Banana Bread Pudding

Enjoy this warm, gooey, and delicious banana bread pudding made with ripe bananas, warm cinnamon and raisins. An easy recipe perfect for breakfast, brunch or as a dessert topped with ice-cream.

If you like having dessert for breakfast, then look no further than this banana bread pudding. Think banana bread + bread pudding. Two amazing things combined in one, to make this extra special breakfast or brunch casserole!

With a crusty top and gooey goodness inside, this pudding is a heavenly combination. I make this pudding or my banana bread whenever I have extra ripe bananas sitting on my counter.

I even add some raisins to this pudding for that extra burst of flavor, which you can skip if you are not a fan of raisins. Or add chocolate chips to entice the kids to enjoy the pudding. This banana bread pudding is a family favorite when it comes to anything sweet.

Filled with mouthwatering flavors, you can make this pudding in Instant Pot, oven, or even an air fryer, similar to this summer favorite Berry Bread Pudding.

Ingredients for Banana Raisin Bread Pudding

I used a 6-inch round baking pan to make this bread pudding. The reason for the small pan so it fits in the instant pot or air fryer, and also that we sometimes want to just make a little dessert to indulge, but not eat a lot of it for the whole week 😉

You need just a few ingredients to make this pudding:

Bananas - You want to have super ripe bananas when making this pudding similar to banana bread, as it adds all that natural sweetness to the final dish.

Brioche – Use a day old brioche and cut it into small cubes. You can also use challah or croissants in this recipe. A day old bread is better at soaking all that custard to make this dessert rich.

Eggs – I used 2 eggs when making this bread pudding in a 3-cup pan in the air fryer. Adjust the quantity based on how big your pan is. This is the key ingredients along with sugar and the half-and-half to make the custard.

Light Cream or Milk – I have tried this recipe with light cream and whole milk. They both work well.

Raisins - I used raisins to keep this recipe a bit traditional, but feel free to switch around with chocolate chips or just skip them.

Along with these, you have vanilla extract, sugar, nutmeg  and cinnamon.

How to assemble Bread Pudding?

• Grease 6 or 7-inch round baking pan with butter. If you are making in the oven, any baking pan will work. I used the Fat Diddio 6-inch baking pan.
• Cut brioche into small cubes.
• In a large bowl, add the bananas and mash them well using a fork.
• Then add the eggs, cream, vanilla extract, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg and whisk them all together till they become a smooth custard.
• Now add the cut brioche pieces along with the raisins in the bowl. Save some raisins to top later. Mix well so all the brioche is covered in the custard.
• Then transfer the soaked brioche to the prepared baking pan and spread the saved raisins on top.
• Let it sit for 10 minutes so the custard is well-absorbed.

How to make Instant Pot Bread Pudding?

• Cover the baking pan assembled above with a aluminum foil to prevent the condensation from going into the pudding.
• Add 1.5 cups of water to the Instant pot and place a trivet inside. It is better to use a trivet with handles as the pudding can be lifted out easily. If not use a long foil sling on the trivet in place of handles.
• Place covered baking pan on top of the trivet and close the Instant pot with the vent in sealing position.
• Cook on Manual or Pressure Cook mode at high pressure for 30 mins. When the instant pot beeps, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes. Then release the pressure manually.

• Once you have opened the Instant pot, insert a knife to check whether the pudding is cooked all the way through. If it comes out clean, it is ready to serve. If the knife is sticky, cook for another 5 minutes.
• This part is optional. But if you want to have a crispy brown top for this banana bread pudding, you can use the air-fryer lid of the Instant pot or do a quick broil in the oven. I love the crisplid for such recipes when I make a dish in the instant pot, which needs a crisped top.
• To use the air fryer lid, take the baking pan carefully out of the instant pot and empty the water. Place back the trivet and the baking pan on top of it and close it with air fryer lid. Cook at 400°F for 3-5 minutes.
• Alternatively you can also broil it in the oven for 3-5 minutes to get a crispy brown top.

Serve the banana bread pudding by sifting a bit of powdered sugar and with a drizzle of Maple or Agave syrup on top.

How to make Air Fryer bread pudding?

• Assemble the banana bread pudding as detailed above.
• Next, place the baking pan in the air fryer basket.
• Set the air fryer to 330F for 15-20 minutes, or until the custard is set in the middle. Insert a knife and check it is well cooked. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
• Note: if you use a deeper/larger baking pan, you might need to cook for longer about 30 minutes.

Banana Chocolate Bread pudding in the Oven

Follow the above assembling steps to bake this pudding in the oven. You can double the recipe if you are using a larger baking pan.

Instead of raisins, you can use chocolate chips while making this banana bread pudding.

All you need to do is slide the baking pan into the oven and bake for about 40-50 minutes at 350°F or until the center is set.

You can serve this pudding warm or cold. We prefer it warm with some fresh banana slices on the side. You can use the microwave or the air fryer to reheat it quickly.

You can also make this ahead of time and not have to be rushing for breakfast. Or assemble the baking pan the night before and cook in the morning.

Some favorite ways to serve this Banana Pudding

• Sprinkle some cinnamon and powdered sugar on top.
• Top with butter that melts on top of the warm pudding.
• Drizzle some maple or agave syrup.
• Drizzle some caramel syrup on top.
• Top with sliced bananas.
• Top with chocolate chips and some sliced almonds.
• Top with a scoop of ice-cream and serve it as dessert!

You will love this easy gooey banana bread pudding. Serve it for breakfast or brunch with some hot tea or coffee, or juice for the kids.