Overnight Cheesy Bacon Croissant Breakfast Casserole

Early December. Cody is on day three hundred and thirty-three of his sentence. Christmas is in three weeks. The dinosaur cake catering job for Jackson’s seventh birthday is on Saturday. I have been planning the design all week — a green stegosaurus with chocolate frosting plates down the back and yellow buttercream eyes. The cake is going to be the second cake job since the harvest party fox.

And the recipe Sunday was overnight cheesy bacon croissant breakfast casserole, which I made for the First Baptist Sunday school class’s breakfast meeting at Mrs. Tilford’s request. Mrs. Tilford had asked me on Tuesday afternoon if I would make a make-ahead breakfast bake for the meeting on Sunday morning, with reimbursement and a small tip. I said yes. The reimbursement was $20 and the tip was $15.

The recipe is from Averie Cooks. The casserole is a make-ahead breakfast bake where torn croissants, cooked bacon, and shredded cheese are layered in a 9-by-13 pan, and an egg-and-milk custard is poured over the whole thing, refrigerated overnight, baked the morning of. The croissants soak up the custard during the overnight rest, and the result in the morning is a custardy bread-and-bacon-and-cheese bake that is the kind of breakfast that converts a church basement into a destination for thirty-five minutes.

The math (church version): a six-pack of bakery croissants from Walmart $4.99, eight slices of bacon $2.99, two cups of shredded sharp cheddar $1.99, eight large eggs $0.65, two cups of whole milk $0.50, salt, pepper, mustard powder, fresh chives. Total: $11.12 for ingredients. Mrs. Tilford reimbursed $20 (the standard church-meeting reimbursement) and tipped $15 on top.

The technique is the layered assembly and the overnight rest. You butter a 9-by-13 baking dish. You tear the croissants into bite-sized pieces and arrange them in the bottom of the dish. You scatter the cooked crumbled bacon and the shredded cheese on top. In a separate bowl, you whisk the eggs, milk, salt, pepper, and a pinch of mustard powder. You pour the custard mixture over the croissant-bacon-cheese layer. You press down gently with a spatula so the croissants soak up the custard. You cover with foil and refrigerate overnight, at least eight hours.

The morning of the meeting, you take the casserole out of the fridge thirty minutes before baking to take the chill off. You bake at 350 for forty-five minutes covered, then ten more minutes uncovered for the brown top. You sprinkle with fresh chives and serve from the pan.

I delivered the casserole still hot to the church basement Sunday at nine-fifteen. Twenty Sunday-school students and three teachers ate the whole pan in under twenty minutes. Mrs. Tilford handed me an envelope at the end of the meeting with the reimbursement and the tip.

I made a smaller home version for Mama and me Sunday morning before church. Same technique, smaller 8-by-8 pan, four eggs, half the bacon, half the cheese, half the croissants. Total at home: about $5.50 for breakfast for two with leftovers for Tuesday morning toast.

Mama said, when she ate the home version, baby, this is brunch food. The catering business is teaching me that brunch food, on a Saturday-morning home schedule, costs about half what people think it does, and the difference is the work.

The recipe is below. The trick is the overnight rest and the press-the-bread-into-the-custard step. The custard soaks the bread and sets through during the bake.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes (plus overnight or freezer rest) | Servings: 8

Ingredients

6 large croissants, torn into bite-sized pieces (day-old works great)
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded Gruyère or Swiss cheese
8 large eggs
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 green onions, thinly sliced (optional, for topping)

Instructions

Prep the pan. Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with butter or nonstick spray. Scatter half the torn croissant pieces across the bottom in an even layer.
Layer the filling. Sprinkle half the crumbled bacon and half the cheddar and Gruyère over the croissant layer. Add the remaining croissant pieces on top, then the rest of the bacon and cheese.
Mix the egg custard. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, heavy cream, Dijon mustard, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper until smooth.
Pour and press. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the casserole. Use a spatula to gently press the croissant pieces down so they soak up the custard.
Rest overnight or freeze. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight. To freeze: wrap tightly in plastic wrap, then foil, label with the date, and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before baking.
Bake. Preheat oven to 350°F. Remove plastic wrap and bake uncovered for 40–45 minutes, until the top is golden brown, the edges are set, and the center is no longer jiggly.
Rest and serve. Let the casserole cool for 10 minutes before slicing. Top with sliced green onions if desired. Serve warm.

Nutrition (per serving)

Overnight Cheesy Bacon Croissant Breakfast Casserole — The Make-Ahead for the Sunday Morning Church Meeting