Chocolate Croissant Pudding Recipe

In an earlier time, when food in Europe was scarcer, cooks invented a variety of creative ways to use stale items. Bread was a common item likely to go stale, which spurred the Italians to invent panzanella (“leftover salad” consisting of bread cubes, tomatoes and vegetables tossed in olive oil), the French to invent pain perdu (“lost bread”, essentially French toast) and the British to invent bread and butter pudding (a dessert of bread baked with eggs and milk).

This recipe is a bread and butter pudding that uses croissants as a base, sandwiched between layers of chocolate. It makes a lovely dessert or a decadent brunch alternative.

Ingredients

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon allspice or cinnamon
3 stale croissants, sliced in half and cubed
3 eggs
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups whole, skim or soymilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
confectioner’s sugar for dusting

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, melt chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons butter. Add allspice or cinnamon and stir.
2. Place one third of croissant cubes in the bottom of a 3-quart baking dish.
3. Pour half the chocolate sauce over the bread.
4. Lay another third of croissant cubes on top. Drizzle with the remaining chocolate sauce, followed by the final croissant cubes.
5. In a medium-sized bowl, beat 2 tablespoons melted butter, eggs, sugar, milk and vanilla.
6. Pour milk mixture into the baking dish and let it soak into the bread for 20 minutes.
7. Bake at 350F for 45 minutes.
8. Cool for 5 minutes and dust with confectioner’s sugar.
9. Serve alone or with whipped cream or ice cream.