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

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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 Recipe - These Old Cookbooks (2)

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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
Leftover Donut Bread Pudding Recipe - These Old Cookbooks (5)

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.
Leftover Donut Bread Pudding Recipe - These Old Cookbooks (8)

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.

Leftover Donut Bread Pudding Recipe - These Old Cookbooks (17)

Print Recipe

4.95 from 17 votes

Leftover Donut Bread Pudding

Don’t let those uneaten glazed donuts go unused, instead turn them into this delicious Leftover Donut Bread Pudding. You can even freeze leftover donuts until you have enough to make this yummy dessert.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time50 minutes mins

Total Time50 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: bread pudding with donuts, leftover donut bread pudding

Servings: 8

Author: Barbara

Ingredients

  • 6 cups stale glazed donuts, cut into chunks
  • 2 Tablespoons butter melted
  • 4 eggs slightly beaten
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

  • Spray either an 8 x 8-inch baking dish or 1 quart baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

  • Add donut chunks to dish; pour melted butter over top and lightly mix.

    Leftover Donut Bread Pudding Recipe - These Old Cookbooks (18)

  • Mix together eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla; pour on top of donuts.

    Leftover Donut Bread Pudding Recipe - These Old Cookbooks (19)

  • Allow donuts to soak up wet mixture for 5 minutes, making sure all donut chunks have soaked up some of the milk mixture.

    Leftover Donut Bread Pudding Recipe - These Old Cookbooks (20)

  • Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and cook for an additional 25 minutes.

    Leftover Donut Bread Pudding Recipe - These Old Cookbooks (21)

  • Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

    Leftover Donut Bread Pudding Recipe - These Old Cookbooks (22)

Notes

  • Store up leftover donuts as you acquire them in a zip lock 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.

Linking up to Meal Plan Monday.

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

FAQs

What do donut shops do with leftover donuts? ›

Many people may not know this but Dunkin' Donuts disposes all of their leftover bagels, muffins, donuts, and any other baked goods that were not sold, at the end of each day. And on top of this, employees that work there are also not allowed to take any of their leftovers home with them after closing.

What does Krispy Kreme do with leftover donuts? ›

Krispy Kreme said it sends its unsold doughnuts to be recycled into "animal feed" but recently it had changed its processes and now takes waste directly to Portbury Docks for recycling. "Initially, due to the security protocols at the docks, we were unable to gain access this weekend," the spokesperson said.

How long are donuts good for left out? ›

You can refrigerate the doughnuts, but leaving them at room temperature for one to two days is safe as long as they don't have a creme filling. Most of the time, you can stash the container in your cupboard. You want to remove the doughnuts from direct sunlight to prevent them from drying or growing mold.

How do you make old donuts taste fresh? ›

If your doughnuts have gotten stale, the best way to soften them is to put them in the microwave. Greif recommends nuking them at 15 second intervals. And though it's not a fancy solution, microwaving your doughnut to reheat it or revive it is kind of the industry standard.

What does Dunkin donuts do with their leftover donuts? ›

Yes, Dunkin' throws away all of the unused food at the end of the day. It is wasteful, but don't try to take complete advantage of it. Plenty of times customers come in minutes before closing asking for doughnuts but not wanting to pay since “it's going to trash anyway.” Well, it's still store hours so you have to pay.

What do bakeries do with unsold bread? ›

The bakeries that I know of give their leftovers to a local shelter and food bank. sometimes they run specials on breads and rolls to get rid of them. Throwing the leftovers away is wrong. There are people out there that can benefit off of the food that is not used.

Is it true that Krispy Kreme gives free donuts? ›

Receive a

Which will you choose? Sign up for Krispy Kreme Rewards and earn a free doughnut of your choice – it's as simple as that.

Why did Krispy Kreme give me free donuts? ›

If you visit us while the Hot Light is lit up, you can receive one free Original Glazed doughnut per person. Please make sure you ask for your Free Original Glazed doughnut when making your purchase in drive thru, as you need to specifically ask the team member to ensure you receive one.

Does Krispy Kreme give a free donut for each a? ›

It has been available since 2021. Staff at Krispy Kreme are not allowed to ask customers if they are currently attending school. Instead, you must show them a report card with an A letter grade to give you a doughnut. But remember that not all locations of this donut chain offer this academic deal.

How do you know if donut has gone bad? ›

If you see any discoloration on the surface of your donut, or any sort of fuzzy situation, no donuts for you sir. An off smell or a bad taste – Obviously, your nose and mouth are excellent at sensing and they know if your favorite round of heaven has gone bad if you either smell or taste them.

Are donuts OK in hot car? ›

Is it safe to eat donuts left in a car? Yes if they are not wet with condensation, have no jelly or filling in them of any type, and not too terribly old, like over three days old.

Can I freeze donuts? ›

A donut can be positively delightful out of the freezer. Bare donuts show up best here, but you can freeze glazed, frosted, or even jam filled ditties (just be prepared for the additions to have altered themselves a bit. The glaze or frosting might be broken or the jam a little runny.)

Why do old fashioned donuts taste different? ›

The use of buttermilk or sour cream may impart a rich flavor to the doughnut. It is typically deep-fried, and may be deep fried at a lower temperature compared to other doughnut styles, having a crunchier texture compared to other cake doughnut styles.

What makes donuts taste good? ›

Doughnuts are usually sweet, with a slight umami flavor due to it's being deep fried in oil. They have a very thin layer of crispiness on the outside, and a soft fluffy interior. Doughnuts are usually topped with glazes or have a fruit filling which can also affect flavor.

Should donuts go in the fridge or counter? ›

Should I Store Doughnuts In the Fridge? As noted above, you should absolutely store any filled doughnuts in the refrigerator to prevent the filling from going bad or growing mold. Unfilled doughnuts can also go in the fridge — it's not required, but it may add a few days to their lifespan.

What happens to your car when you do donuts? ›

Donut Damage

Hard moves with the transmission and clutch put tremendous stress on the suspension. CV Joints, differentials, brakes, and fuel lines are susceptible to damage. Aggressively turning the steering wheel to its lock-out position can quickly wear out a power-steering pump.

Why do they take the middle out of donuts? ›

Although the outsides and the edges were crisp, the centers of the donuts were always greasy and doughy. Gregory suggested punching a hole in the middle of the fried cakes, so that the insides of the cakes would cook as evenly as the outsides.

Where do you store leftover donuts? ›

Place your donuts in storage bags or airtight containers.

Definitely put them in airtight bags or containers though so they stay fresh! The only time this isn't a good idea is when your donuts are cream-filled. In that case, you'll want to store them in the fridge so they don't spoil.

How do you store donuts so they don't get stale? ›

Store them properly: To keep your donuts fresh for as long as possible, store them in an airtight container at room temperature. This will help prevent them from drying out or becoming stale. Freeze them: If you want to make your donuts last even longer, you can freeze them.

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