Instant Pot Apple Cider Sourdough Bread Pudding (gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free) — with a salted caramel apple sauce!



This nut-free, dairy-free Instant Pot Apple Cider Sourdough Bread Pudding is made with gluten-free sourdough & has a sticky salted caramel apple drizzle! It’s the perfect Fall dessert, will grace your Thanksgiving table beautifully, and can even be served up for breakfast. Because it’s made with a gluten-free sourdough bread, you know it’s nourishing, easily digested, and nutrient-dense.
The meal planning’s on me this week!
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I get these super hair-brained ideas sometimes.
It’s like I have a very random muse sitting on my shoulder, and she whispers things to me like, “Turn cauliflower into chocolate pudding and cheese dip“. She’s strange sometimes, but more often than not, her wild ideas actually work.
And, so it is with my latest inspiration…
Having nearly 5 gallons of fresh-pressed apple cider sitting around causes one to dream up all sorts of ways to use it.
As if drinking sparkling apple cider weren’t enough, I’ve managed to copycat Starbuck’s Caramel Apple Spice with it, and now this: an apple cider-infused bread pudding with a salted caramel-apple drizzling sauce!
Sounds fantastic, doesn’t it?
Well, it is. 🙂
How I Found Gluten-Free Sourdough Bread…
Alas, I am not a bread-baker. It’s not for lack of trying, either.
Gluten-free sourdough is tricky. Much trickier than whole wheat, rye, or einkorn sourdough.
I’ve forced my family to do without bread for months and months at a time. But still, they want bread. So, I have searched far and wide.
I’ve found loaves of grain-free bread at the health food store, and I might as well have refinanced my house — they were so expensive.
We’ve experimented with various brands of gluten-free breads. The results? Either I wasn’t happy with the ingredients (too much sugar or tapioca starch) or the breads gave one or all of my family gas.
I even tried gluten-free sourdough myself — nurturing a starter and baking a couple of loaves that turned out flat. 🙁
A few months ago, however, I stumbled upon Simple Kneads Artisanal Gluten-Free Sourdough Bread while placing an Azure Standard order.
I read the ingredients and was happily surprised to see that this bread was made without nutrition-less tapioca and potato starches. Furthermore, it didn’t contain cane sugar — a huge surprise!
The one ingredient I felt was a compromise? The sunflower oil. If I could change one thing about this bread, that would be it. Please, Simple Kneads, switch to avocado oil or coconut oil. Oh, how amazing that would be!
Still, our overall diet is quite low in polyunsaturated fats, so this was one time I felt I could overlook this normally avoided ingredient.
I’ve yet to find Simple Kneads Artisanal Gluten-Free Sourdough Bread in a store. So far, I’ve ordered it from Azure Standard and directly from Simple Kneads (use my discount code NOURISH20 to save 20% on your order!).
The Ingredients in Simple Kneads Gluten-Free Sourdough Bread
First, I’ll say it again… To find a gluten-free bread that is…
- true sourdough,
- made without cane sugar and low sugar in general, and
- made without nutrient-poor tapioca or potato starches
Is FREAKING amazing! Do you know what a diamond in the rough that is??
So, what are the ingredients in this artisanal gluten-free sourdough bread?
Water, Organic Millet Flour, Organic Sorghum Flour, Organic Teff Flour, Organic Buckwheat Flour, Organic Quinoa Flour, Organic Psyllium Seed Husk Powder, Organic Expeller Pressed Sunflower Seed Oil, Raisin Juice Concentrate, Organic Flax Meal, Salt, Organic Sunflower Seeds, Organic Cultured Dextrose
Are you impressed yet?
Because I am!
Finally, our family can enjoy a truly gluten-free, sourdough bread that’s made with nutrient-dense gluten-free grains, contains no dairy, and has a beautiful sourdough taste and texture!
So, of course, with this new bread in my kitchen, the world of bread was opened to me once more — breakfast with toast! sandwiches! croutons for salad or soup! garlic toast! bread pudding!!!
Remember: You can purchase Simple Kneads Gluten-Free Sourdough Bread from Azure Standard or Simple Kneads + use NOURISH20 to save 20% on your Simple Kneads order.
One-of-a-kind Instant Pot Apple Cider Sourdough Bread Pudding
Would you just look at it?
Warm, gooey, cider-infused bread pudding, cooked to perfection in your Instant Pot, drizzled with a sticky, sweet, salted caramel-apple sauce.
(Oops. You drooled on your keyboard a little. Go ahead and wipe it off. I’ll wait.)
Without the salted caramel-apple sauce, your Instant Pot Apple Cider Sourdough Bread Pudding will look like so:
It’s the perfect Fall dessert, will grace your Thanksgiving table beautifully, and can even be served up for breakfast.
There’s nothing better, I assure you. 😉
Because it’s made with a gluten-free sourdough bread, you know it’s nourishing, easily digested, and nutrient-dense.
Let’s Talk Ingredients & Substitutions
I always try to make my recipes as versatile as possible so that, regardless of your diet, you can enjoy them. I recognize that my strict grain-free/paleo/keto/low-carb/AIP friends will not be able to enjoy this recipe — but I have so many more you can gobble up with delight!
So, let’s talk ingredients and possible subs so the rest of you CAN make this amazing Instant Pot bread pudding!
#1 — I don’t have gluten-free sourdough bread. Can I use another bread?
Yes, technically, any sort of sandwich bread will work for this recipe. However, if you’re using a regular store-bought gluten-free bread or even a wheat bread, if it ain’t sourdough, it ain’t nutrient-dense or nourishing. If you’re ok with that, then go for it.
Find Simple Kneads Gluten-Free Sourdough here or at Azure Standard. If ordering from Simple Kneads, save 20% with my exclusive discount code NOURISH20!
#2 — Can I use apple juice instead of cider?
Yes! I know not everyone happens to have 5 gallons of freshly pressed cider in their second fridge. It’s really ok to use juice. Please find an apple juice that is 100% apple juice, without added sugar or other ingredients.
Here’s my apple cider “recipe”.
#3 — I don’t have avocado oil; what other fat can I use?
If you tolerate dairy, please go ahead and use butter or ghee. If not, you can use melted coconut oil instead. Please don’t use other vegetable oils, such as safflower, sunflower, or canola oil.
You can find my favorite avocado oil here.
#4 — What can I use instead of coconut sugar?
You can sub maple sugar (not syrup) or sucanat, if you have those. You need a golden-brown sweetener to impart a caramelized flavor. Save 10% on my favorite coconut sugar with my coupon code NOURISHING.
How to Make Instant Pot Apple Cider Sourdough Bread Pudding
You will need either a 6-quart or 8-quart Instant Pot and a 1-1/2 quart Corning Ware baking dish with glass lid.
Grease the baking dish. Place the trivet inside your Instant Pot and add 2 cups of water.
Cube up 5 cups of Simple Kneads Gluten-Free Sourdough Bread into 1/2″ cubes. Place them into the greased baking dish.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut milk, apple cider (or juice), sweetener, fat, eggs, spices, vanilla, and salt. Pour this mixture over the cubed bread.
Place the lid on the baking dish and carefully put it on the trivet inside your Instant Pot.
Put the lid on your Instant Pot. Press the “Manual” or “Pressure cook” button and adjust the time to 20 minutes on high pressure. Seal the vent.
When it beeps, let it naturally release pressure. This may take 15 to 20 minutes; that’s fine. When the pot has naturally released all the pressure, carefully lift the baking dish out of the Instant Pot.
You can now pour over the Salted Caramel-Apple Drizzle. Or, wait until you’re ready to serve. Enjoy!

Instant Pot Gluten-Free Sourdough Apple Cider Bread Pudding
This nut-free, dairy-free Instant Pot Apple Cider Sourdough Bread Pudding is made with gluten-free sourdough & has a sticky salted caramel apple drizzle! It's the perfect Fall dessert, will grace your Thanksgiving table beautifully, and can even be served up for breakfast. Because it's made with a gluten-free sourdough bread, you know it's nourishing, easily digested, and nutrient-dense.
Ingredients
- 5cups Simple Kneads Gluten-Free Sourdough Breadcut into 1/2" cubes
- 1cupfull fat coconut milk
- 1cupapple cider
- 1/2cupcoconut sugar
- 1/4cupavocado oil
- 3eggs
- 2teaspoonsvanilla extract
- 1-1/2 teaspooncinnamon
- 1teaspoonground ginger
- 1/2teaspoonallspice
- 1/2teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoonground cloves
About that Salted Caramel-Apple Drizzle…
No worries, I haven’t forgotten about that sticky Salted Caramel-Apple Drizzle!
You can either drizzle all of it over the bread pudding once it’s finished cooking; or, you can wait and drizzle it over each individual serving. It’s completely your choice.
You need:
- 1 cup of apple cider (or organic apple juice)
- 3 tablespoons coconut syrup (Please use coconut syrup for a true caramel flavor. Save 10% on my favorite coconut syrup here!)
- 2 teaspoons arrowroot powder
- big pinch of salt
Bring the cider and syrup to a boil on the stove. Lower the heat to a high simmer and let the sauce darken and reduce. Whisk in arrowroot and a big pinch of salt.
The drizzle will thicken as it cools. You can let it get as thick and sticky as you like! Here’s the recipe.

3-Ingredient Salted Caramel Apple Drizzle
This 3-Ingredient Salted Caramel Apple Drizzle makes a gooey bread pudding even better! Or, you can use this paleo caramel drizzle on ice cream or other desserts, too!
Ingredients
- 1cupapple cideror organic apple juice
- 3tablespoons coconut syrupor maple syrup
- 2teaspoons arrowroot powder
- large pinchsalt
Instructions
Combine the apple cider (or juice) with the coconut syrup (or maple syrup) in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.
Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. The cider will darken in color and reduce.
Turn the heat off, but leave the pan on the burner. Whisk in 2 teaspoons arrowroot powder and salt. Whisk until all arrowroot is dissolved.
Then, remove from the heat completely and pour over the finished bread pudding. Or, let it sit, and it will thicken even more. You can also drizzle over individual servings.
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