This warm chocolate bread pudding with dark chocolate chunks is the perfect treat for Valentine’s Day or any special occasion.
Dark Chocolate Chunk Bread Pudding
I love bread pudding, it’s a dessert I can’t resist and so easy to make at home, a little lighter! This chocolate version uses cubes of brioche, baked in a chocolate custard, topped with melted dark chocolate combine for a festive dessert that’s rich and comforting. It’s easy to make and perfect for serving to someone special. Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!
Why This Recipe Works
Did you know that eating chocolate gives you the same sensation you feel when falling in love or being kissed? No wonder people are so addicted to chocolate! I first made and shared this recipe many years back, and it’s become a favorite when I have leftover challah bread. Dark chocolate is also rich in antioxidants and flavanols.
Here’s a few reasons I love this bread pudding:
- Dessert of Two: Perfectly portioned for two or easy to scale up
- Chocolate Delight: rich dark chocolate in every bite that’s low in added sugar
- Easy and Make Ahead: easy but feels special
- Baked in Individual Ramekins: Baking in ramekins makes portion control simple
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here’s everything you’ll need to make this healthy chocolate chunk bread pudding. See the recipe card below for the exact measurements.
- Challah is the best bread for chocolate bread pudding because it absorbs the chocolate-milk mixture. It doesn’t have to be fresh–day-old bread works better.
- 1% Reduced-fat Milk keeps the dessert light yet still creamy.
- Monk Fruit Sweetener sweetens the chocolate without adding calories.
- Unsweetened Cocoa adds rich chocolate flavor without extra sweetness.
- Vanilla Extract adds warmth and enhances the flavor.
- Egg: The egg thickens the chocolate custard.
- Cooking Spray to grease the ramekins and prevent the pudding from sticking.
- Dark Chocolate: Buy any dark chocolate bar and chop it into chunks. One of my favorites is the Green & Blacks 70% bar. If you don’t like dark chocolate, use semi-sweet or sugar-free chocolate.
- Whipped Topping is optional but a fun touch for a special occasion. For a healthier alternative, make homemade yogurt whipped cream or whipped coconut cream.
How to Make Dark Chocolate Chunk Bread Pudding
As with stuffing, using dried-out or even stale bread is essential for the best bread pudding. Drying it in the oven prevents it from becoming too mushy or soggy. See the recipe card at the bottom for printable directions.
- Dry out the bread cubes: Bake them for about 5 minutes at 350°F. The bread should be toasted but not hard. We don’t want croutons!
- Make the milk-chocolate mixture: Whisk the milk, monk fruit, cocoa, vanilla, and the egg in a bowl.
- Chill the bread. Coat the bread in the milk, then refrigerate for 30 minutes to 4 hours to allow the chocolate flavor to be absorbed.
- Fill the ramekins: Divide the bread mixture among the greased ramekins and sprinkle with chopped chocolate.
- Bake the bread pudding in a water bath: Place the ramekins in an 8- inch square baking pan and add 1 inch of hot water. The water bath cooks the bread pudding more gently, preventing the custard from curdling and improving the texture. Bake at 325°F for about 35 minutes.
Chocolate Tips
- Use high-quality chocolate and cocoa powder for the best results.
- Chop the chocolate into large pieces so you’ll have nice-sized chunks to bite into.
Variations
- Bread: Brioche is another delicious option for bread pudding. Readers also had success with French bread, croissants, and Hawaiian rolls.
- Milk: Use 2% or whole milk.
- Add a liqueur: This recipe was inspired year ago from Cooking Light which called for Kahlua, which I omitted, but feel free to add a tablespoon to the milk mixture.
- Dairy-free bread pudding: Substitute almond milk and dairy-free chocolate, and confirm that your challah contains no dairy.
- Sweetener: Feel free to use granulated sugar if you don’t have monk fruit on hand.
- Reduce added sugar further by using Lily’s chocolate chips or Lakanto chocolate chips, which are sweetened with monk fruit.
- Chocolate options: If you don’t love dark chocolate’s bitterness, you can use a milk chocolate bar. You can also use semi-sweet chocolate chips, which are less rich than a 70% dark chocolate bar.
- Add a pop of red for Valentine’s Day! Top each ramekin with fresh raspberries or strawberries before serving.
What if I don’t have ramekins?
If you don’t have ramekins or other small oven-safe bowls, bake the bread pudding in the smallest ovenproof dish you have. If you’re doubling or tripling the recipe, an 8×8-inch baking dish works. If you’re making 4x or 5x, use a 9×13-inch dish.
Time Saving Tip
If you’re multiplying the recipe to make more, an easy way to determine how much of each ingredient you need is to increase the “Yield” located above the “Ingredients” on the recipe card below. It will do the math for you, so you know exactly how much you need!
Storage
This dark chocolate bread pudding is delicious warm, straight out of the oven, but it reheats well, too.
- Refrigerate: Let the bread pudding cool, then cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
- Reheat the leftovers in the microwave until warm. Or, if you have more time, pop the ramekin back in a 350°F oven and bake for about 5 to 10 minutes, until warm.
More Valentine’s Dessert Recipes You’ll Love
For more dessert ideas, check out my Valentine’s Day recipe collection, plus these five delicious chocolate treats to celebrate the holiday!
- Chocolate Crepes with Strawberries
- Chocolate-Covered Strawberries
- Chocolate Parfaits
- Moist Chocolate Cake Recipe
- Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake
Chocolate Bread Pudding
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups challah bread, , cut into 1/2 inch cubes (no crust) about 1.25 oz
- ⅔ cup 1% reduced-fat milk
- 2 tbsp monkfruit sweetener, or sugar
- 1 ½ tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- cooking spray
- 1 ounce dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 2 tbsp whipped topping, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Arrange bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 5 minutes or until toasted. Remove bread from oven; decrease oven temperature to 325F.
- Combine milk and next 5 ingredients (milk through egg) in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add bread, tossing gently to coat. Cover and chill 30 minutes or up to 4 hours.
- Divide half of bread mixture evenly between 2 (6-ounce) ramekins coated with cooking spray; sprinkle evenly with half of chocolate. Divide remaining bread mixture between ramekins; top with remaining chocolate.
- Place ramekins in an 8-inch square baking pan; add 1 inch of hot water to pan.
- Bake at 325F for 35 minutes or until set. Serve warm with 1 tablespoon whipped topping.
I love chocolate. I will definitely be trying this recipe. Thank you for sharing it.
Could this be done with sourdough bread?
I dont see why not!
I’m a newly diagnosed type two diabetic . Do you have any recipes?
Can you use inulin (Jaca sugar) instead of monk fruit?
Sure
I had a hard time finding challah bread, so I used french bread as a substitute and was this ever good! I made it a few times, and my dad said this was the best bread pudding he’s ever had and that it trumps my grandmother’s recipe! Absolutely delicious and easy. Can’t wait to make this again.
Amazing!!
Great recipe! I added cherries and omitted the extra chocolate to save on calories. It turned out absolutely divine!
Great idea!
Gina – I have a local bakery that makes an incredible chocolate brioche that I think would be perfect for a bread pudding. Can you suggest what modifications I might make to your fabulous recipe to accommodate using chocolate brioche in lieu of plain challah? Thanks much!
Should work the same!
Made these several times.. easy and always a huge hit with my dinner party friends…
I made this last night and it was wonderful! I was so amazed at the goodness in my mouth! I want to make it again for my son (who can't have dairy or eggs). So I am trying to figure out how to substitute the various ingredients accordingly. My biggest question is the egg. What happens if I leave it out? Can I substitute it with water/oil/baking powder mixture instead?? Thanks! (I love your website, it has truly improved my cooking skills).
The egg is key in the custard, not sure how to leave it out.
google cornstarch replacement for egg in pudding
YUM! I used 85% dark because it's what I had on hand and it was delicious! Next time i have friends over, I will triple the recipe and bake in a tray!
Yum! I made yesterday for my family. Delicious. I doubled the recipe and baked in an 8" square pan. Topped with fat free cool whip. It was fantastic. Really satisfies my chocolate cravings. Thanks so much.
Wow Gina, I don't know how to thank you enough. I made this last night for dessert and doubled the recipe to feed my whole family. It was amazing. My mom considers it an art form, my dad loved it, and my brother, who hates dark chocolate, said it was one of the best desserts he's ever had. Thanks to your website, I've broadened my cooking horizons at a young age (14), and helped drop my mothers blood pressure along with 15 pounds. Thank you so much for all the time and effort you put into your recipes.
Amazing!!!!
My bread mixture is soaking in the fridge right now. I doubled the recipe because I had so much left over homemade bread. It smells great, but it was tough measuring bread cubes so I hope I have a good bread to liquid ratio; it looks rather soupy.
Gina… I made this for my wife for Valentines Day. It was the perfect ending to the main course of Osso Bucco. It has been years and years since I baked anything, so I was a little optimistic how it would turn out, but it was a huge success. Many thanks for this great recipe.
This was one of the first times I made a desert for my wife and it was a great success for our valentine's night. Great recipe will definitely keep this as a regular for my dinner parties.
Made this last night and it was FANTASTIC!!
Made this last night and will make it again and again! Loved it–quick, easy, yummy. I added a pinch of salt, espresso powder and a half splash of Bailey's Irish Cream. Didn't have time to search for brioche so just used grocery store French bread and it was still delish.
Made this last night for my husband and I. You should call it Dark Chocolate Heaven – we loved it!
I just ate this hot from the oven and it was delicious……thanks again Gina, I just love your recipes:)
Can the mixture sit in the refrigerator for 5 hours? It says up to 4 but I was wanting to bake them at a certain time so they are fresh from the oven when my husband gets home from work. Thanks!
Hi Gina,
This recipe looks delicious! My boyfriend and I LOVE chocolate bread pudding and I've been looking for a somewhat health-conscious version of it! I'm wondering – would it be possible for me to make them and keep them in the fridge overnight? Will they dry out? I was hoping to do this in order to streamline our weeknight Valentine's dinner! Thanks!
Wow! I must say this is delicious.
You're welcome Kelly!
It's hard to say without making it, but I'm thinking maybe a tad less milk might do it, let me know how it comes out!
Hi Gina! I am making this tomorrow and I was hoping to incorporate some pumpkin purée in but scared it'd be too runny, Should I cut back on anything in the recipe if I add about 1/2 cup pumpkin purée in???
This was great, thanks! I was able to make (2) batches of Skinny French Toast and (1) batch of bread pudding from just one loaf of challah bread! Talk about bang for your buck! The french toast freezes/refrigerates and reheats very well.
I am back on WW post baby and was having a hard time before I found your site. I was getting so bored with the same old food options which has lead me to failure in the past. There are only so many frozen veggie burgers and Smart Ones a girl can eat! Haha. Add sleep deprivation and the stress of a newborn…not the best combo for success. Your recipes really allow one to incorporate healthy eating and living life.
Thank you for all you do!
I made this last night and it was amazing!! Instead of 2% milk we used Unsweetened Vanilla Almond milk and it was great. Thanks!
This is so good! I've been living on your blog for the past few days but you've really helped me stay on point! Tonight was the first night I dipped into my weekly points since starting on Wednesday. And this bread pudding was totally worth it!
I made this for company that's coming over for dessert tonight. DH and I shared one to taste-test and it and just as expected, it is absolutely amazing! I have no doubt my company will love it! Thank you Gina!
Croissants have a lot more butter but of course could be used instead. It may increase the points.
I made this recipe the other day and it was quite delicious but it got me thinking. My mother makes bread pudding with cresants and it seems that most other recipes out there have their own bread preferences. Why did you choose challah bread? and why without crust?
Ys, I think it would work fine, but you would probably have to make more than double in a 8 x 8 I'm guessing.
I'd like to try this for easter with my family. Instead of using individual ramekins, do you think it would bake properly in an 8×8 dish? And should I double the recipe, if so? -Susan
I baked mine in an 8×8 dish and tripled the recipe. It was perfect! And delicious!!
Just made this tonight. We all agreed it was to die for! My grocery store didn't have challah, so I just used French bread and it was fine. Definitely perfect for a special occasion dessert!!
Chocolate! What awesome chocolate flavor. will definitely make again.
Hey Gina, I'm so glad I found this recipe!! It was amazing, I multiplied the recipe by 5 and used a whole challah loaf. It was enough to fill a large lasagna pan and can feed more than 12 people!! I posted it on my blog, here's the link:
http://feedyoursister.blogspot.com/2011/02/dark-chocolate-bread-pudding.html
I made this for Valentine's day. It was too good to be considered "skinny". I used french bread, light chocolate soy milk, splenda and dark chocolate chips. Will definitely make this again! Thanks for all the great recipes!
Yummy! It is a mouth watering picture.And there is no need to share this with anyone, i can finish it alone.
I tripled the recipe and it made 8 custard cups. Absolutely fabulous! Thank you so much for this recipe – a new family favorite!
I don't think it will be too sweet. Enjoy!
I only have 50% dark chocolate on hand right now. It's Taza brand vanilla chocolate mexicana. So it's a bit sweeter than the dark you used. I think it has a little less than 19 grams of sugar in 1 oz. So what I'm wondering is, since my chocolate is sweeter than the one you used in your recipe, should I leave out the 2 tbsp sugar? I don't want it to be overly sweet…
I love chocolate.It is a great article………
Made this for our VDay dinner and it was fabulous. I used French bread and raspberry filled dark chocolate (Ghiradelli) since it's hubby's favorite. Hubby even said "I bet this has lots of fat and calories in it." I happily told him it was under 300 calories. 🙂 Thank you for a great recipe!! I had everything on hand already so we'll be making this again.
I'm happy you all enjoyed them, we did!
The creme brûlée French toast is perfect to make with the extra bread!!
I made this for Valentine's Day, and it is AMAZING!!! I substituted Kahlua for some of the milk, used half sugar and half splenda, and used soft potato rolls instead of Challa (it's all they had left at the store by the time I got there at 8pm). Highly recommended!
OMG Gee are you serious with this dessert????? As many of our friends may know, I am not nuts over chocolate, much less dark chocolate, but I am crazy over this!!!! My chocoholic boyfriend looovvveeess and is already asking me to please make it again!! Even my picky, (born without a sweet tooth), mom left nothing behind!! I got a little secret- I bought the challah bread at the Stop and Shop bakery section already pre-sliced so all I had to do was cut the crust off and cut into smaller pieces(incredibly easy), and tomorrow I will be making french toast with the leftover bread (perhaps Lightened Up Creme Brulee French Toast from your site of course)!! Thank You for making Valentine's Day so special!!!!
This is to die for! I made this tonight for dessert (pork chops with mushrooms and shallots for main course, yummmm!) and we gobbled it down. Only change was to use skim milk. I used the green and black 70% chocolate and scharfenberger cocoa…I will make this again (and again, and again!)
Oh – I should say that I couldn't find challah bread (guess it's a friday bread?) so I used Hawaiian Bread like you suggested. 🙂
Delicious! Made it tonight for a special Valentine's Day dessert. My husband loves bread pudding and I love chocolate… the dessert was perfect for the two of us. 🙂
I cannot wait to make this!!
Oh.my.word! Drooling here. Wish I could reach through my computer screen and grab one of those. Yummy! I'm copying the recipe for sure.
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!
Hugs,
Kat
Do you think it would work with skim milk?
I've made the Cooking Light version for a while and we love it… so rest assured this IS delish~!
The Hawaiian bread works well in place of challah too. Great, rich, chocolaty dessert for one's valentine today~!
Emily, it's not the lightest thing on my site, but it is a whole lot lighter than bread pudding made with all those egg yolks and cream! And it's Valentine's Day! So you're allowed 🙂
Oh. My. Goodness! This looks incredible, and I am now craving a hefty portion of chocolate bread pudding. Delicious!
This is a skinny recipe!? I'm sold! Looks easy enough to make tonight for my sweetheart. Happy Valentine's Day!
Oh wow, this looks like an unbelievable recipe! I love using challah to make French toast, and I bet it works perfectly for sweet bread pudding.
Also, seeing as this works perfectly for Valentine's Day, you should share it on the Healthy Hop, my new blog hop. This month's theme is Valentine's Day! – http://www.favedietsblog.com/announcing-the-first-favediets-blog-hop/
Hi Gina!
I am making this tonight. I have printed this recipe awhile back and saved it just for today! I will let you know how hubby likes it. Of course, I have never seen him turn down anything chocolate! Happy day!
Everything looks delicious, I should try these…
What a wonderful, decadent chocolate dessert just in time for Valentine's Day!
I see it everywhere, but Hawaiian bread, Brioche or french bread would work.
Hi! This looks amazing and I will be making it for my hubby tomorrow night! 🙂 If I use Hawaiian bread, how much do I use? I only see the rolls around here!
is challah bread easy to find? I've never heard of it…
If you don't have ramekins, maybe coffee mugs would work.
Yes, this was great, especially if you like dark chocolate. If you don't you can use milk chocolate instead.
sounds awesome!
retro housewife: the remix
I have a hankering for something chocolatey and sweet…now! Thanks a lot 😉
I actually bookmarked this recipe on myrecipes.com on Friday – glad to know it tastes good!
You had me at dark chocolate :-{)
The best part of making this for someone you love… is getting a bowl for yourself.
Thank you Skinny Gina!
Sounds awesome! Is there an alternative something to cook them in if I don't have any ramekins?
wow — what a great treat to share with someone you love!
Sounds amazing – especially with the challah bread, the dark chocolate, and the whipped cream on top! Perfect for Valentine's Day… or any day you're in the mood for chocolate. I'll definitely be resorting to this recipe sometime soon – thanks for sharing it! And Happy Valentine's Day!
This looks way too good to be light! Yum!!
Those look absolutely amazing!
These look DELICIOUS…being a chocolate lover…will have to try them right away…thanks for yet another amazing recipe.