubes of panettone on a baking sheet until they’re golden brown and crispy around the edges. This will take about 10-12 minutes.

Step 3: Combine the panettone, apples and raisins in a large bowl and set aside.

Step 4: In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs and sugar then add the vanilla, spices and salt and beat again until combined.

Step 5: In a sauce pan over medium-low heat, combine the milk and molasses and whisk until the mixture is just heated through and not yet simmering.

Step 6: Slowly whisk the milk and molasses mixture into the sugar and egg mixture until fully combined.

Step 7: Transfer the panettone mixture to the prepared baking dish then pour the wet ingredients over top making sure all the cubes of panettone are covered.

Step 8: Top with sliced almonds if using and let the mixture sit for 10 minutes before baking. This allows the panettone to soak up some of the milk.

Step 9: Bake for 35-40 minutes until the pudding is set in the middle.

Serving

Bread pudding is one of those desserts that can be served both warm and at room temperature. This recipe is great both ways. If you choose to serve it warm, just make sure to give it at least a 15-20 minute rest time before slicing into it.

Given the decadence of this recipe, there’s absolutely no need for anything additional. However, for presentation or just some extra-ness (since it is holidays), here are a few serving options to jazz it up.

• A generous dusting of powdered sugar
• Fresh berries and/or orange zest
• Custard sauce or Creme Anglaise. You can find the latter as part of this Sussex pond pudding recipe.
• Whipped cream
• Scoop of vanilla ice cream

Where To Find Panettone

This holiday bread used to be so much scarcer in the past, only typically available at specialty Italian delis (at least in the Northeast US), but now you’ll see it almost everywhere during the holiday season from TJ Maxx (yes, seriously) to regular grocery stores. As always, when all else fails, you can order it on Amazon.

Is Panettone Gluten-Free?

Traditionally, this bread is not gluten-free, it’s made with regular wheat flour. However, much to my surprise, I’ve recently seen some of the well-known, trusted Italian brands offering a gluten-free panettone. I have not tried it yet, but I’m excited to and see how it compares in taste. If you can locate a gluten-free loaf, feel free to swap it into this bread pudding recipe, leaving everything else the same.

That said, if you’re someone who is gluten-sensitive and not celiac, because panettone is made in Italy, the ingredient quality is so much higher than many breads made in the US. I don’t eat gluten normally and never have any problem when I’m in Italy or enjoying Panettone during the holidays.

I hope each bite is as delicious for you as it is nostalgic for me and you’re now one step closer to being just as big a fan of panettone as I am.

More Sweet Holiday Recipes To Try

The only other bread pudding recipe I have on the site is this Valentine themed strawberry chocolate bread pudding recipe, but there’s no reason it can’t work for Christmas too.

While not as Italian as panettone, the other dessert that makes a yearly appearance on our holiday table is this apricot brandy cake. It’s a pound cake that has so much flavor packed into it, I can’t resist a hefty slice every year. In case you’re wondering, yes, I go into a carb-induced coma after both of these recipes and it’s worth every minute of it!

Persimmons were my grandmother’s favorite winter fruit and I created this stuffed persimmon dessert recipe a few years ago in her memory. It’s bit like baklava filling in a baked persimmon and it’s a lovely, somewhat lighter option.