Enjoy the ease and convenience of my Orange Croissant Breakfast Bake next time you are entertaining a breakfast or brunch. Place cubes of croissants in a baking dish with dollops of marmalade, before pouring over the cream cheese custard and baking it all to a golden brown. Similar to my Eggnog French Toast Casserole, this breakfast bake can be made the night before and then baked off in the morning to fill the house with a rich buttery, citrus aroma.
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Treat your guests or family with a batch of my grandmother's Cherry Scones recipe or dazzle them with my easy and colorful Arugula Breakfast Salad.
Ingredients
- Plain Croissants: Use softer, more bread-like croissants, often found in club packs at the supermarket, as they will better absorb the liquid mixture. If using crispier, flakier croissants from a local bakery, the dish could benefit by being made the night before in order to help the croissant soak up the egg mixture.
- Marmalade
- Cream Cheese
- Eggs
- Milk or milk substitute like almond or soy milk.
- Sugar
- Orange Zest (from one orange)
- Vanilla Extract or Vanilla Bean Paste (affiliate link)
- Chocolate Chips
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Start by preheating your oven to 375F if you are baking it right away, but this Orange Croissant Breakfast Bake can also be assembled the night before. You will also need a 3-quart baking dish (affiliate link), either glass or ceramic to make this recipe.
Cut up the croissant into 1-inch cubes and place the pieces in a greased 3-quart baking dish.
Warm up the brick of cream cheese in the microwave for 50 and place it in a large bowl. Add the sugar and the orange zest to the bowl and whisk until smooth.
Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, into the cream cheese mixture. Continue by whisking in the milk.
Spoon dollops of the marmalade over the cubed croissants. Tuck some of the dollops into the cubes to evenly distribute the marmalade.
Pour the liquid mixture evenly over the cubed croissants. Press down very lightly on the cubes to help them soak in the liquids. Sprinkle the top with chocolate chips.
Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil. Place in the preheated 375F oven with the foil cover still on. Bake covered for 25 minutes and then uncovered for 20 minutes.
If assembling the dish the night before, place in the refrigerator until ready to bake. The next morning, the dish will be cold, so you should add 5-10 minutes to the baking time (while covered with foil) to compensate.
Substitutions and Variations
- Croissants - Substitute the croissants with an enriched type bread, like Brioche, Paska, Challah or Panettone.
- Lemon - Replace the orange zest and orange marmalade with lemon zest and lemon marmalade to give this Croissant Breakfast Bake a different flavor profile.
- Chocolate - Omit the chocolate chips if you are not a fan of chocolate and orange together. Serve chocolate shavings or curls on the side for those who want to sprinkle some on their portion.
Storage
Place any leftovers of the Orange Croissant Breakfast Bake in an airtight container (affiliate link) and refrigerate for 2-3 days, or freeze for up to a month. Enjoy on a lazy weekend or even as a dessert!
Recipe
Orange Croissant Breakfast Bake
Equipment
- 1 3-Quart Baking Dish
Ingredients
- 6 large Butter Croissant see notes
- 1 cup Orange Marmalade
- 8 oz Cream Cheese
- ½ cup Granulated Sugar
- 3 large Eggs
- 1½ cup Milk or milk substitute like soy or almond
- 1 tbsp Orange Zest from 1 orange
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract or vanilla paste
- ¼ cup Chocolate Chips
Instructions
- Start by preheating your oven to 375F if you will be baking this recipe right away. Alternatively you can prepare the recipe the night before and place it in the refrigerator overnight.
- Slice the croissants into 1-inch cubes. Grease a 3-quart baking dish and place cubes in the dish. A 9"x13" baking dish usually about 3.5 Quarts and also works for this.
- Drop spoonfuls of the marmalade on top of the croissant cubes, also tucking some in so that it is all evenly distributed across the dish. Set the dish aside.
- To make the liquid mixture, start by warming up the cream cheese in the microwave for about 50 seconds. This will soften it and make it very easy to stir in the rest of the ingredients.
- Place the softened cream cheese in a large bowl with the sugar and the orange zest. Whisk them together until smooth. Continue by whisking in 1 egg at a time, until smooth between each egg. Add the milk and the vanilla to the bowl and whisk until well combined.
- Carefully, and evenly pour the liquid mixture over the cubed croissants. You should try to make sure that every piece gets some of the liquid. After pouring it all in, gently press down on the cubes to help them soak up the liquid.
- Evenly sprinkle the chocolate chips over the soaked cubes.
- Tightly cover the baking dish with aluminum foil. **If making it the night before, place it in the refrigerator overnight. If you do so, it might need an extra 10 minutes of extra baking with the foil on.**
- To bake, place in the preheated 375F oven, covered for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 20 minutes. The custard in the dish should be completely set and the top golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
It was perfect.