Elise, you just solved a family riddle for me! My mother has long, long made bread pudding with "whiskey bon ton sauce" when she had left over french bread (which sauce, incidentally, is fabulous over ice cream and pie). However, we never knew was bon ton meant. She waved her hand once and said "I don't know, I think it's a form of french or something." This is nearly identical to her recipe, so she must have been making the Bon Ton's pudding and sauce all these years without knowing the origin. Thank you! (and its delicious).

This is the best bread pudding. It's simple to make. It tasts great!

Excellent recipe. For a different twist, try substituting the bourbon with a light rum.......magnifique!!!!!!!

I made it and brought it to work the next day. People loved it!

Many thanks for this recipe. My mother used to make a slightly different recipe to this but it is very close. I am 65 years old and tried a few time to remember what she used to do but my efforts were not too good. Glad to have this one. thankyou.

Is there any good substitute suitable for children? We are not familiar with bread pudding here and I have made one bread pudding once and loved it.
This one sounds delicious.

I would say that this is not a child-friendly recipe, given all of the bourbon in it. But you should be easily able to find other bread pudding recipes online. Try searching Food Blog Search for some ideas. ~Elise

"Bon ton" is the creole interpretation of the french "bon temps", which means "good times" as in the new orleans mantra : "laisser les bon temps rouler." Let the good times roll.

Great info tidbit, thanks! ~Elise

This was a great recipe, but I think it uses too much sugar.

I make bread pudding with lemon sauce.  Everyone tells me it is "the best" -- especially my grandson.   The 19th is his birthday and that is what he is getting -- a bread pudding. I use french bread (stale or you can toast it in the oven to get that effect, condensed milk, whole milk, brown and white sugar, apples (peeled and chopped small), cinnamon, all spice, a dash of ground cloves, and vanilla --  and about eight eggs (slightly beaten). Oh, and don't forget a pich of salt.

I add to that about a cup or so of pecans chopped. And bake in a 350 degree oven for about an hour or until it doesn't shake in the middle.

The lemon sauce is water, sugar, and corn starch cooked until thick.  Pour some of this mixture very slowly into a beaten egg yolk; pour this back into the pot and cook until the desired consistency --  add juice and zest from one (maybe two) lemons and about half a stick of butter.   You talking about good!

I'm thinking southern comfort in the sauce instead of bourbon...

I'm not a huge fan of bread pudding. Actually, I've never tried it. But I'm curious about your bread pudding, I'd love to try!

This recipe looks fabulous. My mom makes an amazing bread pudding which is basically like yours but substituting minced dried California apricots for the raisins, substituting ground cardamon for the cinnamon and serving it with a custard sauce. To die for!

One of my very favorite easy desserts is bread pudding. I normally include the rum or bourbon (depending on what I have on hand) in the bread pudding itself so that the the alcohol flavor is a bit more subtle. But, I'll have to try it this way too.

Do you think craisins would be an ok substitute for the raisins in this recipe? (Figured I'd ping the peanut gallery in case someone knew of a reason not to before experimenting) This looks fabulous - as always. Can't wait to try it out!

Don't see why not, but I haven't tried it myself. If you do, please let us know how it turns out for you. ~Elise

I think bread pudding might be my all time favorite dessert - I really cannot be allowed near one because I can do some serious damage. This look fantastic!

This looks delectable! I think I'll make this recipe for our upcoming dinner club.
Thanks Elise!

Yum! I once won a contest making a peanut butter s'mores bread pudding, but I've actually never made a classic one. The bourbon makes it sound perfect :)

Finally a Bread pudding that is easy to make and tastes great. This is what I've been looking for, I have a bunch of recipes where you have to cook it in a pan of water in the oven and all kinds of complicated stuff. This was so easy I whipped it up in no time. Great Recipe. Besides that, I got to drink the left over bourbon. I love your site, I use a bunch of your recipes.

Bachlor Cook, Frank

Bread pudding is one of those great recipes that has endless possibilities. My favorite August variation involves adding fresh Italian prune plums along with a three or four tablespoons of Grand Marnier, or cognac with some orange zest. A quarter teaspoon of cinnamon is all of the spice that I use. I slice the bread instead of cubing it and arrange it and pieces of prune plums in a round dish in a circular fashion. Then I add the liquid ingredients and let it soak, putting a lid on it if the slices float. When it comes out of the oven it is puffed and looks like a golden rose. Thanks for reminding me in August, and thanks for your version of this recipe! I especially look forward to trying the bourbon sauce.

It sounds crazy, but I have a huge loaf of sliced sandwich sourdough to get rid of...anyone want to save me from myself before I try using it in this recipe?

I recommend pouring off excess milk after soaking. This has inspired me to try some variations like cherries and chocolate bits with brandy.

After eating a couple peices of this ... my husband was waving his finger and slurring his words, "You know what I like about you...?" No really, just like everyone else, we loved this. Thanks so much for posting it. What a wonderful way to use bourbon. We practically bathed ours in the sauce on our plates.

This looks simply amazing! WOW! Decadent and delicious - yum!

Bread pudding is one of my familys favorite desserts this one looks great, can't wait to try it. For thoses of you who don't want the alcohol sauce a good one is 1 cup sugar 1cup thick cream,1/2 cup real butter, bring to a boil stirring constantly until thick about 5 min. add 1 teaspoon vanilla serve warm over the pudding. We use this in the deli I work at and everybody loves it.

This is great really yummy recipe and a great alternative to just plain or chocolate chip. I used to make something similar years back without the booze when I was a chef at a rest home and loved bread pudding ever since.

Great recipe but needs a few changes: 1/2 or 1 cup less sugar. It was sickening sweet but is perfect with less sugar. I recommend less milk as well. Skim milk tastes just the same too. I don't see the need for the sauce as the bread pudding is rich enough on it's own. The amount of butter and sugar in the sauce is overwhelming. The little bit of bourbon in the raisins adds flavor, not intoxication... I ate this many times as a child in New Orleans and it was never considered inappropriate but maybe that's just our culture. :-) Overall a good recipe if the butter/sugar richness is toned down. Thanks for the recipe!

Everyone has their own specific taste. Recipes are guidelines. If you like less sugar, then by all means, use less sugar. ~Elise

Killer Bread Puding! I had to adjust the recipe a little. Diet Dr. Pepper for the Bourbon Whiskey--Don't consume alcohol, Splenda for sugar--I am diabetic, and I added 1 cup of frozen blueberries--just for pazzaz. Wow!

This was too good! I didn't use the full amount of bourbon in the sauce as I like a hint of liquor. The french bread did not absorb all the milk, so I poured off the extra before assembling and baking, end result was perfection. Thank you for all the fantastic recipes and photos!