Overnight Chocolate Croissant Bake

Overnight Chocolate Chip Croissant Bake • As many of you are likely getting ready for your Thanksgiving grocery shopping, make sure these ingredients are on your list. Perfect for a crowd and proven to limit that amount of questions on Thanksgiving morning that sounds something like “how much longer until we eat?” Easy to prep, done the night before, delicious, decadent and so worth it!

Serves 8

Ingredients:

12 large, butter or plain croissants, cut into 1” cubes

8 eggs

1 cup regular or almond milk

1 cup heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla extract 

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie or apple pie spice 

1/2 tsp kosher salt 

3/4 cup chocolate chips

Note: If you have time, leave croissants spread out on a baking sheet for several hours or overnight to dry out.  They will better absorb the egg mixture this way, but if you don’t have time for this step, simply bake a few extra minutes.

Directions:

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and fill with croissant cubes.  Toss chocolate chips in with croissants, trying to evenly disperse.  Note, this is a lot of croissants and they will be mounded up out of the baking dish.  This is normal.  

Crack eggs into a medium bowl and add milk through sugar. Whisk well to combine. Pour mixture evenly over croissant cubes, trying hard to coat all pieces. Using clean hands, gently press bread down into baking dish so it absorbs as much liquid as possible. (Note, this step is important as you want the croissant cubes to soak up as much of the liquid as possible).

Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

When you’re ready to bake the casserole, preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Keep foil on casserole.  Bake 35-40 minutes or until nicely golden brown.  Remove foil for the last 5 minutes to nicely brown top of casserole.

Serve with fruit.