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It’s pretty hard to beat this Baked Strawberry and Cream Stuffed Croissant French Toast. Not only is this french toast easy…it’s better than any other french toast you’ve ever had. Yep, bold but true! Soft, buttery, flaky croissants, stuffed with strawberries and extra creamy, cream cheese. Then baked in an eggy french toast “batter”. It’s the perfect (make-ahead) brunch entrée for both spring and summer. And it’s super pretty when topped with a dollop of whipped cream, berries, and a nice drizzle of maple. No one will pass up this french toast!
This was a very last-minute recipe that I made on Sunday with Mother’s Day in mind. Instead of overthinking it, I just decided to make it. And now? Well, now I couldn’t be more excited to share the recipe. I had the realization Sunday morning that I haven’t yet shared anything for a Mother’s Day brunch. Usually, I’ll share at least one new recipe with you guys to help celebrate our moms. More times than not, my brunch recipes are on the sweeter side, as that’s the kind of brunch food my mom enjoys most.
She’s loves anything bready, eggy, fruity, and dolloped with cream. Think dutch babies, blueberry waffles, crepes, pancakes, and french toast. She loves them all.
I opened up Pinterest to see a photo of french toast dressed in powdered sugar and berries. Suddenly, I felt like making french toast. But instead of just regular ole’ french toast, I’d make it extra special for Mother’s Day. I decided I’d bake it, because let’s be real, standing at the stove flipping french toast all morning is not what I want to be doing. I think we can all pretty much agree on that.
And that’s when this fun idea was born.
Using croissants for french toast is nothing new to me, I’ve done it before. But this time, I wanted to try something different. I want to leave the croissants in their same shape and form, but instead, stuff them with berries and cream, and then bake them on a baking sheet to allow them to caramelize a bit in the oven.
At first, I wasn’t sure how everything was going to play out. But honestly, I might never make french toast any other way again. This is so easy, but looks crazy impressive, and most importantly, it’s delicious.
Here are the details
For the french toast batter, it’s simple…eggs, milk, and vanilla. My secret here is a splash of St. Germain, which is elderflower liquor. It’s a very subtle floral flavor that I find pairs perfectly with strawberries. If you have it on hand, it’s a must. If not, just use vanilla and maybe add a pinch of cinnamon.
You’ll want to find yourself some croissants, it’s best if they’re nice and flaky, but on the smaller side. If possible, let them sit out for a day. But honestly, I usually just buy them fresh and then make the french toast! I’m not a great planner. Anyway, take the croissants and make a small slit in each to create a pocket for the berries and cream. It’s actually really easy to do. I tried my best to give you visuals, but as always look out for the Instagram story tonight for a complete how-to.
Next, swirl the cream cheese with your favorite strawberry jam, then stuff the mix into each croissant. Sounds fancy, but I promise, it’s easy.
From here, butter up a baking sheet. Now dip each stuffed croissant into the egg batter, and arrange on the baking sheet. Here’s the added bonus to this recipe. Once the french toast has been dipped, you can cover the pan and keep it in the fridge overnight, then in the morning – bake!
Very convenient for early mornings!
Here is the secret…
It’s simple, first, mix butter with brown sugar and maple. The secret is to spoon that brown sugar and maple butter sauce over top of the french toast about three-quarters of the way through baking.
As the french toast finishes baking the sugar and butter caramelize overtop of the croissants creating a caramelized outer layer with the softest, eggy, creamy insides.
It is DELICIOUS you guys.
I will note, you may need to spoon some of the maple butter sauce off of the sheet pan and over the french toast, as it will slide off a bit. But other than that nothing is tricky!
I (of course) serve the french toast warm with a dollop of whipped cream and maple.
And the berries, I love to toss them with a little more of that St. Germain and a splash of vanilla too. Simple, pretty, and oh SO GOOD. When I sent my mom the photos, this was her response…
“Wow! I want to eat those – NOW! Beautiful!”
“They ALL look SO good!”
And after I finished shooting, she ate them. She said they tasted even better than they looked. This baked croissant french toast clearly has her seal of approval! We will 100% be recreating this recipe for Mother’s Day!
Looking for a few other Mother’s Day brunch recipes? Here are my mom’s favorites.
Lemon Strawberry Dutch Baby with Ricotta Cream
Raspberry Lemon Brioche Rolls with Whipped Ricotta Cream
Lastly, if you make this Baked Strawberry and Cream Stuffed Croissant French Toast be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Baked Strawberry and Cream Stuffed Croissant French Toast
Servings: 8
Calories Per Serving: 525 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs, beaten
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons St. Germain (elderflower liquor) (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 6-8 small-day-old croissants
- 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup high quality strawberry jam
- 3 tablespoons melted salted butter, plus more for the pan
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons real maple syrup
- 1 cup fresh strawberries, sliced horizontally
- whipped cream and maple syrup, for serving
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 375° F. Grease a baking sheet with butter. 2. In a large shallow dish, whisk together the eggs, milk, 2 tablespoons St. Germain, 1 tablespoon vanilla, and the salt. 3. Grab the croissants and make a 1 inch slit at the top of each, move your knife to create space in the croissant, being careful not to poke through the other sides (see above photos). 4. In a bowl, gently stir together the cream cheese and strawberry jam, leaving streaks of red and white. Spoon the mix into a ziplock bag and snip the corner off the bag. Squeeze approximately 2 tablespoons of the strawberry cream into each croissant where you created your hole. Don't stress about making it perfect. Dip each croissant into the egg mixture, allow it to sit 1 minute per side. Arrange half the croissants on the prepared baking sheet. 5. Brush each croissant with a little leftover egg batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the croissant is golden. 6. Melt together the butter, brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons maple syrup. Spoon the butter evenly over each croissant. Bake another 10 minutes, until the croissants are caramelized on top and crisp.7. Toss the berries with 1 tablespoon St. Germain, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 tablespoon maple. Serve the french toast warm, topped with whipped cream, berries, and maple Enjoy!
Notes
To Make Ahead: Complete the recipe through step 5. Cover and place in the fridge overnight. When ready to bake, remove the french toast from the fridge and let it sit on the counter while the oven preheats. Bake and finish the recipe as directed through step 5.
I made these for a previous Mother’s Day and they were such a hit that I’m making them tomorrow for Mothers Day once again! Nice job!
Hi Jennifer,
Perfect!! Love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed and thanks so much for making it! Happy Mother’s Day!💐
This was amazing! I made it for my coworkers and it was a hit! It was super easy to make and I will be making it again.
Hi Emily,
Wonderful!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks a lot for making it! Have a great weekend:)
This is one of my all time favorite recipes!! I would love to make this for my sister’s bridal shower, but it is at a coffee shop, so I would need to travel with it. Do you think it would hold up? Any suggestions?
Hi Eugenia,
Happy Sunday! 😃 Thanks a bunch for trying this recipe out, so glad to hear it turned out well for you! Sure, I don’t see why that wouldn’t work for you, the only down fall is it might get cold! xx
I have a question about making this the night before. If I am supposed to complete step 5, should I complete the first 20-25 minute bake before I put them in the fridge overnight, and then the second 10 minute bake in the morning? I expected to do all the baking in the morning. Thank you! And thank you for all your recipes, my whole family loves them.
Hi Libby,
You are not going to bake at all until the morning:) I hope you love this recipe, please let me know how it turns out! xT
This was DELICIOUS! My family absolutely loved it. We happened to have the St. Germain on hand and the only part I could not figure out is if it is okay to use since it is cooked in the oven, if my kids are eating it. I ended up leaving it out because I wasn’t sure. But this recipe was amazing and we cannot wait to make it again. Thank you 🙂
Hi Michele,
Happy Sunday!! I love to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks for making it! Yes, Asher eats this all the time, the alcohol cooks out:) xTieghan
I made these today for Mother’s Day. I did one batch per the recipe (although I omitted St. Germain).
Second batch, I used orange marmalade and orange zest instead of the strawberry jam, giving it a pretty strong orange flavor which we all loved.
Everyone loved them. We had 2 people who were not excited about this recipe that ended up loving it. Huge hit.
Hey Liz,
Wonderful!! Thank you so much for making the recipe, I am so glad to hear that it was enjoyed!! Have the best week:) xxT
This was amazing. Like should be in a nice restaurant amazing. Our own personal family preference would be reduce the cream cheese amount and increase the jam but it was amazing! We spent dinner talking about all the ways we could make this into our own variations too. Blueberry and cream! We’d be happy with the recipe even without it stuffed for days we’re shorter on time because it turned out so good with the marinated berries and the butter maple caramelized top… Amazing. Perfect Mother’s Day.
Hey there,
Wonderful!! Thank you so much for making the recipe, I am so glad to hear that it was enjoyed!! Have the best week:) xxT
My mouth is watering just writing my review..
This recipe is SO SO SO good! I can not wait to make it again.
This is my second review of this recipe. I originally made this recipe for Mother’s day as written above. I made this for a brunch this morning using cinnamon apples. I sauteed apples with brown sugar, butter and cinnamon and mixed that with the cream cheese. I left out the St Germain. Besides that I followed the rest of the recipe steps. The base of this recipe is great and the filling possibilities are endless.
Hey there,
Happy Monday! I love to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks a lot for giving it a try! xTieghan
Yummy! This was delightful! And how simple to mix cream cheese and strawberry jam for the filling. I cut a slit horizontally in the croissants to ease the stuffing process and it worked well. And the brown sugar butter topping crisped the croissants up beautifully. Thanks for another great recipe Tieghan!
Hey Courtney,
Happy Sunday! I love to hear this recipe was enjoyed and I truly appreciate you giving it a try! xxTieghan
When making ahead do you place croissants in the egg mixture then put in the fridge to let them soak ? or do you dip them for one minute each side then remove and place on a baking sheet in the fridge?
Can’t wait to make this for my husbands birthday tomorrow 🙂
Hey Elida,
You are going to follow the recipe exactly as is through step 5, so you will place them on a baking sheet. I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
My husband loves this recipe!! I am SO glad I gave it a try, another delicious hit!
Hey Mariela,
Happy Sunday! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xxTieghan
I made this for Father’s Day, and it was so good! I forgot to butter the sheet pan, which led to some sticking, and had to use what Kroger calls “mini croissants,” as they had no regular-sized ones, so mine got a little too toast on the ends. Hopefully, Kroger will have normal croissants next time I make this! Again, so good! Just some user error on my part.
Hey Mallory,
Happy Friday! Thanks a bunch for making this recipe, I am thrilled that it was enjoyed:) xTieghan
My 15yr old son made this for me & my Mom for Mother’s Day & it was delicious. I loved it & have requested it for my birthday.
Hey Nicole,
Happy Wednesday! I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe, thanks for making it:) xTieghan