Looking for a special occasion breakfast or brunch dish? Or just the best bread pudding ever? Then you have to make this croissant bread pudding. It’s buttery, sweet, rich, and crunchy and creamy at the same time. I think you’re gonna love it!

Croissant bread pudding is the ultimate upgrade to classic bread pudding.

Instead of using stale bread or Hawaiian rolls, croissants are used. An instant upgrade that makes this bread pudding a decadent dessert or brunch recipe.

This recipe is studded with blueberries and cranberries, adding some tartness. Additionally, it’s topped with a creamy glaze.

Buttery croissants make all the difference in the flavor. 

A Make-Ahead Recipe

If you’re making this for breakfast or brunch, you can prep it the night before and bake it in the morning.

Mix everything up, let the toasted croissant soak in custard, and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until ready to bake.

What You’ll Need To Make Croissant Bread Pudding

This recipe calls for simple ingredients that are easy to find. To save money, I’ve included tips, below:

• Croissants: What kind of croissants to use? I used the smaller-sized croissants that you can find in packs of 10 at general supermarkets. I bought a pack of 10 for $5.89. You could also use the fancier, flakier, giant-sized croissants that you’ll find at specialty bakeries and coffee shops – but these are usually more expensive. Save money by purchasing day-old croissants or using leftover croissants. 
  • While I recommend using croissants for this recipe (that’s the whole point of this amazing recipe!), you could substitute challah, brioche or Hawaiian sweet rolls.
• Cream cheese: Cream cheese is the base of the creamy custard which the croissants are soaked in and baked in. I like to microwave the cream cheese for 5 to 10 seconds to soften it up, but you could just use room temperature cream cheese when making the custard for this easy croissant bread pudding recipe. Save money by purchasing lower-cost Neufchatel cheese.
• Half-and-half: While you could use heavy cream for an even richer dessert, I opted to use half-and-half. Heavy cream is more expensive and not necessary for this recipe (but feel free to use heavy cream if you wish).
• Eggs: You’ll use 4 eggs that serve as the binder for this dish.
• Sugar: The base of the bread pudding isn’t overly sweet – you’ll only use 3/4 cup of white sugar. The glaze, which is optional, makes this bread pudding sweeter and more dessert-like.
• Jelly: I had some delicious pear-ginger jelly on hand and added a couple of tablespoons to the cream cheese/custard mixture. You could sub any light-colored jelly like apricot or orange.
• Lemon juice: A squeeze of lemon juice adds more depth of flavor to the creamy custard.
• Vanilla: No need for anything fancy – the cheap vanilla extract from the grocery store will work just fine.
• Berries: I used cranberries to make this more of a holiday/Christmas dessert, as well as blueberries. You could certainly substitute other types of fresh berries including strawberries and raspberries. 
• Glaze: I made a simple glaze of heavy cream + powdered sugar + vanilla extract. I have seen other glaze/sauce options to go on top of croissant bread pudding, including whiskey sauce, caramel sauce, and vanilla butter sauce. Additionally, you could top this croissant pudding with maple syrup.
• Optional ingredients/substitutions: There are additional ingredient options and substitutions that would taste great. Try adding chocolate chips, dark chocolate chunks, a swirl of Nutella, raisins, toasted nuts (walnuts, almonds, pecans) or cinnamon, orange zest or grated ginger (add directly to custard mixture).

Important Step: Toasting The Croissants

This recipe is equally good with fresh croissants or stale croissants. The trick is to toast them before assembling the bread pudding.

To toast croissants, cut into bite-sized pieces and place on a large baking sheet pan. Bake the cubed croissants at 300F degree oven for 10-15 minutes, until they begin to become lightly toasted brown.

The Process

Here is the process for making the best bread pudding of your life. Scroll down for detailed recipe. 

• Toast croissant pieces in the oven until golden brown
• Combine custard ingredients and beat until smooth
• Place croissant pieces in a buttered casserole dish or 9 x 13-inch pan; add custard mixture gently mix to immerse all pieces in the liquid
• Allow the croissant pieces to soak for at least 30 minutes at room temperature – but overnight (refrigerated and covered with plastic wrap) if you plan on making ahead
• Add berries before baking
• Bake covered for 25 minutes + uncovered for 15 minutes
• Remove from oven, cool slightly, and drizzle with glaze
• Serve warm or at room temperature

If you have leftovers, store in an airtight container, refrigerated, for up to 5 days. Reheat in the microwave, if desired.

This recipe is equally good as a dessert or as a special occasion breakfast/brunch. The addition of cranberries makes it worth of a special Christmas morning breakfast. Consider serving with:

• Cheesy breakfast casserole
• Loaded hash browns
• Eggs and sausage gravy
• Really good scrambled eggs
• A fluffy, homemade omelette
• Extra crispy breakfast potatoes
• Fresh fruit

Continue to Content

Croissant Bread Pudding

Yield: 8 to 10 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Additional Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

I used easy-to-find croissants that came in a 10-pack from the grocery store. Each croissant yielded about 1 cup of bread cubes.

Print

Ingredients

• 10 small to medium-size croissants (about 10 cups total when cut up)
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 4 large eggs
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons pear-ginger jelly (or apricot or orange)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup blueberries
• 1/3 cup fresh cranberries

For glaze

• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 300F. Cut croissants into bite-sized pieces. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, until croissants are golden brown and toasted.
2. Soften cream cheese in the microwave for 5 to 10 seconds. Add half-and-half, eggs, sugar, jelly, and vanilla. Use an electric mixer to beat until smooth.
3. Place toasted croissants in a buttered casserole dish. Add custard mixture and stir ever so slightly to make sure every piece is immersed in the custard. Allow to sit for 30 minutes - or overnight if you are making this ahead of time.
4. Before baking, place berries on top and push a few down to evenly distribute.
5. Cover casserole dish with tin foil. Bake at 350F, covered, for 25 minutes. Remove tin foil and bake for 15 more minutes.
6. Allow to cool slightly before drizzing with the glaze.

Did you like this recipe?

Please give it a 5-star review on the recipe card above!