Some like-minded coworkers and I recently started a “breakfast club” at work. Each day we rotate who brings breakfast for the group. It’s been a fun way to start the day and try out new recipes. Breakfast club recipes have to be delicious (duh), mostly “make ahead” (I’m not getting up with the roosters, no matter how much I love my coworkers), portable (my office doesn’t feature a full kitchen), and still delicious when reheated (for dessert after lunch, obviously). This guy ticks all of the boxes. Make it for your own breakfast club, when family stays over, or if you just want to eat bread pudding for breakfast.

Leftover croissants (the more stale the better) are soaked in a custardy mix for a couple of hours to overnight. Right before baking, the croissant mixture is topped with blueberries and a streusel topping. About an hour later a rich bread pudding with a perfectly crumbly top emerges from the oven. I’m no doctor, but I think you could probably consider the approximately 3-5 blueberries that end up in your piece a serving of fruit as part of a balanced breakfast.

Start by cutting leftover croissants into roughly 1 inch pieces, and transfer them to a baking dish. This particular dish is 10″ x 6.5″, but a standard 8″ x 8″ baking dish is roughly the same volume.

In a medium bowl beat 6 eggs. The one pictured is obviously oversized and meant for a stand mixer, but I like the handy pour spout.

Whisk in the milk, cream, sugar and vanilla.

Pour the mixture over the croissant pieces, and push them down so that they are completely and evenly covered by the liquid. Cover with plastic wrap, and allow to sit for at least 4 hours, to overnight.

When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven and make the streusel topping by combining grated butter, flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. I’ve gotten the best results with streusel topping by using my hands to really work the butter into the flour and sugar.

Top the custard soaked croissants with blueberries…

…and streusel. Bake for about an hour, until the streusel topping is golden brown and crispy. Under-baked streusel topping is mushy and no good. You want it to crumble when you poke your piece with a fork.

Enjoy!

Blueberry Breakfast Croissant Pudding

• Servings: 6-8 servings
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Ingredients

For the Croissant Pudding:

-6 large eggs

-1 cup 2% milk¹

-1 cup heavy whipping cream¹

-1/2 cup granulated sugar

-1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

For the Topping:

-8 tablespoons of butter, grated

-1/2 cup flour

-1/2 cup brown sugar

-1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

For the Croissant Pudding

1. For the Croissant Pudding Cut stale croissants into 1 inch cubes, and place in a baking dish.
2. In a large bowl beat the eggs. Whisk in the milk, cream, granulated sugar and vanilla.
3. Pour the liquid mixture over the croissants. Using a spoon, press the croissant pieces down so that they are completely and evenly covered by the liquid. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest at least 4 hours, and up to overnight.
4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°F.
5. For the Streusel Topping In a medium bowl combine the grated butter, flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Use your hands to rub the butter into the dry ingredients until all of the dry ingredients have been absorbed by the butter.
6. Top the croissant mixture with blueberries and topping.
7. Bake for about an hour, until the topping is golden brown and crispy.

¹Any dairy milk other than skim will work here. Alternately, use 2 cups of half & half i place of 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of cream.