A great breakfast doesn’t have to be complicated or time consuming to make! This overnight sweet croissant breakfast casserole is assembled the night before, studded with juicy mixed berries and sweetened cream cheese, then drizzled with a mouthwatering vanilla bean glaze. It seriously tastes like a danish!
We love tasty breakfast recipes like this Croissant Breakfast Casserole! It’s perfect for holidays or a fun weekend with family. Other family favorites are my Loaded Overnight Breakfast Casserole and Homemade Breakfast Sausage Patties. This is one of my Breakfast recipes you’ll want to hold on to!
SWEET BREAKFAST CASSEROLE
I don’t know about you, but I’ve always been a huge breakfast food fan. Although, I don’t generally like to actually cook breakfast in the mornings. That sounds weird, right?
Mornings for me are basically a trudge to the kitchen where I tiredly heat up some water for my hot tea, and I’m not all that functional until about 30 minutes after that when the caffeine kicks in.
Definitely not when I want to be hanging out with sharp knives and hot stove tops!
That’s why I LOVE breakfasts like this Berry Croissant Bake… not only do they look fantastic, but they are actually made up the night before and sit overnight in the refrigerator.
Then all you have to do in the morning is preheat the oven and bake it. Breakfast is done!!
HOW TO MAKE THIS SWEET BREAKFAST CASSEROLE
- Add chopped croissants to a greased baking dish and top with berries.
- Beat cream cheese with a hand mixer until smooth, then beat in milk, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest.
- Pour over the croissants and berries.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Let baking dish sit on counter while your oven preheats.
- Bake, covered, for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake another 15 minutes or so.
- While casserole is baking, combine powdered sugar, cream, and vanilla in a bowl and whisk to create the glaze.
- Drizzle over top of warm casserole when finished baking and enjoy.
COOKING TIPS FOR THIS BREAKFAST BAKE
- Use quality croissants – for this recipe you’ll want to use the flaky, buttery croissants from the bakery section of the grocery store… not the kind that come in a can with a little dough boy on the label. Nothing against that kind, but you want alllll those fabulous little nooks and crannies of the real croissants, as they soak up the amazing sauce.
- Use whichever berries you like best – I tested this recipe using fresh berries, but I’ve had some readers reach out to me and say they used frozen berries with great results as well. Fresh or frozen, use your favorite berries! I chose a mixture of raspberries, blueberries and blackberries.
- Use the hand mixer – it’s tempting to just grab a whisk and save getting out the mixer, but I found I couldn’t get a really smooth consistency when whisking the cream cheese by hand.
- Room temperature – speaking of cream cheese, set it out for a bit beforehand so it’s softened to room temperature, or you’ll really have a tough time getting it smooth.
VARIATIONS OF THIS RECIPE
- Other breads – if you’d rather use a different kind of bread than croissants, you can switch it up and try a hearty Italian or French bread. I’ve even had one reader use chopped up cinnamon swirl bagels! For an Italian or French bread, I’d try to let them sit out a day or so, so they’re a little stale, that way they’ll absorb more of the liquid.
- Other sauce flavors – a pinch of cinnamon, almond extract, orange zest instead of lemon… you can really flavor this up to your hearts’ content.
- Not-so Overnight – even though this recipe was created to be an overnight breakfast casserole, you can still make it the day of if you’d like. Just make sure it can sit for 30 minutes or more so the croissants can soak up the liquid.
MAKING BREAKFAST CASSEROLE AHEAD OF TIME
The beauty of this sweet breakfast is that it’s designed to be made ahead of time! Don’t you just love recipes like that?
Just follow the written recipe down below and you’ll be all set to make this a day ahead of time. I wouldn’t do much longer than that, as you don’t want it to start to dry out.
FREEZING
I have not officially tested freezing this recipe, but if you’d like to try it, here are my tips.
Complete recipe through step 3, then cover tightly and freeze for up to 2-3 months.
To thaw, place (still covered) in the refrigerator and let thaw overnight.
Bake as directed, checking to make sure it’s done (since this casserole may be colder than the regular version). If not done baking, add another 5-10 minutes.
STORAGE
Leftovers should be refrigerated in an airtight container and consumed within 3-4 days.
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT FOR THIS RECIPE
- 8×8″ baking dish – I love the simple elegance of this dish, and it’s a breeze to clean!
BE SURE TO SCROLL DOWN TO CHECK OUT OTHER READERS’ COMMENTS FOR TIPS AND REVIEWS.
AND DON’T FORGET, IF YOU’VE MADE THIS RECIPE, LEAVE A COMMENT AND PLEASE GIVE IT A STAR RATING LETTING ME KNOW HOW YOU ENJOYED IT!
Originally posted in April of 2017, and has been updated in February 2020 with additional information.
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
Ingredients
- 4 large croissants (from the bakery) sliced into 1 inch cubes
- 1 1/2 cups mixed berries (I used raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries)
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup milk (whole or 2%)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp lemon zest
Vanilla Bean Glaze:
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 2-3 Tbsp heavy cream (or half and half and milk)
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract if you don't have the paste)
- powdered sugar for dusting (optional but recommended)
Instructions
- Grease an 8x8" baking dish, fill with sliced croissants and mixed berries. Set aside.
- Add cream cheese to mixing bowl and beat with hand mixer until smooth. Add milk, sugar, eggs, vanilla and lemon zest and beat until combined.
- Pour mixture over croissants and berries.
- Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight.
- Remove baking dish from refrigerator and let sit on the counter. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
- Bake, covered with aluminum foil, for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake uncovered for 15 minutes, until golden and when a knife inserted in center comes out clean.
- While casserole is baking, add powdered sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla bean paste to a small mixing bowl and whisk to combine until smooth and pourable.
- Drizzle glaze over casserole after it's finished baking. Serve warm and dust with powdered sugar if desired.
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Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Jessica says
Made for my in laws for Christmas and boy did this exceed all expectations. Everyone asked for the recipe & requested it be kept in rotation for next year. As others mentioned, do NOT skip the lemon zest. Recipe is perfect as is.
Pattie W. says
Put this together tonight. No curdling issue. I mixed the cream cheese and sugar together real well. Then added the milk, eggs, vanilla,lemon zest. My mixture was kind of thin. I hope it’s ok. I followed the directions. Some reviews said it was real thick and sat on top of the bread and fruit. Not mine. It covered the bread and fruit nicely. It’s in fridge now, covered.
I’m thinking with the topping/glaze, I might add a touch of almond extract. Has anyone used almond extract? Wonder if it would be better with a little cinnamon?
I used blueberries, raspberries and strawberries. Can’t wait to have it in the morning! Serving sausage links with it.
robin says
mine looked disgusting… MAYBE i should have trusted the process but the cream cheese mixture all curdled and looked AWFUL- i dumped it all out and was heartbroken