Can Bread Pudding Be Frozen (And How Long Will It Last)?

If you're not making homemade bread pudding, you're seriously missing out. What began as a way to utilize stale, forgotten bread has become a sweet, tasty treat that's always a hit at bake sales. It's both ridiculously good and ridiculously easy to whip up a rich bread pudding. There are tons of recipes out there for the best ways to elevate your bread pudding, and even celebrities like Ina Garten have weighed in with secrets on how to make better bread pudding toppings. The best part about it is that you can freeze bread pudding, and it'll defrost pretty well.

Bread pudding can be frozen either baked or unbaked, depending on the circumstance you want to freeze it for. If you're making pineapple bread pudding for tomorrow's potluck, popping the container in the refrigerator overnight should be fine, but if you're baking it the week before a big holiday, that bad boy is going to need an extended stay in the freezer. A baked bread pudding can last between two to three months in the freezer if cooled and wrapped properly, which means you can bake a pumpkin bread pudding a whole month before fall even begins. Unbaked bread pudding can be frozen for about a month before it throws on leather boots and a biker jacket and turns "bad."

To properly freeze a baked bread pudding, start by ensuring that the food cools down. Throwing any warm food directly into the freezer can lead to nasty freezer burn or foodborne illnesses. While the bread pudding is cooling, now is the perfect time to slice it up into more manageable pieces. You could technically freeze it all in one piece, but unless you're going to eat the entire tray in one go, you'd just be wasting what you don't finish since bread pudding can't be frozen for a second time. Once it's cooled and sliced, wrap the bread pudding in a layer or two of plastic wrap, place it into freezer-safe containers, write the bake date on the outside, and tuck it beside the ice trays.

When it comes to defrosting the bread pudding, slow and steady is the key to success. Transfer it from the freezer to the refrigerator and allow your creation to slowly come back to life. After a few hours (preferably overnight), crisp the bread pudding with a little time back in a hot oven. Unfortunately, not all bread pudding freezes the same. If you've made an extremely saucy bread pudding or one with fresh fruits, it may not reheat as well as a plain one. Don't let this dismay you! To remedy this, just save your sauces and toppings for later and only freeze the base of the pudding.