Name: Croissant Breakfast Bake for the Table
Yield: 8

This Croissant Breakfast Bake recipe is unbeatable with fresh raspberries, whipped cream, and a luscious vanilla sauce. It’s quick to prep and customizable!

Croissant Breakfast Bake

For years and years, I hated bread pudding. I tried it every now and again, wondering what I was missing, because everyone else seemed to be obsessed. It wasn’t until I was in my early twenties that I finally had a bread pudding that converted me to a fan. At the restaurant where I was working, we threw a special brunch for Easter and that day, we served a raspberry croissant bread pudding. After hearing about it ALL day and with a bit of convincing from co-workers, I reluctantly tried the bread pudding.

It was so good! And I’m pretty sure I claimed it was the best thing I’d ever eaten! For years I’ve tried to replicate that bread pudding and I’ve come close, but never got it exactly right– until now. I’m so excited for you to try this Bread Pudding recipe!

Chopped bread pieces being prepared for the bread pudding recipe.

First off, we’ll talk process, then ingredients, and finish with some tips.

How To Make Croissant Breakfast Bake

Toast the bread. Bread Pudding is best using stale or day-old bread, but you can make it with fresh bread as well. Whatever you’re using, you want to dry out the bread to ensure it will soak up the custard without becoming soggy.
Make the custard. For this custard, we’re keeping it simple; you don’t even have to warm everything through or scald the milk. Simply whisk together milk, cream, sugars, extract, salt, and orange zest. Toss this custard with your dried bread cubes.
Chill the bread pudding. After everything is combined, the bread needs some time to absorb the custard and to get nice and cold before going into the oven. Cover and chill for 45 minutes to an hour.
Bake. Remove the mixture from the refrigerator and bake.
Serve with whipped cream and a vanilla sauce. While this recipe is satisfying on its own, there’s nothing like a spoonful of whipped cream and vanilla sauce drizzled on top!

Rich vanilla sauce cascading over other ingredients in a baking dish.

What is the best bread to use?

Arguably brioche and challah are the classic choices for bread pudding. While both would work really great in this recipe, I’m hooked on croissants! The bread pudding I fell in love with years ago had croissants, and it’s my go-to choice for my Bread Pudding. When choosing the bread you use, there are a few things to look for:

An UNSLICED loaf or croissants: you don’t want pre-sliced or cubed bread because you need to be able to tear the bread to the exact dimensions needed (in this case, 1-inch pieces).
Sturdy bread: Since the bread will be soaked in a custard, you want to make sure the bread won’t disintegrate. We toast the bread and use large pieces, which helps avoid sogginess.
Taste: Obviously, Bread Pudding relies on bread as the main ingredient, so you want to make sure the bread itself tastes satisfying.

Unbaked straightforward bread pudding recipe in a dish, ready for the oven.

Ingredients

I include a few unique ingredients that really take Croissant Breakfast Bake over the top!

Orange zest: While it might seem unassuming, orange zest brightens this dish immeasurably. Along with the raspberries, it helps to cut the richness.
Vanilla extract: A good vanilla extract adds a lot. If you happen to have a vanilla bean, scrape out the seeds and use in the custard for an even better vanilla flavor throughout the pudding.
Coarse sugar: It’s an skippable addition, but adding several tablespoons of coarse sugar to the top of your Bread Pudding adds a fun crunch and flavor.
Honey-roasted almonds: Another skippable addition, but these honey roasted almonds (found at most grocery stores), sprinkled on the baked bread pudding adds another satisfying flavor element.

Sweet vanilla sauce drizzling over freshly baked dish.

Recipe tips

Fresh berries: Avoid frozen berries, as they tend to bleed color into the Croissant Breakfast Bake and make it soggy. While raspberries are our go-to choice, blackberries and blueberries are satisfying as well.
from-scratch whipped cream: Making whipped cream is so straightforward and much more flavorful than store-bought (I’ve written an entire post on how to make whipped cream).
Rip the croissants: Instead of cutting the bread with a knife, ripping the croissants allows for more ridges to soak up the custard.
The right size pan: It really depends on how you like your Bread Pudding. For a softer, more custard-like texture from top to bottom, use an 8×8-inch pan. If you want to focus on a crispier top layer, use a 2-quart shallow baking pan. My family definitely prefers the shallow pan!