Croissant Bread Pudding
Rich bread pudding made with croissants. Add dark chocolate chips for a fun twist.
Who says that for a dessert to be decadent it has to be chocolate?
I’m a complete sucker for bread pudding. It’s rich, it’s flavorful, it’s pure comfort food. I always like to make mine with a sweetened bread like challah or brioche, but I had yet to try it with croissants. Now I have, and I’m still in love.
I picked these croissants up from Boulangerie, a new Parisian styled bakery in Salt Lake City. They sell day-old baked goods for practically nothing and I got a half dozen of their almond croissants (the only flavor left) for just three bucks. The bread pudding had a subtle almond flavor, which I liked. I added some dark chocolate chips to a few of my ramekins (though not the ones you see pictured here, sorry) and the chocolate only helped with the decadence.
Want to make this dessert for two? If you’d like to serve this croissant bread pudding for an occasion such as Valentine’s Day and don’t want any leftovers, it can be done. Simply use two croissants and divide the custard recipe in half (use 2 eggs). You may have some extra custard, just discard whatever doesn’t fit into your ramekins.
baking tip:Do you need to use stale bread?
You probably have heard that it’s best to use stale bread for bread pudding, french toast, and stuffing. Bread pudding was originally created as a way to use old, stale bread. It soaks up a custard and becomes moist and fresh again after it’s baked. But does the bread need to be dry and stale in order to soak up the liquid? Not really, the difference it makes is very small. Use whatever bread or croissants you have on hand.
Croissant Bread Pudding
Ingredients
- 4-5 medium croissants
- 3 large eggs
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100 grams)
- 1 cup heavy cream (237 ml)
- 1 cup whole milk (237 ml)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon bourbon , optional
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips (optional) (100 grams)
Instructions
- Grease a 9-inch baking dish (or 4 ramekins) with butter or non-stick spray. Tear the croissants into bite-sized pieces and fill the baking dish(es) to the brim, packing them as full as possible.
- In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, heavy cream, and milk over medium heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar and heat until steaming and small bubbles appear around the edges of the pan.
- Meanwhile, whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Slowly pour the hot liquid into the eggs while whisking constantly. Add the vanilla extract and bourbon (if using). Pour mixture over the croissant pieces, then press down the pieces to make sure they have been moistened and are submerged as much as possible. Chill for 2 hours or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Remove bread pudding(s) from the fridge and let come to room temperature while oven preheats. Press the chocolate chips into the surface of the pudding (if using). Bake for 25-35 minutes, until pudding is puffed and golden brown.
- Serve warm or cold. Store leftovers in the fridge.
This look so yummy!! Can half and half be substituted for some of the heavy cream?
I apologize for the slow response. Yes, you can substitute half and half. It may not be as rich, but the texture and thickness of the pudding shouldn’t be affected too much.
My waistline cursed me just reading the title – so decadent! NEED! 🙂
By discard the extra custard, do you mean stand over the counter licking the saucepan clean with a spatula? Because if so, then I can totally follow instructions.
Yum!
Ha! Yes! That is definitely a much better suggestion. 🙂
THANK YOU for the stale bread tip! A lot of recipes do seem to require stale bread so it’s good to know regular bread gives nearly the same results.
These look beautiful. I especially like the first picture with the bite scooped out to show the interior. Lovely bread puddings, and hooray for not mucking them up with raisins!
You’re welcome! 🙂
Gah, I still need to make it up there. This looks amazing, lady
Croissants in bread pudding sound the perfect breakfast to me! Pinning and making one day soon! Thanks! 🙂
Annalise,
This looks delicious. I need to make bread pudding for 25, and I happen to have a big, BIG bag of small (fist-width) croissants, which I froze a week or two ago. So: first, can I simply multiply everything by 5? Second, my eggs are free-range and fresh; will that make a difference that I need to adjust for? Third, if I want to “muck up” the pudding with raisins, what quantity per recipe would I add?
Hi Angie! Here’s what I would do to serve 25: bake 2 9×13-inch casserole dishes with double batches in each (so 4 batches of this recipe total). I think that will be plenty and should work just fine. And your eggs will work great! If you want to add raisins, I would do 1/4 cup per batch (or 1/2 cup per casserole dish). I hope this helps! 🙂
Thanks! That should work. Once again, what a terrific-sounding recipe — many thanks from all the people who are shortly to agree heartily!
I should have never found your recipe. I’ve made this soo many times! It is absolutely delicious! I’m a cinnamon freak, so I dump a few teaspoons into the mixture after I’ve dissolved the sugar. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Can I make this with a combination of brioche and croissants ?