Croissant Bread Pudding

Croissant Bread Pudding is a delicious combination of the rich, buttery croissants, with fresh fruit and a sumptuous vanilla pudding. But perhaps the best part of this bread pudding recipe is you can serve it warm or cold. Plus, it's assembled in less than 15 minutes. Serve with a dollop of Homemade Honey Butter for a delicous flavor combination!

Jump to:

• 🥐 Ingredients to Have on Hand
• 💭 How to Make Croissant Bread Pudding
• ⏲️ Baking Dish Preference
• 🥣 Croissant Pudding
• ⭐ Recipe FAQs
• 👩🏻‍🍳 Fruit is Optional for Croissant Bread Pudding
• 🔪Croissant Size for Bread Pudding
• 🍓Fruit Options for Croissant Bread Pudding
• ♨️ No Need for Sauce on Top
• 🍴The History of Bread Pudding
• 🍰 More Dessert Ideas
• 🥧 More Baking Recipes
• Recipe
• Comments

🥐 Ingredients to Have on Hand

It doesn't take many ingredients to create Croissant Bread Pudding. Simply buy store-bought croissants, add fresh fruit and gather some pantry and refrigerator ingredients and you are set.

• Croissants
• Half-and-half
• Eggs
• Sugar
• Vanilla extract
• Fresh fruit

I like to serve this easy bread pudding with my cheesy Cougar Gold Quiche or Green Chili Egg Casserole for brunch.

Scroll to the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.

💭 How to Make Croissant Bread Pudding

It takes fewer than 15 minutes to dice the croissants and pour the sweetened half-and-half mixture over the top.

Here's how to assemble it, step-by-step:

1. Whisk together the half-and-half, sugar, vanilla extract and eggs in a 4-cup glass measuring cup.
2. Use a knife to cut each croissant into bite-sized pieces.
3. Rinse the fruit and set aside to drain in a colander.
4. Place half the croissants and half the fruit in a 9" x 9" baking dish.
5. Top with the remaining croissants and fruit.
6. Pour the half-and-half mixture over the layers of croissants and fruit.

If you'd like to find something savory to serve with Croissant Bread Pudding, I highly recommend Cranberry Jalapeno Meatballs or Starbucks Copycat Egg Bites.

⏲️ Baking Dish Preference

As you are assembling the Croissant Bread Pudding, it will seem like the 9" x 9" dish is very full when you add the croissants and fruit. That's OK. But if you use a larger dish, keep in mind that will affect the baking time. If you use a larger baking dish, check it after 25 minutes.

Pro Tip: I like to use glass bakeware for this recipe. Here's a dish that I recommend, but any 8" x 8" or 9" x 9" baking pan will work great.

🥣 Croissant Pudding

When you pour the liquid ingredients over the diced croissants and the fruit in the baking dish, you'll cover everything with just enough of the sweetened half-and-half mixture.

The rest of the liquid will settle to the bottom of the dish and create a delicate layer similar to a pudding, you could call it a croissant pudding and no one would argue.

⭐ Recipe FAQs

👩🏻‍🍳 Fruit is Optional for Croissant Bread Pudding

While this recipe calls for 1 ½ cups of fresh berries, I've made this without adding fresh fruit and it's just as delicious.

The unsweetened fresh berries give the croissant bread pudding a tart, fresh burst of bright flavor, and the fruit tastes wonderful with those buttery croissants.

Be assured, this is a dessert (or brunch) recipe that will be enjoyed by all regardless of whether you add fruit.

🔪Croissant Size for Bread Pudding

I've made this using standard-sized, large croissants and much smaller mini-croissants.

Pro Tip: I prefer using the smaller croissants because they provide more of the sturdy croissant tips in the bread pudding since you use 12 small croissants instead of six standard-sized, large croissants.

Most grocery stores sell large packages of croissants, but they do dry out quickly. If you have a few extras, this recipe is a great way to ensure no croissants from that big package go to waste.

Croissant Bread Pudding is a great recipe to use up leftover croissants.

🍓Fruit Options for Croissant Bread Pudding

Mix and match fresh fruit to add to your croissant bread pudding. I recommend choosing fruit that doesn't require a lengthy cooking time to soften.

For fruit such as peaches and apricots, peel the fruit then slice and dice into small, bite-sized portions.

Here's a list of fruits that will work well in croissant bread pudding.

• Raspberries
• Blueberries
• Blackberries
• Strawberries
• Peaches
• Apricots

♨️ No Need for Sauce on Top

Many bread puddings call for a syrupy sauce drizzled on each serving. While I'm never one to decline an opportunity to add more sweetness to anything, this croissant bread pudding does fine without a sauce on top. There's plenty of sugary sweetness in the dish already.

Pro Tip: Sometimes, just to be fancy, I've dusted each serving of Croissant Bread Pudding with a light sprinkling of powdered sugar and placed a sprig of fresh mint on the side.

🍴The History of Bread Pudding

Bread pudding has come a long way from its humble beginnings in England in the 11th and 12th centuries. Now bread pudding is enjoyed as a standalone treat, rather than simply a way to ensure stale bread doesn't go to waste.

But hat tip to all those frugal bakers back in the day who came up with a great way to combine bread with a sweetened custardy pudding and with a delicious result.

Pro Tip: Speaking of making sure no ingredients ever go to waste, be sure to check out my Crockpot Banana Bread recipe, it's a whole new spin on slow cooker baking and a great way to use up ripe bananas.

🍰 More Dessert Ideas

I love to use fresh fruit in dessert recipes. Give these a try and let me know what you think.

• Fresh Fruit Tart has a buttery shortbread crust that's simply delicious.
• Chocolate Strawberry Pie is a recipe for making mini-pies and these are so good, especially when strawberries are in season and plentiful.
• No-Peel Apple Cake is one of the easiest apple spice cake recipes. We even keep the peels on the apples!

🥧 More Baking Recipes

If you made Croissant Bread Pudding or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the 📝 comments below.

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