Fruit Croissant Bake

• servings: 6 servings
• active time: 15 minutes
• total time: 1 hour 55 minutes

Ingredients

8 ounces cream cheese (softened)

1/3 cup of maple syrup (or 1/2 cup of sugar)

2 tablespoons (up to 4 tbsp) of dark, unsulfured molasses

2 eggs

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1 cup of heavy cream

5 small croissants (tear into 1-inch pieces)

2 cups fruit (fresh, thawed from frozen, or drained fruit from a can)(ie. mixed berries, raspberry, blueberry, blackberries, peaches, or strawberries. Pretty much anything that you have available.)

Optional: 1/4 cup powdered sugar to dust the top with.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F (177C), and put bread pieces in a 7x11 baking dish and toast them for about 15 minutes or leave them overnight to dry out.

In the bowl of a standup mixer (or in a mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer), beat the cream cheese, maple syrup, eggs, vanilla, and heavy cream.

Spread the fruit over the top of the croissant pieces. Pour the custard over the whole dish. Gently push down on any high spots with a spoon or spatula to ensure all the croissant got wetted, and everything is well distributed.

Bake for 30 minutes for an internal temperature of at least 165F (74C).

Dust with the powdered sugar, if using.

Notes

Enjoy cold or warm. Pre-cook it and refrigerate for later.

To avoid the morning rush, try making custard ahead of time, toast the croissant pieces and refrigerate both until needed. Then when needed, preheat the oven, pour on the fruit and the custard, and cook. Ready in less than 45 minutes.

Molasses, particularly black strap molasses, is very nutrient dense.

Probably don’t need vanilla if using molasses.