This Chocolate Croissant Baked French Toast is made of mini chocolate chips, flaky croissants, and cream cheese combined with a sweetened egg mixture. It’s the perfect morning treat for your chocolate lover. Serve it as an easy make ahead breakfast or as a chocolate croissant bread pudding for dessert. It’s another French toast casserole similar to this Baked Cinnamon French Toast that everyone loves!
Yes, you can have chocolate for breakfast.
I know what you’re thinking because I’ve often thought about it, too.
It seems a little odd to have a favorite treat so early in the day, but believe me, each bite of this is worth it.
If this chocolate recipe might be a little too much first thing in the morning, then think about making it for a brunch or even enjoying it as dessert.
But, if you’d still like some chocolate for breakfast, you can have a slice or two of this double chocolate banana bread.
These easy chocolate bear claws are seriously one of THE easiest breakfast treats I’ve ever made.
Everyone who tries them absolutely loves them.
Another even simpler chocolate breakfast recipe are theses 2-ingredient Nutella cinnamon rolls. Ok, so they might not exactly be chocolate, but they’re still super delicious!
Or, if you’re a muffin lover, then you’ll definitely want to make these Chocolate Banana Muffins.
They most certainly don’t last long whenever I bake them, that’s for sure.
SAVE THIS CHOCOLATE FRENCH TOAST CASSEROLE RECIPE TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD!
I absolutely love baked French toasts because they are so gosh darn easy.
I love that you can put them together the night before and pop them into the oven with little or no fuss the next morning.
This makes them especially great breakfast recipes for holidays or mornings when you’ll have company.
Everyone loves them, too!
With different flavors like blueberry, peaches and cream, and even caramel apple, there’s something for everyone in the family.
You can even make a French toast casserole with waffles and strawberries!
What ingredients do I need to make this croissant breakfast casserole?
- croissants – small or large, it doesn’t matter. You’ll either tear or cut them up into bite size pieces to make 10 cups. This way if you’d still like to make this recipe, but use another bread such as a challah or even bagels, you can do that.
- mini chocolate chips – you can use the regular size if you’d like. I found that the mini melted better when it was baking
- cream cheese – two packages and bring them to room temperature so that they’re easy to mix.
- sugar
- pure vanilla extract – you can use regular vanilla extract. I prefer to use the pure vanilla extract because it tastes better, but I know that it might be in the budget for some. But whatever you do, PLEASE do not use the imitation vanilla extract if you can afford to. You don’t want to sacrifice taste for a few pennies.
- eggs
- milk
- heavy cream
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Tips for making this Chocolate Croissant French Toast –
- Spray your baking dish – it will make removing slices from the pan that much easier.
- Tear or cut the croissants into small pieces. Bite size will be good. You want a total of about 10 cups. You can see my note in the recipe.
- Put half of the croissant pieces into the dish and sprinkle half of the chocolate chips over them. Then put the remainder of croissants on top.
- In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth.
- Add in the eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt and mix thoroughly.
- Slowly pour in the milk and heavy cream while mixer is running on low. A hand whisk works well for this step, also.
- Gently pour the egg mixture all over the croissants.
- Sprinkle the remainder of chocolate chips over the pan.
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or for a minimum of 8 hours.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°F and remove plastic wrap.
Bake for 45-55 minutes. 45 minutes will give you a softer texture and baking for 55 minutes will be quite a bit firmer. My personal preference is at about the 52 minute mark. - Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar and serve with maple syrup.
Chocolate Croissant Baked French Toast
Equipment
- 9 X 13-inch baking dish
Ingredients
- 10 cups small sliced croissant pieces
- 12 ounces package mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 16 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 8 eggs
- 2 cups milk
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Prepare a 9 X 13-inch baking dish by spraying it with cooking spray.
- Cut the croissants up into bite-size pieces or 1-inch cubes. Layer half of them into the prepared pan.
- Sprinkle half of the mini chocolate chips over the croissants.
- Place the remaining croissants into the pan.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth.
- Add the eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt, and mix until thoroughly combined. With the mixer on low, pour in the milk and heavy cream. Beat until well mixed.
- Gently pour and evenly distribute the egg mixture over the entire pan. Sprinkle with the remainder of the chocolate chips.
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
- When ready to bake in the morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees F and remove plastic wrap. Bake for 45 – 55 minutes. 45 minutes will give you a softer, slightly unfinished middle whereas 55 minutes will be firmer.
Notes
Nutrition
Comments & Reviews
Oh my, this looks so good! Those chocolate chips are seriously calling my name. ?
Are the croissants already cooked? you buy ready to eat croissants?
Yes, Amanda, I purchased them at Walmart, already baked. You can also substitute a challah bread if you’d like and you’ll need about 6 cups of cubed bread, so one loaf would be fine.
I used this recipe but substituted challah bread for crossaints. Soo so good – everyone loved it. I hcut back on the cream cheese because although I like it I am not crazy about it. Definitely will be making this again! Thanks!
Oh, Helen, that’s so wonderful to hear! Thank you so much for letting me know. I’m so very glad you liked it. I love making my baked French toast recipes with challah; it just makes them SOOOOO good!
Wonderful post, so heart felt and honest! PS. Love the easy recipe. Regards Becky
Becky, thanks so much. I really appreciate that!
I just prepared this. Got everything i my baking dish. I decided, after, to see if there were comments, on if it matters, the overnight part. To find out that the Croissants were pre made, not raw. So a suggestion would be to mention either raw or pre cooked in the ingredient list.
This recipe looks delicious, but I was wondering if I could substitute the heavy cream with regular 2% milk. Thank you.
Ally, you can replace the heavy cream with milk as I’ve seen other Baked French Toast recipes made that way. I have never done it, so not sure how the outcome would be, but I found this post which might help guide you if you need to make any additions to the batter. Hope it helps!
https://living.thebump.com/heavy-cream-vs-milk-baking-8064.html
How do I pin this?
Cheryl, you just have to hover over the picture and the red Pin it button should come up. IF not, there’s a Pinterest icon on the left side of the screen to click.
can i bake this in a 12 x 16 inch sheet cake pan instead of a 9 x 13 pan? maybe double the recipe??
Annette, I wouldn’t recommend baking it in a sheet cake pan. You’ll need a baking dish with high sides to contain the liquid that you pour over the bread and a slightly rimmed baking pan won’t do. I would hate for you to have to clean up a big mess in your oven.
This is my new favorite breakfast to make when we entertain! Making this again tomorrow as we have company coming to spend a few days, It’s perfect for chocoholics like us & so easy to prepare!
Joan, I’m so glad! I appreciate you letting me know. It’s a favorite here at our house as well and I LOVE having chocolate for breakfast!
Enjoy your holidays!
Hi Lynne.. this looks so good. I had saved an old copy of this recipe where it was just 8oz of cream cheese, and you put squares little squares in separately. I’m wondering what made you change it, and what the difference is in the final product… Thanks.
Hi Renee! Yes, I did change it, but please feel free to continue making it as was previously directed.
I decided to add the additional 8 ounces of cream cheese and blend it with the eggs and milk to give it more of a custard consistency. Personally, I like this current version more than the previous one. I love cream cheese and the small squares of it were good, but I like that it’s distributed more throughout the dish this way. Why be greedy with the cream cheese, right? haha Everyone should be able to enjoy it! Also, this dish will now be perfect as a chocolate bread pudding as well if you’d like to serve it for dessert. Either way, breakfast / dessert, 8 ounces of cream cheese in squares or 16 ounces blended with the eggs and milk, it’s still pretty darn delicious.
If you try the new version, please let me know what you think! ❤️
After reading the comments, I really believe people are getting croissants confused with crescent rolls. Hope this helps.
Would this recipe turn out okay if I halved it and baked it in a 9×9 square cake pan?
I’ve made this recipe about 10 times in a 9×13, and it is amazing every time. It’s my go-to breakfast casserole for a crowd. Thank you for that!!
However, I need a smaller quantity as I’m baking it as part of a meal train for two adults. Please advise.
Kimberly, I’m so glad you love it! You can definitely cut the in half and put it into a 9 X 9 pan. Halve the ingredients and just follow the directions as you normally would.
I think it’s wonderful you want to share it, thank you so much!
Do you have to leave it overnight? Looking to make this for dinner tonight actually lol
Niki,
You can definitely bake it the same day and it doesn’t have to be refrigerated overnight.
It might take a little longer to cook though, so just keep an eye in the center and insert a knife to determine if it had been cooked completely through.
Enjoy your dinner!
Can this be made ahead of time or reheated?
Yes, Yasmeen. You can make it the night before you plan to eat it and then pop it into the oven to bake in the morning. You can also bake it ahead of time and then reheat it as well. For that, I suggest covering the dish with tinfoil and putting it into the oven at 350°F for 20 – 30 minutes.
My son is allergic to eggs so I was thinking about using a different bread. Any suggestions for substituting the egg? I use egg replacer when baking but not sure how it’ll work here. Thanks!
Hi Jennifer, I think an egg replace could work because I found this recipe that doesn’t use eggs: https://homecookedroots.com/vegan-french-toast-casserole-with-peach-preserves/
I hope this helps and would love to know how it turned out should you give it a try!
I made this in the morning and baked it about 4 p.m. the same day. I liked it warm, but loved it cold. It has a cheesecake consistency and taste. I will make this again. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Tina, that’s so awesome to hear, thank you!
How do you go about freezing this? Do you cook it first then freeze it?? I love the recipe and have made it 3 years in a row for Christmas breakfast but I’d love to make it ahead of time this year…..
I made this for a ladies meeting. It was a huge success. I had several ladies ask for the recipe. I will definitely make it again.
Patricia, that’s so wonderful to hear! Thanks so much for the comment and rating, and that means so much that you shared it as well. ❤️ You made my day!
This was a simple recipe, but too chocolaty for my taste. I seemed very much like a dessert, which is fine. Personally, I’ll cut back on the chocolate by about 50% next time.
I appreciate your feedback, Steve. It can be too sweet for some to have it for breakfast, and could definitely be made for dessert as well. I’m with you though, I’d cut back on the chocolate, but maybe by 1/3.
Thanks for taking the time to let me know!
When does the second half of the chocolate chips come in? Thought I missed a step but looking back, I don’t see them mentioned again. Do I add on top just before heating? Or when it’s just coming out of the oven?
Kate, eeks! Thanks so much for bringing that to my attention. It says it in the post, but not in the recipe card. I’ll be sure to fix that. You put them on the top before you cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Otherwise, you can just sprinkle them on top before putting it into the oven.
Thank you!
Just eat croissants and scrambled eggs…an expensive recipe where the ingredients taste better alone than mixed together. Looks good, smells good, tastes not so good.
Thank you, Jen, for your feedback.