Blueberry Raspberry Croissant Casserole

This delicious make-ahead overnight Blueberry Raspberry Croissant Casserole is perfect for weekend breakfasts or brunches. The moment you take your first bite of this warm Blueberry Raspberry Croissant Casserole, you’ll feel instantly transported to a charming French pâtisserie. Crispy on the outside with a decadent French-style cream and sweet berries inside. YUM! It’s so good, it’s irresistible.

Blueberry Raspberry Croissant Breakfast Casserole

Every year, my girls ask me for a breakfast casserole. So I decided to make this croissant breakfast casserole, which I found in a magazine, and decided to try it, but made a few changes to the recipe, reducing the sugars and adding my own spin to it.

The result? This breakfast casserole turned out outstanding, to say the least.

Loaded with fresh blueberries and raspberries, this breakfast croissant casserole will make a delicious treat for your holiday brunch.

What’s Involved

For this breakfast croissant casserole, we used day-old mini croissants from Whole Foods. We filled each croissant with a mixture of cream cheese and berries. Next, we prepared a custard filling using eggs, cream cheese, and half-and-half.

We poured the custard over the croissants and topped it with additional blueberries and raspberries. The casserole was then covered and chilled for a few hours or overnight.

When it’s finally baked, the croissants become flaky, golden, and crispy on top, with a delicious pastry-like cream inside.

It is decadent, with a light and fluffy custard in every bite. This makes a wonderful breakfast croissant casserole; everyone will love!

Cook’s Notes & Tips for Success…

• The Preferred Extract: We love to use the Fiore di Sicilia Citrus extract in this recipe. It adds a beautiful depth of flavor to the pastry cream, just like you’d find in classic Italian and French desserts. If you don’t have this extract on hand, you can use a shot of orange Liqueur in its place, or just vanilla extract. Both will do fine.
• The Cheese at Room Temperature: It’s a good idea to have the cream cheese at room temperature, so that it is easier to whip and mix with a whisk. Otherwise, you can use a fork (as I did) to blend the cream cheese with the berries and powdered sugar (as you will see in our photos below).
• Use Day-Old Croissants: You will need 12 mini croissants. It’s best to use stale croissants for the simple reason that they will absorb the custard mixture and not become soggy.
• Extra Step: We prefer to rinse the blueberries and lightly pat them dry with a paper towel. But this is optional.
• Servings: This recipe will make 12 servings.

Ingredients for Blueberry Raspberry Croissant Casserole

For our blueberry raspberry croissant casserole, you will need the following ingredients:

• Mini Croissants: Best to use one-day-old or even stale mini croissants. These croissants will soak up the custard as they bake, resulting in a rich, creamy texture and flavor.
• Cream Cheese: You will need 2 packages. This will give you a creamy texture to both the filling and the custard.
• Powdered Sugar: Is needed to bind the cream cheese and add a little sweetness to the mixture. Plus, you will need some extra for dusting on top before serving.
• Fresh Berries: You will need only two cups of blueberries and one cup of fresh raspberries for this recipe. They burst with juicy sweetness throughout.
• Lemon Zest & Juice: Both are added to the cream filling to give the custard a subtle citrus flavor we all love.
• Extract: We prefer to use Fiori di Sicilia Citrus Flavor extract to flavor the custard. It enhances the citrus flavor you would expect from a French pastry.
• Eggs: You will need 4 large eggs for the cream cheese mixture. This will help bind the custard.
• Half & Half: This is needed for the creamy custard and to help bind all the ingredients.
• Granulated Sugar: Only 1/4 cup is needed to sweeten the eggs and creamy custard mixture (photo of the sugar is missing below).
• Salt: You can use any salt with this recipe; we prefer Himalayan salt.

How to Make Blueberry Raspberry Crosissant Casserole?

There are a few steps to making this breakfast casserole, and they are relatively easy to follow. Plus, our full printable recipe card is located at the bottom for your convenience.

1. Make the Cream Cheese Filling: First, combine 1 package (8-ounce) cream cheese, 2 teaspoons lemon zest, 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 cup of powdered sugar, plus 1 tablespoon of Fiori di Sicilia Citrus extract in a mixing bowl. Use a fork or a whisk to combine. Then add 1 cup of blueberries and crush them while mixing. Add 9 raspberries, sliced into pieces, and stir them into the mixture. Set it aside.

2. Prepare the Croissants: Grab your 9 x 12 or (9 x 13) baking dish. Spray lightly with cooking oil on the bottom of the baking dish. Then slice each mini croissant and place the bottoms cut sides up, and lay them side by side in the baking dish. Using a spoon, take a dollop of the berry-cream-cheese mixture and spread it onto the bottoms of each croissant.

3. Make the Egg Custard: You can use the same mixing bowl or a different one. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the second package (8-ounces) of cream cheese with 1/4 cup of granulated sugar and 2 cups of half and half. Next, whisk in the 4 eggs, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, and the remaining tablespoon of Fiori di Sicilia Citrus extract.

4. Close the Croissants: Cover the croissants with their tops. Then, grab a measuring cup and reserve 1 cup of the custard mixture and set it aside. Then pour the remaining custard slowly around and over the croissants. QUICK NOTE: This recipe makes a lot of custard, but we reserved 1 cup and poured the remaining mixture around the croissants. (See our notes about the extra custard reserved)

5. Next, Scatter the Berries: Scatter on top with 1 cup of blueberries and 1/2 cup of raspberries. Cover with aluminum foil, and chill for a few hours, or 8 to 12 hours. Also, transfer the reserved custard into a ramekin dish, cover, and place it into the fridge.

QUICK TIP! I made it early morning, chilled it for only 2 hours before baking, then baked it – and it turned out fantastic!

5. When Ready to Bake: Remove the casserole from the fridge and the reserved custard, and let them stand at room temperature while you preheat the oven.

6. To BAKE: Preheat the oven to 325F degrees (163C). Bake covered, the casserole and ramekin (with reserved custard) for 30 minutes. (NOTE: Best to bake on upper middle rack in the oven). Then remove the foil cover, and bake uncovered for an additional 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown and the custard is set. Remove, and dust on top with powdered sugar. The reserved ramekin of custard can be served as a bonus. Serve warm. Yields: 12 servings

Don’t forget! If you make this breakfast casserole, we encourage you to leave a review with a star rating in our recipe card below!  Your experience, insights, and feedback will keep our community going strong. And, thank you! The recipe is adapted from Southern Living.

More Delicious Brunch Ideas

• Tuna-Stuffed Deviled Eggs
• Spinach and Parmesan Quiche
• 5-Minute Mixed Berry Pie
• No-Bake Cake Carrot Bites

Thanks for stopping by…

Have a Delicious Day! 🙂