Apple Fritter Bread Pudding

If you’re in any Ontario camping or road trip group on social media, you’ve definitely heard of Voyageurs Lodge.

It’s a cute little set of roadside shops, near Batchawana Bay Provincial Park. There’s a restaurant, gift shop, gas station, little bakery counter, and more.

The thing they’re REALLY known for, though, is the apple fritter fry shop.

And yeah, if you’ve mentioned a northern Ontario road trip in any group like that, it’s almost guaranteed that someone has told you to stop there and get some apple fritters.

They’re legendary - big as a baby’s head, and tasty! If you’re lucky, you can even get them when they’re still warm!

On our recent Fall roadtrip, we topped there twice - once when staying at Pancake Bay Provincial Park (It was en route to Chippewa Falls!), and once after leaving Lake Superior Provincial Park and headed back home.

Last year, we’d stopped a couple times as well - and I’ve had IDEAS since. This time around, Porter bought 6 packs of the Apple Fritters, so I could play around with a couple recipe ideas I’d had kicking around for a while.

... they were both super successful, so I’m sharing them with you now. In addition to this Apple Fritter Bread Pudding recipe, I also have my Apple Fritter French Toast Recipe posted.

Both of these are fantastic - that one as a breakfast, and this take on bread pudding as a fairly fancy dessert recipe.

This one is further elevated with a quick homemade maple cream sauce ... which, now that I think about it, would be fantastic on the French Toast, as well!

Anyway, enough chatter, let’s get to the recipe!

Ingredients

This Apple Fritter Bread Pudding recipe uses super simple ingredients. Most of them are things we already have on hand in our camper, and all can be easily found at pretty much any grocery store!

Some ingredient notes for you:

Apple Fritters

While we designed this recipe to specifically use the Voyageur’s Lodge Apple Fritters that we buy when on our Northern Ontario camping trips, feel free to use your favourite apple fritters if those aren’t available to you.

Fritters can be all kinds of different sizes, so just keep that in mind. As an example, it would take 4 or 5 Tim Horton’s Apple Fritters to make this recipe.

Whatever you use, you’ll want about 4 cups of apple fritter cubes - and you’ll want them to be a few days old, and kind of on the dry / stale side.

Apples

I tend to use either Granny Smith or Mutsu apples when baking something like a bread pudding, and this Apple Fritter Bread Pudding is no exception.

Not only do they both have a texture that will hold up to the baking process, they’re both a bit on the tart side - which is a nice contrast to all the sweetness you’re getting from the fritters themselves, and the maple syrup in the custard.

You can use whatever apples you like, but I’d keep the taste and texture in mind.

Maple Syrup

For the love of all things holy, please use Pure Maple Syrup in this recipe, NOT pancake syrup.

That probably sounds utterly unhinged, but you’d be shocked at how many times people have commented on my food blogs to say they used pancake syrup instead, or asking if they could.

Seriously, if maple syrup isn’t going to happen, use the same amount of liquid honey... long before considering pancake syrup.

Anyway, when possible, I like to use a Dark Maple Syrup, as it has a more robust flavour.

Milk

We stopped using cows milk a few years ago (we’ll still use heavy cream, and no one is taking cheese from me!), so I generally use Unsweetened Almond Milk for baking.

We’ve made this with Oat milk and Cashew Milk, both work great. I’d even recommend Flax Milk and Macadamia Milk - they both have fantastic flavour to bake with.

That said, if dairy isn’t an issue for you, feel free to use whatever cow’s milk you drink at home. If we were still drinking regular dairy milk, I’d be using 2% in this recipe.

Everything Else

Rounding out this recipe, you will need:

Chopped Walnuts (or Chopped PecansPure Vanilla Extract
Ground Cinnamon
Salt

How to Make Apple Fritter Bread Pudding

The full recipe is in the printable recipe card at the end of this post; here is a pictorial walk through:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease an 8 x 8" square foil baking pan with vegetable shortening or butter.

Cut or rip apple fritters into bite sized pieces (about 4 cups worth).

Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until set. Edges should be golden, and easily pull away from the side of the pan.

Note: Due to the high sugar content of the fritters - and the fact that they’ve already been fried - expect your bread putting to get quite dark.

You can cover it loosely with foil if it starts getting too dark!

Maple Cream Sauce

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan, whisking until well blended.

Serve bread pudding hot, with sauce poured over each serving.

Best eaten the same day it is made.

Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Leftovers are best when both the pudding and the sauce are reheated a bit.

More Camping Recipes

Looking for great ideas to cook on a campfire, or in an RV? Here's a few simple recipes to start with!

Apple Fritter French Toast
Banana Protein Pancakes
Cabbage Roll Soup Mix [Just Add Meat and Water!]
Campfire Chili
Camping Breakfast Skillet
Camping Tacos, 2 Ways
Dutch Oven Pulled Chicken
Egg Roll Soup Mix [Just Add Meat and Water!]
Gingerbread Latte [Protein Powder Mix]
Hobo Eggs
Homemade Mushroom Jerky
Hot Chocolate Mix [Protein Powder Mix]
Instant Camping Pancake Mix
Instant Cream of Chicken Soup [Protein Powder Mix]
Italian Wedding Soup Mix
No Bake Cornflake Cookies
Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies
Pepperoni Jerky
Pumpkin Chai Latte [Protein Powder Mix]
The Ultimate S'Mores Board
Traditional Bannock
Vegan Tofu Jerky