Almond Croissant Bread Pudding

An easy twist on a brunch favorite, almond croissant meets bread pudding for a decadent bite of buttery, flaky, nutty sweet white chocolate goodness.

When I worked in the city, I'd treat myself each Friday to an almond croissant with my coffee. It was a "weekend's almost here" ritual that made Friday's even sweeter. Croissants are one of my favorite pastries, and this dessert is the easiest way to add a little decadence to my day. You don't need many ingredients to pull this off and the finished result is a buttery, flaky, sweet, soft with a slight crunch on the top mouthful of yum. Interestingly we won't be making almond paste, but the combination of almonds, almond extract and white chocolate are a "cheat" combination that once baked, will taste as if we had.

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Almond Croissant Bread Pudding

Makes 9 - 12 servings

Ingredients

• 6 croissants, a few days old

• 2 cups vanilla almond milk

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 1 large egg

• 1/2 tbsp pure almond extract

• 1/2 tbsp pure vanilla extract

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips

• 1/2 cup sliced almonds

• powdered sugar, for dusting (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Line a 8x8 baking pan in aluminum foil (or parchment paper or skip both and generously butter your pan).

2. In a large bowl, whisk the vanilla almond milk, sugar, egg, almond extract, vanilla extract and cinnamon until combined.

3. Tear your croissants into medium-sized pieces (I tore each croissant into 4-5 pieces) and place them in your bowl of wet ingredients.

4. Pour in most of your white chocolate chips and give the mixture a quick stir.

5. Let the mixture sit until the croissants soak up most of the liquid, 5-10 minutes.

6. Pour the mixture into your prepared baking pan, making sure it's evenly distributed.

7. Sprinkle your remaining white chocolate chips and all of your almonds across the top of the mixture.

8. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, until the pudding is set (all the liquid is baked into the bread and it's moist, not soaking wet).

9. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool for 15 minutes or so.

10. Once cool, dust with powdered sugar and serve warm. Add a scoop of ice cream if you like.

Note

• Make sure that most of your white chocolate chips are mixed in with the bread and is evenly distributed in the mixture once everything is in the baking pan.

• If your white chocolate chips and almonds start to brown too quickly (especially around the edges), lightly cover the bread pudding in aluminum foil. There will be browning, but you can prevent them from burning.

Photos