This Week for Dinner: Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding

Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding

Since it’s the day after Halloween, I thought I would share a devilishly delectable dessert with you. Because we’re all needing more sugar in our lives, right?

I’m a sucker for bread pudding. Seriously can’t get enough of the stuff. Especially when there is chocolate involved. My friend Adrianne shared a chocolate bread pudding recipe with me years ago that is mighty fine. (If you click through, PLEASE ignore the awful picture!) What I especially love about this particular recipe is you do not need to cook the pudding in a water bath. Granted, I’m sure a water bath makes for more even cooking, but honestly, this recipe always comes out and saves a pretty annoying step in the process.

I decided to try adapting the recipe using croissants. The first time it was too chocolatey. The second time it was not chocolatey enough. I think now it’s finally just right. Buttery, chocolatey goodness galore.

Cate loved this dessert maybe more than I did. Every day that it was in the fridge the first thing she would say at school pick-up was, “Bread pudding?” {I’m not exaggerating. I think she was thinking about it all day every day!}

Oh, and I decided that the bread pudding needed a little cream anglaise. And boy was I right. The crÃ¨me anglaise put the darn thing over the edge. I used this recipe from Epicurious. Anna actually skipped the pudding and just had crÃ¨me anglaise straight up. So funny.

Without further ado…

Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding

Author: Jane Maynard

Ingredients

- 6 regular-sized croissants, cut into cubes
- 2 cups whole or 2% milk
- 3 eggs
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups semisweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup sugar
- 6 tablespoons butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Melt over medium low heat – chocolate chips, sugar, butter. Stir frequently to avoid scorching. (I usually melt the butter first, then toss in the chocolate and sugar when it’s almost all melted.)
Whisk together milk, eggs, vanilla extract and salt. Add cubed croissants. Stir and let egg soak into the bread a bit. Fold in melted chocolate mixture (don’t over mix, it’s nice to have a bit of marbling.)

Notes

If you have a leaky springform pan like I do, line the bottom of the pan with some foil to account for any leaking (see photo – note, that is the bread before it has soaked in the egg. it loses a lot of volume once it soaks so don’t worry! that’s just the only photo I took with the foil lining the pan). Pour mixture into buttered 9-inch springform pan. Bake for about 1 hour, until center springs back gently when pressed. I also just sort of check the center with a thin knife to make sure the it is cooked. It should be moist and custard like, but not too eggy. Cool for 15 minutes, remove sides of pan and slice. Or just keep it in the pan and dig out servings with a spoon. Depends on how pretty you want things!
Serve with crÃ¨me anglaise, if desired.