Croissant Bread Pudding With Apples & Pecans


Croissant bread pudding is an ultra-rich version of the classic dessert! This one has a festive mix of diced apple and chopped pecans.

A square baking tin of croissant bread pudding with two square portions removed.

Photography by Kelly Neil

Bread pudding is an old-fashioned dessert usually made with stale leftover bread, eggs, and milk or cream. Sometimes called poor man’s pudding (which is what my Newfoundlander stepmom calls it) there’s nothing fancy about this dish. That being said, there’s something about bread pudding that always reminds me of the holidays. It could be because we serve it warm, with rich caramel sauce and whipped cream. It’s an ultimate in comfort food desserts!

This version is made with croissants for extra decadence. As a rule, croissants are rich, flaky, and loaded with butter. I recommend you do not use fresh croissants for this recipe as they won’t soak up the custard as well as stale croissants will. When in doubt, leave your croissants out on the counter overnight to dry out a bit.

I decided to stick with standard apple pie flavours for this recipe—apples, brown and white sugar, and a touch of cinnamon. I diced the apples fairly small to give them a similar-to-same cooking time as the bread pudding, while chopped pecans add texture and bite. I like to top mine with a drizzle of caramel sauce and a dollop of whipped cream. However you like it, it’s a simple dish that is especially good on cold winter nights!

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A square serving of croissant bread pudding on a plate with caramel sauce and whipped cream.

Ingredients

For The Croissant Bread Pudding

  • Croissants—Standard store-bought butter croissants, about 50-60 grams each.
  • Butter—I always use salted butter.
  • 10% half and half cream—Also called Blend (maybe only in Canada?). A mix of milk and cream.
  • Eggs—For consistency, I write all of my recipes using large eggs which are approximately 50-60 grams each.
  • Sugar—Regular white granulated sugar.
  • Brown sugar—Also called old-fashioned or dark brown sugar.
  • Cinnamon—Basic ground cinnamon.
  • Vanilla Extract—Use any vanilla extract, paste, or powder you like or have on hand.

For The Apple & Pecans

Ingredients to make apple mixture.
  • Apples—Gala, Granny Smith, or SweeTango apples are good sturdy baking apples, however, use any apples you like.
  • Pecans—I had whole pecans on hand but feel free to buy pre-chopped.

Method

Hands tossing torn bread pieces with melted butter in a mixing bowl.

Tear the croissants into bite sized pieces and place them in a large bowl. Drizzle the pieces with the melted butter. Use your hands to toss everything together until the croissants are well mixed with the butter. Set aside.

  • Eggs, cinnamon, cream, and vanilla in a pink mixing bowl.
    Combine the cream, eggs, sugars, cinnamon, and vanilla in a mixing bowl.
  • A bowl of whisked egg custard with a whisk in the bowl.
    Whisk well to combine.
  • Egg custard being poured from a dusty pink Pyrex bowl into a bowl of torn bread pieces.
    Pour the egg mixture over the croissant pieces.
  • A hand using a wooden spoon to stir pieces of bread with egg custard.
    Stir well.
  • Unmixed diced apples, pecans, cinnamon, and sugar about to be stirred.
    Combine the apples, pecans, sugars, cinnamon, and salt in another smaller bowl.
  • A bowl of diced apples stirred with pecans, cinnamon, and sugar.
    Stir together and set aside.
A hand using a wooden spoon to stir bread pieces soaked in custard.

Stir the apple pecan mixture into the bowl of croissants and custard then pour the bread pudding into a lightly buttered tin. Bake until the top is golden and the sides are pulling away slightly from the edges of the tin. Cool for 15 to 20 minutes before serving warm with caramel sauce and whipped cream

Overhead image of a square tin of baked croissant bread pudding.

Tips & Notes

Do not use super fresh croissants for this recipe. Bread for bread pudding should be stale and dry in order to better soak up the egg custard.

We use large eggs in our recipes.

10% half and half cream is sometimes called blend because it’s a blend of milk and cream.

How To Store Croissant Bread Pudding

Once the bread pudding has cooled completely there are a few ways to store it.

Refrigerator

Croissant bread pudding will keep in the fridge, covered tightly, for up to three days. To store in the refrigerator:

  • Cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and store the dish in the fridge.
  • Scoop all of the bread pudding into a large plastic container with a tight fitting lid and store it in the refrigerator.
  • Portion out individual servings into airtight containers with lids, or bowls covered tightly with plastic wrap. Store in the fridge.

Freezer

Follow the same instructions as for the refrigerator. Croissant bread pudding will keep in the freezer for up to two months. To serve simply thaw the bread pudding in the refrigerator the day before you want to eat it, then gently warm in the microwave or oven until heated through.

Substitutions

You can use any bread for bread pudding including homemade sourdough bread.

10% half and half cream can be substituted for regular milk or even some 35% whipping cream. I don’t advise using only whipping cream as the pudding is already quite rich with the 10%.

Apple pie spice mix would be a nice substitute for plain cinnamon.

Diced pears would also be great in place of apples.

Two small plates of croissant bread pudding with whipped cream and caramel sauce.

More Great Apple Recipes

Cinnamon Apple Galette
German Apple Sheet Cake
Granny Smith Apple Pie
Apple Cinnamon Rolls With Cream Cheese Frosting
Hawaij Apple Streusel Cake
Apple Crumble Cake
Dutch Oven Apple Crisp

If you make this recipe, let us know by tagging @baked_theblog + #bakedtheblog on Instagram! We love to feel like we’re in the kitchen with you.

Recipe

Yield: 9 servings

Croissant Bread Pudding With Apples & Pecans

A square baking tin of croissant bread pudding with two square portions removed.

Croissant bread pudding is an ultra-rich version of the classic dessert! This version has a festive mix of diced apple and chopped pecans.

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

For The Croissant Bread Pudding

  • 6 croissants (approximately 330-350g)
  • ¼ cup (56 g) butter, melted
  • 1½ cups 10% half and half cream
  • 3 eggs
  • ½ cup (100g) sugar
  • ¼ cup (50g) brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

For The Apples

  • 1½ cups (225g) peeled apples, diced into ½ inch (1¼ cm) cubes (about 2 medium apples)
  • ½ cup (60g) pecans, rough chopped
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
  • Pinch of salt

Instructions

  1. Tear the croissants into bite sized pieces and place them in a large mixing bowl. Drizzle the pieces with the melted butter. Use your hands to toss everything together until the croissants are well coated with butter. Set aside.
  2. Whisk together the half and half cream, eggs, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla until smooth. Pour the egg mixture over the croissant pieces and stir well. Let the croissants sit in the egg mixture while you prepare the apples.
  3. Mix together the diced apples, chopped pecans, sugars, cinnamon, and salt. Stir until everything is well distributed. Set aside.
  4. Let the croissant and apple mixtures sit for a minimum of 30 minutes, and up to two hours, stirring the croissants often. When you are ready to bake the bread pudding, preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC).
  5. Lightly brush the inside of an 8x8 inch (20x20 cm) baking tin with melted butter. Add the apple mixture to the bowl of croissants. Give everything a good stir to combine, then pour the mixture into the buttered tin. Spread the bread pudding evenly into the tin then place it in the oven for 45 to 48 minutes, or until the top is golden and the sides are pulling away slightly from the edges of the tin. Set the bread pudding on a wire rack to cool for 15 to 20 minutes before serving warm with caramel sauce and whipped cream.

Notes

Tips & Notes

Do not use super fresh croissants for this recipe. Bread for bread pudding should be stale and dry in order to better soak up the egg custard.

We use large eggs in our recipes.

10% half and half cream is sometimes called blend because it's a blend of milk and cream.

How To Store Croissant Bread Pudding

Once the bread pudding has cooled completely there are a few ways to store it.

Refrigerator

Croissant bread pudding will keep in the fridge, covered tightly, for up to three days. To store in the refrigerator:

Cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and store the dish in the fridge.

  • Scoop all of the bread pudding into a large plastic container with a tight fitting lid and store it in the refrigerator.
  • Portion out individual servings into airtight containers with lids, or bowls covered tightly with plastic wrap. Store in the fridge.

Freezer

Follow the same instructions as for the refrigerator. Croissant bread pudding will keep in the freezer for up to two months. To serve simply thaw the bread pudding in the refrigerator the day before you want to eat it, then gently warm in the microwave or oven until heated through.

Substitutions

You can use any bread for bread pudding including homemade sourdough bread.

10% half and half cream can be substituted for regular milk or even some 35% whipping cream. I don't advise using only whipping cream as the pudding is already quite rich with the 10%.

Apple pie spice mix would be a nice substitute for plain cinnamon.

Diced pears would also be great in place of apples.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

9

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 293Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 106mgSodium: 273mgCarbohydrates: 32gFiber: 2gSugar: 15gProtein: 7g

This is an approximation of the nutrition offered in this recipe, and is created using a nutrition calculator.

© Kelly Neil
Cuisine: American, Canadian / Category: Dessert

The post Croissant Bread Pudding With Apples & Pecans appeared first on Baked.