Welcome to the magical world of Croissant Bread Pudding! Buttery croissants, bananas, and Nutella are soaked in a creamy vanilla custard creating a heavenly combination that will have your taste buds singing. If you’re looking for a sweet breakfast treat or a decadent dessert recipe, this is it!
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Bread Pudding. Made with croissants. It doesn’t get much better than this. I was sent a copy of The Chew: An Essential Guide to Cooking and Entertaining and it is filled with “recipes, wit and wisdom from The Chew hosts.” The recipe for Daphne Oz’s Croissant Bread Pudding is one of many tempting recipes in the book.
💖 Why You’ll Like This Recipe
- This easy croissant bread pudding recipe is perfect whether it is your first time or your 15th time making bread pudding. You don’t have to make a water bath or separate egg yolks from the egg whites (you use whole eggs).
- You can use stale croissants, so it is a great way for using up leftovers. The croissants give the dish a buttery, flaky texture that pairs perfectly with the creamy custard and banana slices.
- Because the custard sauce is not cooked, there are fewer dishes to have to clean. Leave that small saucepan in the cupboard!
📝 Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 6 croissants, cut into thirds
- 2 bananas, sliced, plus more for garnish
- 3 eggs
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- pinch of salt
- 1 cup chocolate-hazelnut spread
👩🏻🍳 Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9×9 baking dish.
Place the croissant pieces into the prepared baking dish so they fit snugly. Sprinkle in the cut pieces of banana and push to fall between the pieces of croissant.
In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, cream, milk, vanilla, and salt.
Add half of the chocolate-hazelnut spread and whisk to combine.
Pour the custard mixture over the tops of the croissants. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Cover with aluminum foil and place in the oven to bake until the custard is set, about 45 minutes. Uncover and cook for an additional 15 minutes. The top will be golden brown.
Remove and let the dish rest for 15 minutes before serving. Garnish with a few pieces of bananas and a warm drizzle of the remaining chocolate-hazelnut spread.
***Recipe reprinted with permission from The Chew: An Essential Guide to Cooking and Entertaining, copyright 2016.
📌 Recipe Notes and Tips
- For best results, use good quality ingredients. Off-brands may vary in taste and produce different results.
- Croissants can be pricy. If you have a Sam’s Club or Costco membership, you can get a dozen croissants for approximately $6 (as of March 2023).
- If you use large croissants, you may only need 4 or 5.
- Serve with fresh fruit, such as blueberries or strawberries, for a delicious breakfast.
- If you don’t have a 9-inch baking dish, you can use an 8×12-inch casserole dish or any dish that is equivalent to a 2.5-quart baking dish.
- You can substitute other stale bread for the croissants. Brioche bread, challah bread, and French bread are good substitutes.
📖 Recipe
Croissant Bread Pudding
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 6 croissants cut into thirds
- 2 bananas sliced, plus more for garnish
- 3 eggs
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- pinch of salt
- 1 cup chocolate-hazelnut spread divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9×9 baking dish.
- Place the cut croissants into the baking dish so they fit snug. Sprinkle in the cut pieces of banana and push to fall between the pieces of croissant.
- Whisk together the eggs, cream, milk, vanilla, and salt. Add half of the chocolate-hazelnut spread and whisk to combine. Pour over the croissants. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Cover with aluminum foil and place in the oven to bake until the custard is set, about 45 minutes. Uncover and cook for an additional 15 minutes.
- Remove and let rest for 15 minutes before serving. Garnish with a few pieces of bananas and a warm drizzle of the remaining chocolate-hazelnut spread.
Video
Notes
- For best results, use good-quality ingredients. Off-brands may vary in taste and produce different results.
- Croissants can be pricy. If you have a Sam’s Club or Costco membership, you can get a dozen croissants for approximately $6 (as of March 2023).
- If you use large croissants, you may only need 4 or 5.
- Serve with fresh fruit, such as blueberries or strawberries, for a delicious breakfast.
- If you don’t have a 9-inch baking dish, you can use an 8×12-inch casserole dish or any dish that is equivalent to a 2.5-quart baking dish.
- You can substitute other stale bread for the croissants. Brioche bread, challah bread, and French bread are good substitutes.
Nutrition
The Chew: An Essential Guide to Cooking and Entertaining
The softcovered book has 255 pages that will inspire you to don an apron and get to work. The recipes were curated from the most downloaded recipes from the show. It also includes some of Mario Batali, Michael Simon, Clinton Kelly, Carla Hall, and Daphne Oz’s favorite recipes, as well as some of their stories, tips, and tricks.
The chapters in the book are not divided by meal type. Instead, the recipes are categorized into one of five delicious areas: Back To Basics, Comfort Classics, Feel-Good Family Favorites, Old Fave, New Flaves, and Guilty Pleasures.
I have tried a few of the recipes so far: “Blow Your Mind” Baked Chicken Wings (above), Clinton’s General Tso’s Chicken (below), and Croissant Bread Pudding. Although I should have put on my reading glasses to ensure that I read the recipe correctly, I made a few little mistakes in making the dishes, but they turned out delicious nonetheless.
Some of the other recipes that I plan on making in the future include Toaster Tarts, French Onion Soup, Cheesecake with Pretzel Crust, and Pizza Rolls. This is a nice cookbook that I can see myself picking up while I am cooking dinner and making future dinner plans.
The Chew: An Essential Guide to Cooking and Entertaining is available at your favorite bookstore or at Amazon.com.
Neetha says
When do we use the butter?
Lynda says
It’s used to butter the dish (step 1).