Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding

My neighbor showed up at my door one Saturday morning with a bag of day-old croissants from the bakery where she works, insisting I do something special with them. I stood there holding them, still warm in their paper bag, and suddenly remembered a chocolate bread pudding I'd tasted years ago at a little café in Montreal. Two hours later, my kitchen smelled like butter and cocoa, and I understood why she'd brought them to me specifically.

I made this for my book club last month, and what I remember most isn't the compliments, but watching my friend Sarah tear into her second slice while discussing chapter seven, completely oblivious to the chocolate on her chin. That's when I knew the recipe worked—when it became background magic to the actual moment happening around the table.

Ingredients

• 6 large croissants (preferably day-old), cut into 2-inch pieces: Stale croissants are your secret weapon here because they absorb the custard without falling apart like fresh ones would. If you only have fresh croissants, pop them in a 300°F oven for five minutes to dry them out slightly.
• 1 cup (170 g) semisweet chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate: This is where you can make the dish entirely yours—I usually use a mix of dark and milk chocolate for complexity, but pure dark chocolate makes it more sophisticated.
• 2 cups (480 ml) whole milk: The milk is your custard's foundation, so don't skimp with skim versions.
• 1 cup (240 ml) heavy cream: This is what makes the custard luxurious and prevents it from tasting watery or egg-heavy.
• 4 large eggs: Room temperature eggs whisk together more smoothly, so pull them from the fridge about fifteen minutes before you start.
• 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar: This sweetens without overpowering the chocolate or croissant flavors.
• 1 tsp vanilla extract: Real vanilla extract makes a noticeable difference in depth here, not that artificial vanilla-adjacent taste.
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt: A tiny pinch that somehow makes everything taste more like itself.
• Powdered sugar, fresh berries, and whipped cream: These are optional but honestly, the powdered sugar dusting is what makes it look intentional.

Instructions

Heat your oven and prepare the dish:

Set your oven to 350°F (175°C) and butter a 9x13-inch baking dish generously. You want the butter to coat every corner so nothing sticks and burns.

Layer the croissants and chocolate:

Spread your croissant pieces across the buttered dish like you're building something, not just tossing them in. Scatter the chocolate throughout so it's distributed, not clumped in one corner.

Whisk the custard base:

In a large bowl, whisk together milk, cream, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt until the mixture is smooth and the sugar has dissolved. This takes about a minute of actual whisking, not just casual stirring.

Pour and soak:

Pour the custard evenly over the croissants and gently press down with a fork so every piece gets moistened. Let it sit for ten minutes—this is where the magic happens as the bread soaks up all that eggy, creamy goodness.

Bake until golden:

Slide it into the oven for 35 to 40 minutes. You'll know it's done when the top turns golden brown and the center feels set when you gently shake the dish, though there should still be a tiny jiggle in the very middle.

Cool and finish:

Let it rest for ten minutes before serving—this helps it hold together and makes plating less of a disaster. Dust with powdered sugar, add berries or whipped cream if you're feeling generous, and serve while it's still warm enough that the chocolate is soft.

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There's something about bread pudding that transforms a kitchen into something warmer, like the oven is doing more than just baking. My daughter wandered downstairs mid-recipe following the smell, and instead of asking what was for breakfast, she asked when it would be ready—that's when I realized this dish does something beyond feeding people.

The Croissant Question

You might wonder if using croissants instead of regular bread actually matters, and the answer is yes in a way that matters. Regular bread soaks up custard like a sponge and becomes mushy, but croissants have all those layers and butter already built in, so they stay structured while absorbing flavor. They also give you little pockets of melted chocolate that plain bread just can't offer.

Making It Your Own

This recipe is begging for variations, and that's part of its charm. Some mornings I add a tablespoon of orange zest to the custard because I'm in a bright mood, other times I add a splash of orange liqueur for something more sophisticated. I've done it with white chocolate and raspberries when someone's coming over I want to impress, and I've done it plain when I just need comfort on a Tuesday.

Storage and Second Helpings

Leftovers stay good in the fridge for three days, which almost never happens in my house but technically they can. To reheat, cover loosely with foil and warm in a 300°F oven for about ten minutes so the edges don't dry out while the center comes back to life. It's never quite as perfect as fresh, but it's honest and still delicious.

• Day-old croissants work better than fresh because they have less moisture and won't turn to mush in the custard.
• Room temperature eggs whisk into the custard more smoothly than cold ones, making for a silkier texture.
• Let the assembled pudding rest those ten minutes before baking—it's the difference between okay and genuinely good.

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This recipe has become my answer to the question of what to make when I want to feel like I'm doing something special but don't actually want to spend my whole morning in the kitchen. Serve it warm, watch people's faces when they taste it, and accept that you've just become the kind of person who makes chocolate croissant bread pudding for brunch.