Strawberry Croissant Bake

I'm back to my breakfast "thing". I'm so into the breakfast bakes, especially ones that I can make the night before and just throw into the oven in the morning. I was assembling this at 9pm and it really only took about 10 minutes to throw together.

I had a hankering for strawberries. I bought some a few weeks ago and they were not so good. I saw a 2 pounder from Sam's Club last week and they smelled amazing, so I picked them up. Without opening them up and actually eating a strawberry (which I'm sure the store would frown upon), I usually go for the smell test. If they smell really sweet and strawberrish, then I'll buy them. I cannot wait for strawberry season here in Rhode Island.....that won't be until late June  (ugh).

This really isn't a pretty breakfast bake. The strawberry sauce isn't very photogenic, but that won't stop me from posting this because no matter what it looks like, the important thing is how it tastes, and this tastes fantastic!

I'm watching my carbs and sugars so I only had one serving (1 mini croissant) but I can tell you I would have had 2 or 3 if I weren't watching it. So good!

I used store bought mini croissants. You can use the larger size but I really liked the little ones.

Here's what it looks like after it comes out of the oven and some hungry hands dug into it. The croissants are all snuggled up together. Awww.

This is the perfect breakfast to bring to a sick friend, a brunch, or just for a lazy Sunday.



Strawberry Croissant Bake
Printable recipe
adapted from a recipe at Crumbs & Chaos
12 small butter croissants
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
Juice of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 lemon
1 1/4 cups powered sugar (divided)
1 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs

Strawberry Sauce:
2 cups of fresh strawberries, chopped
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Slice croissants open. I didn't slice mine all the way through, I left them open like a clam shell (trying to give you a mental image, lol). Set aside.

Beat together cream cheese, lemon juice and 3/4 cup powdered sugar in a bowl. You want this to be light and fluffy (I used the whisk attachment for my mixer.)

Spread the cream cheese mixture on the bottom half of each croissant and close the top back down. Arrange the croissants so they all fit in the bottom of a lightly greased 9x13 pan. I placed them in there like a little puzzle.

Combine milk, eggs, lemon zest and 1/2 cup of powdered sugar. Pour over croissants in pan and then cover the pan with foil and place in fridge for 8-10 hours.

In the morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place covered pan in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 20-30 minutes until set and golden. Let stand 5-10 minutes after removing from the oven. Serve with strawberry sauce and fresh sliced strawberries.

Strawberry Sauce:
Add strawberries and sugar to a large, heavy saucepan. Stirring often, bring to a boil over medium heat. Take off of the heat and add vanilla. Mash with a potato masher for a chunky sauce, blend with an immersion blender for a smooth sauce.