Turn some stale bread into delicious bread pudding infused with the flavor of Southeast Asia. The aromatic pandan leaves, coconut milk, and palm sugar bring this bread pudding to a new level good!
I have to admit that I’m one who always looking for opportunities to infuse any flavor of pandan leaves, coconut milk, and palm sugar into bread, cakes, dessert, and whatnot! These three trios are some of my favorite ingredients. They are carved inside my brain. I bake bread almost 3-4 times a week and sometimes more and needless to say, there is plenty of bread in the house LOL! So, it’s great to use up some of the bread to make this pandan bread pudding.
Ingredients
1. Bread
Stale bread is the best when it comes to bread pudding. You can use any stale white bread such as milk bread, brioche, challah, any lean bread like a baguette, or any French bread or whole grain bread would work too. I have even used other stale sweet buns like panettone, stollen (without the marzipan), cinnamon rolls or other sweet rolls. Just cut down on the sugar if you do sweet rolls. Make sure you use bread that won’t turn into mush when soak in the milk and eggs mixture
2. Coconut milk
I usually used canned coconut milk. Please don’t use coconut milk sold as a beverage, it’s not the right kind for this recipe
3. Pandan extract and pandan essence
Pandan leaves are available only in Asian grocery store. Most of the time they come in frozen. We use the pandan leaves to get the pandan extract. If you absolutely can’t find any, you can just use pandan essence
4. Palm sugar/Gula Jawa/Gula Melaka
This usually comes in blocks and is available in some Asian grocery stores. It can be a bit difficult to find if you are outside of Southeast Asia. Coconut sugar, which is widely available here in the U.S, makes a perfect substitution. If you don’t have any coconut sugar, brown sugar will work in a pinch
5. Coconut oil
I love anything coconut, so it’s only natural to use coconut oil in this recipe. You can use unsalted butter if you prefer
6. Eggs
I used grade AA large eggs, which are usually about 58-60 grams if you weigh with the shell
How to make pandan bread pudding with coconut sauce
1. Grease a 8 x 8 baking dish or pan with some coconut oil. Cut the bread into about 1-2 inches cubes, you don’t need to be exact here. Just don’t cut too small
2. Combine coconut milk, coconut oil, palm sugar, and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer until sugar melts. Strain the mixture and let it cool down to warm. Stir in the pandan extract and pandan essence (if using)
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and gradually add the coconut milk mixture while whisking. Strain the egg mixture for smooth custard. 
4. Add the bread cubes to the mixture and pour into the prepared pan. Make sure they are soaked in the milk mixture. Allow to soak for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour. 10 minutes before the end of the soaking time, preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C) for a conventional oven. For a convection oven, reduce the temperature by 20 F or 15 C. The baking time is just for reference. This also depends on the oven and the baking dish/pan you use, so adjust accordingly
5. Combine all the ingredients. Whisk to make sure the cornstarch dissolves in the mixture. Place the saucepan over medium-low heat and keep stirring until the mixture thickens slightly. Remove from the heat and set aside
6. Place the pan inside the oven on the middle rack and bake for 40 minutes or until the edges are brown and the middle just a bit wobbly. Serve the bread pudding warm or at a room temperature with the coconut sauce
Ideas on add-ons to your bread pudding
There are so many things you can seriously add to a bread pudding. It’s like a blank canvas. I would personally be happy without any add-ons, but if you feel the urge to try this:
Semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips, shaved chocolate, dots of Nutella, sprinkle of coarse sugar like turbinado sugar, on top for that crunchy sugar top (so good!), dried fruits such as raisins, craisins. Add some nuts on top such as sliced almonds for that extra crunch. Fresh fruit such as diced pears, diced apples also works really well. So, the sky is the limit!
How to store leftover
Simply store in an air-tight container and keep them in the fridge for about 2-3 days for the best result as the longer they sit in the fridge, the drier the bread gets. The sauce can be kept in the fridge for about 3 days and it starts to turn watery after that.
How to reheat bread pudding
You can reheat it in the microwave in a 30 seconds increment. I recommend heating it in the oven. Wrap the bread pudding in aluminum foil and bake at 350 F for about 15 minutes. Uncover the foil and let the top gets crispy again for about 3 minutes
Did you make this pandan bread pudding recipe?
I love it when you guys snap a photo and tag it to show me what you’ve made 🙂 Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I’ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real!
Pandan Bread Pudding with Coconut Sauce
Ingredients
- 425 grams stale bread see notes
- 480 ml canned coconut milk or whole milk or non-dairy milk
- 40 gr coconut oil melted, plus more for greasing pan
- 60 gr palm sugar or coconut sugar, more or less to your taste
- 3 large eggs
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp pandan essence optional
For homemade pandan extract:
- 15 pandan leaves
- 100 ml water
Coconut sauce:
- 20 gr sugar or more to your taste
- 240 ml canned coconut milk
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- â…› tsp salt or to taste
Instructions
Prepare pandan extract the day before:
- Cut the pandan leaves into small pieces. Add 100 ml water and blend until it reduces to pulps. Strain the mixture and squeeze out any juice from the pulps
- Let the juice sit undisturbed overnight in the fridge. The green sediment will start to accumulate at the bottom of the jar. This is your extract. Discard the liquid layer on the top and you can use the extract at the bottom
Prepare the bread pudding:
- Grease a 8 x 8 baking dish or pan with some coconut oil. Cut the bread into about 1-2 inches cubes, you don't need to be exact here. Just don't cut too small
- Combine coconut milk, coconut oil, palm sugar, and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer until sugar melts. Strain the mixture and let it cool down to warm. Stir in the pandan extract and pandan essence (if using)
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and gradually add the coconut milk mixture while whisking. Strain the egg mixture for smooth custard. Add the bread cubes to the mixture and pour into the prepared pan. Make sure they are soaked in the milk mixture. Allow to soak for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour. 10 minutes before the end of the soaking time, preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C) for a conventional oven. For a convection oven, reduce the temperature by 20 F or 15 C. The baking time is just for reference. This also depends on the oven and the baking dish/pan you use, so adjust accordingly
Bake:
- Place the pan inside the oven on the middle rack and bake for 40-45 minutes or until the edges are brown and the middle just a bit wobbly
Prepare the sauce while waiting:
- Combine all the ingredients. Whisk to make sure the cornstarch dissolves in the mixture. Place the saucepan over medium-low heat and keep stirring until the mixture thickens slightly. Remove from the heat and set aside
- Keep the leftover in the fridge for no more than 3 days as the sauce turns watery the longer you keep it
Serve:
- Serve the bread pudding warm or at a room temperature with the coconut sauce
