Egg And Croissant Bake
This Egg And Croissant Bake is the breakfast or brunch of champions. With salty chunks of ham, crispy croissants, eggs and cheese topping. Crowd pleasing, family friendly and easy to make.
Servings: 8
Calories: 489kcal
Ingredients
Egg Mixture
- 10 large eggs free range, Note 1
- 1 cup heavy cream Note 2
- 2 tablespoons dried onion Note 3
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon horseradish cream Note 4
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves sprigs removed
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Croissant Bake
- 4 large croissants roughly chopped into pieces, Note 5
- 1 ½ cups baby spinach leaves roughly chopped into smaller pieces, Note 6
- 1 ½ cups ham chopped, Note 7
- 1 ½ cups cheddar cheese
To serve
- fresh thyme leaves
Instructions
- Preheat the oven: preheat the oven to 180°C / 350-375°F / Gas Mark 4-5.
- Cooking spray: liberally grease a large baking dish with cooking oil.
- Egg mixture: add each of the eggs, the heavy cream, dried onion, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish cream, mustard, salt and pepper to a large mixing bowl and whisk till consistently combined. Then set aside.
- Layers: spread the chopped croissants across the base of the baking dish then add a layer of the chopped spinach. Next spread the ham in and across the top to form its own layer.
- Combine: next pour the egg mixture across the top of the ham, spinach and croissant layers. Place the baking dish into the oven (middle shelf) and let the dish cook for 20 minutes. Once the initial cook time is up, use oven mitts to remove the baking dish and set it onto a heatproof surface.
- Cheese layer: sprinkle the cheese across the top of the dish then use the oven mitts to return the baking dish to the oven (middle shelf) and let it cook for a further 20 minutes.
- To serve: use oven mitts to remove the baking dish from the oven when the cook time is up. Let the dish sit for 5 minutes and garnish it with fresh thyme leaves. Then cut into portions and serve.
Video
Notes
- Note 1 - Eggs: if you crack these one by one into a large mixing bowl to begin with you can fish out any excess egg shell that may find its way in there. This is much harder to do if you add the eggs to the bowl as the last step in the process.
- Note 2 - Heavy cream: recipe states 1 cup which is 250ml in Australia. If you have purchased a small 300 ml bottle of cream you can use that whole amount as it will make minimal difference as opposed to tipping out 50 ml.
- Note 3 - Dried onion: this will be in the herbs and spices section of the supermarket. It saves time peeling and chopping an onion (and crying) and gives great onion flavor.
- Note 4 - Horseradish cream: you can omit for a more basic flavor profile.
- Note 5 - Croissants: these don't have to be freshly baked! In fact they are better if they are on the stale side. This is because we want them to be crispy and flaky texture wise.
- Note 6 - Spinach: you can use a food processor to chop this if you wish too. I take the lazier route and chop with a knife and cutting board to save time and washing up.
- Note 7 - Ham: the perfect way to use up leftover ham! Or you can use ham steaks and dice them yourself, save the chopping and use shredded ham or substitute this with crispy bacon, cooked sausage or cooked sliced mushrooms.
- Note 8 - Covered versus uncovered: if at any point you feel the croissant bake is becoming 'too brown' you can use a sheet of loose aluminum foil over the top. I don't use it for the recipe but I know each oven is different and I want to the recipe to be a success for you!
Nutrition
Calories: 489kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 35g | Saturated Fat: 18g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Cholesterol: 326mg | Sodium: 837mg | Potassium: 346mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1811IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 238mg | Iron: 3mg