For breakfast: Croissant French Toast Casserole with blueberries and cream cheese. Made with reduced fat milk, reduced fat cream cheese and half and half. Use freshly baked croissants from your own kitchen or your favorite bakery.
I believe every that everyone should have a go-to French toast casserole recipe in their recipe collection. I found the inspiration for this casserole while Ken and I were vacationing in Charleston during a weekend in September of 2014. It was a cloudy morning but thankfully, it wasn’t raining so we decided to take a stroll downtown. After exploring the Historic Downtown Charleston City Market, we were both craving the rich, comforting taste of a latte. We stumbled upon a little cafe called the East Bay Meeting House and decided to stop in. We had a seat at the coffee bar and ordered lattes. Although we had already eaten breakfast, the brunch menu piqued my curiosity. As I was reading the menu, a brunch entree caught my attention: Croissant French Toast. The recipe intrigued me; French toast made with croissants. The flaky, buttery crust of a croissant could be perfect in a French toast recipe.
Croissant French Toast Casserole
I’ve only made one French toast casserole in my entire life and it was an overnight casserole. Since I’m not an expert in the area of French toast casserole making, I needed inspiration for the custard base for the recipe I was making with the croissants. I found that inspiration on The Food Charlatan. I deviated from The Food Charlatan’s recipe by using reduced fat milk and half and half rather than whole milk and cream. I used brown sugar rather than granulated sugar. I used apple pie spice in place of the cinnamon. I changed the quantity of butter used as well, reducing from 1/2 cup to 1/4 cup.
Of course, French toast is all about the bread and croissants were my bread of choice. You can make your own croissants or you can do what I did and pick up a package of fresh croissants from your local bakery or grocery store. I purchased a package of 13 mini croissants which totaled about 10 cups of cubed croissants.
I opted for frozen blueberries in this recipe because they are cheaper and at the time, I had 3 bags of them in my freezer. You can use fresh, if you prefer. As for the apple pie spice, I’m not sure why I chose to use it in this recipe but it worked out well.
- 10 C of cubed croissants (about 13 mini sized croissants)
- 8 oz reduced fat cream cheese, cubed
- 1 C frozen blueberries
- ¼ C unsalted butter
- 1½ C reduced fat milk
- ½ C half and half
- ½ C light brown sugar
- ⅓ C maple syrup
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 8 large eggs
- 1½ tsp apple pie spice plus more for sprinkling the top of the casserole
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Prepare your baking dish. Spray a 8x11 baking dish with cooking spray. Wipe away excess with a paper towel. **See notes for instructions on how to bake in a 9x13 dish.
- Prepare the custard mixture. Melt the butter in a large microwave safe bowl for about 1 minute in your microwave. Whisk in the milk, half and half, brown sugar, maple syrup, vanilla extract, apple pie spice and the eggs. Set aside.
- Assemble the casserole. Place half of the cubed croissants in the bottom of the baking dish. Top with half of the cream cheese and half of the blueberries. Top with the remaining cubed croissants and then the remaining cream cheese and blueberries. Pour the custard mixture over the top of the casserole. Push down the top of the casserole with the back side of a spoon, making sure to get the custard mixture evenly distributed within the dish. Sprinkle the top of the casserole with apple pie spice, if desired.
- Bake at 350 for 50 to 55 minutes. If the top of the casserole begins to become too dark, cover with aluminum foil.
- Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before serving so the casserole has time to set.
Make this recipe as close to real food as you can by using fresh baked croissants from your local bakery. If you have a favorite croissant recipe, you could make homemade croissants and use them in this recipe. If you don't want to use brown granulated sugar, you may substitute with coconut sugar.
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We love french toast casserole! Love that yours uses rich croissants!
Thanks Jessica! I now know that croissants can be used perfectly in French toast recipes. My life may never be the same now. ;)
I thought that French toast casserole could not get any better until your croissanted it! My taste buds are dreaming of the flaky, buttery pastry goodness! Pinned!
Haha, I love your word, Taylor – croissanted. I need to start croissanting other recipes too because croissants are one of the best things in life. Thanks for the pin and your sweet comment, too. :)
Oh, what an absolutely awesome looking breakfast casserole! I love all the cream cheese chunks and blueberries…and the croissants! YUM!!!
Thanks Jocelyn!
This french toast is seriously calling my name this morning!
I think I can hear it calling out to you – I better get a slice over to you stat. ;)
This is on my to-bake list now. I’ve never had french toast casserole, but you’ve combined pretty much every single one of my favourite things into a recipe.
It looks AMAZING!
Emilie xx
http://www.eatlivebreathe.co.uk
Thanks so much, Emilie. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Be prepared to have a battle with yourself over not eating all of it at once!
I wish I had this recipe yesterday, looks like its whats for breakfast this weekend! YUM!
We love french toast in my house! This looks awesome!
Thanks Julia!
Ahhhh swoon. French toast is one of my favorite savory breakfast foods, and croissants?? Well who doesn’t love those??
I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who doesn’t like croissants. Do they even exist?? Thanks for stopping by, Nicole.
The only way to make blueberry french toast casserole better would be to use croissants. So basically you have achieved perfection. This is amazing!!!!
Thanks Karen!
What a beauty to wake up to. I’ve made a lot of French toast casseroles but I’ve never tried croissants. My big mistake. I will make this just to spoil myself.
This is definitely a spoiler and you will want to eat all of it. It’s dangerous like that. ;)
This is fantastic!! Love the blueberries inside.
Thanks Dorothy!
Dear Julie, I have never tried a French Toast casserole, but this looks wonderful! xo, Catherine
Thanks so much, Catherine!
Yummy! This casserole is so luxurious!
Thanks Medeja!
This sounds absolutely wonderful! I love that you used croissants!
Thanks Kelley!
I love French toast, but I’ve never made French toast with croissants. It must be really delicious!
It is really delicious. I may never go back to French toast made with regular bread. ;)
Sticky sweet lovely decadence!
YES!
French toast casserole is my go-to dish when I am hosting brunch. And because I am obsessed with croissants, I know that I would love this casserole. I want to grab my fork and dig in!
This would be great to serve at a brunch, Ashley. It’s the best of both worlds – the croissant world and the French toast world!
Ive heard of preparing everything and leaving it in the fridge overnight, and then bake it. Can you still do it this way or do you recommend just making it and baking it right after?
Hi Jared,
I have not made it this way so I cannot say whether or not it will turn out well. If you try it, please let me know how it turns out.
Hi. Just wondering if you ever tried making ahead and refrigerating overnight? Thanks!
Hi Kelly,
No, I haven’t tried that.