First of all, if you tried to access the blog yesterday, we are so sorry about the downtime–our server was down and it was pretty rough for us to sit back and not be able to do anything about it. Thanks so much for being patient and we hope you’ll forgive us–we can pay you in cupcakes if necessary… :)
I know that it’s technically still January and we’re still technically in healthy eating month, but Valentine’s Day is also coming right up and we want to make sure you guys have plenty of fun, easy, romantic, delicious recipes to choose from. But just in case you couldn’t tell from the recipe title, this is totally not healthy. Oops.
I love the idea of the blueberry-cream cheese overnight French toast–you guys know what I’m talking about, right? But I can never get past the big chunks of cream cheese. It just doesn’t work for me. But I kept that idea in mind when coming up with this recipe because I want so badly to like it.
One of my favorite things in the universe are cream cheese filled croissants. Also right up there are strawberries and lemons together. I also love French toast made with croissants instead of regular bread because the texture is so fabulous. So…this recipe is kind of a combination of all my guilty pleasures.
You’ll need about 6 large, stale croissants, softened cream cheese, a couple of fresh lemons, eggs, milk, lemon extract, powdered sugar, and lemon extract. You’ll also need Strawberry Sauce and sliced fresh strawberries for serving (sweetened whipped cream would be amazing on top of the strawberry sauce as well).
Combine the softened cream cheese, 3/4 cup powdered sugar, the zest from one lemon, and the strained juice from one lemon (about 2 tablespoons) in a medium bowl…
and beat with an electric mixer for 1-2 minutes or until light and fluffy.
Slice the croissants in half lengthwise
and generously spread the bottom half of each croissant with the cream cheese mixture, using all of the cream cheese.
(Just in case you’re wondering, the cream cheese on this particular croissant is not even close to generous enough. Learn from my mistakes…)
Press the croissant tops down onto the cream cheese, flattening them a little. Cut them into halves (or even fourths, depending on what you need to do to fit them into the pan) and place them into a 9×13″ pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
Whisk together 2 eggs, 1 1/2 cups milk, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1 1/4 teaspoons lemon extract, and the zest of another lemon. Pour evenly over the croissant mixture
Cover the pan with aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight for for 8-10 hours.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350. Place the covered pan in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 20-30 minutes or until the croissants are golden brown and all the liquid is absorbed. Remove from oven and allow to stand for 5-10 minutes.
Cut into squares and serve with strawberry sauce, sliced strawberries, and, if you want (how could you not want), sweetened whipped cream.
Cream Cheese-Stuffed Lemon French Toast with Strawberries
Recipe by Our Best Bites
Ingredients:
6 large, stale butter croissants
1 8-ounce package cream cheese
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, divided
2 lemons
1 1/4 teaspoons lemon extract
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
Strawberry Sauce
Sliced fresh strawberries (about 2 cups)
Sweetened Whipped Cream (optional)
Instructions:
Slice the croissants in half lengthwise. Set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, zest of one lemon, strained juice of one lemon (about 1 1/2-2 tablespoons), and 3/4 cup powdered sugar. Mix with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
Spread the lemon cream cheese mixture over the bottoms of the croissants and then replace the tops, pressing down to flatten. Cut into halves (or even fourths if necessary) and arrange the pieces evenly in a 9×13″ pan lightly sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.
Whisk together the milk, eggs, lemon extract, zest from the second lemon, and remaining 1/2 cup of powdered sugar. Pour evenly over the croissants and cover with aluminum foil. Refrigerate for 8-10 hours.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350. Bake covered for 30 minutes and then remove the foil and bake for another 20-30 minutes or until the croissants are golden brown and the liquid is absorbed. Remove from the oven and allow it to stand for 5-10 minutes. Cut into squares and top individual servings with Strawberry Sauce, fresh sliced strawberries, and, if desired, sweetened whipped cream. Serves 10-12.
 |
Appetizers
Beef
Sandwiches and Burgers
Beverages
Breads
Breakfast and Brunch
Condiments
Desserts
Pizza and Pasta
Pork
Poultry
Salads and Dressings
Seafood
Side Dishes and Vegetables
Soups and Stews
Well now I don’t know what to make for breakfast on Valentines day…this or the heart shaped puffed pancakes! I know, my life is so hard…haha, but seriously this looks delicious I will be trying it either way! Thanks for another awesome one!
Ugh! Servers down is so stressful! I’m glad you had this amazingness to calm your nerves ;-)
Can’t wait to try this out for Vday breakfast in bed!!
Wow! That sounds amazing! Seriously, the recipe title ALONE drew me in. French toast? Lemons and strawberries?! Great combo. Wondering if you could use some Texas toast or any other bread? Not that I don’t like the idea of the croissants, just curious!
I’m sure you could! I would probably increase the eggs to 3 instead of 2–other breads tend to soak up more stuff and have a stronger flavor, so it would mask some of the egginess.
Umm…. YUM.
oh i love regular french toast made with croissants…this sounds marvelously delish…can’t wait to try it…
Sounds wonderful! Quick question-can the pan go directly from the refrigerator to the oven or does it need to warm to room temperature?
I’ve never had a problem with it, BUT you could always put the pan in the oven and start heating it so the pan can gradually warm up.
These sound delicious!!! I’ll have test them out before Valentine’s Day, you know, just to make sure I know how to make them ;)
But of COURSE. :)
This looks delicious. I posted something very similar last week, using sour dough bread, instead of croissants – what a great idea! I can attest to the fact that the flavors mixed together are amazing. :)
Oh my, this looks wonderful! Can’t go wrong with croissants (or cream cheese, or strawberries or…). YUM.
Good Heavens this looks delightful! Would it work with light cream cheese or should I just embrace the goodness of it all and eat rice cakes for the rest of the day?
I used light cream cheese and it was fabulous! :)
Wow! This looks amazing!
This looks AMAZING! You can make up for the website being down yesterday by paying me in cupcakes this weekend at Time Out for Women ;). I can’t wait to meet the both of you!
Oh wow. That looks so good. And fairly easy. I’m going to ‘pin’ this so I remember to make it soon.
Just in time for National Croissant Day! :)
Lemon cream cheese with strawberry sauce…WHY would you want to wait until Valentine’s Day to serve these. Wahoo, just the recipe and photos are making my mouth water, I think I’ll just run to the store to get some supplies. You could probably get away with serving these as a dessert too. Just label it a bread pudding or something.
Perfection! This is going to be so delicious.
Good lord those look great.
So do I pick up the payment of the cupcakes this weekend while you guys are in Layton? This breakfast looks amazing! Really excited for the weekend…I can hardly wait!
PattiCake–They might be Hostess cupcakes if we have to bring them this weekend, haha!
Well, if Sara will give me a pass because I haven’t found/made a foam finger for waving at you while you’re on stage, then I guess I can give you a pass on the cupcakes if they have to be Hostess. Counting the days!
My little guy is having surgery on Valentine’s Day, so breakfast is out, but maybe for dinner as strawberries are his favorite.
Is it possible to let this sit in the frig for 24 hours maybe?
Yeah, I think you should be fine. :)
Oh baby!!! That looks DELISH!!
Paul Deen would love this!! She does something similar with Krispy Kremes. I’m being a little bit wicked with my comment, but also your dish looks deliciously wicked!
Totally wicked. Although she would probably butter the croissants and the pan first! And she’d use whipping cream instead of milk, you know it. :)
I was making dinner for about 20 last night. They were coming around five. I get out of church at four and come home to pull up the baked creamy chicken taquito recipe and I was like NO WAY! This sight is NEVER down! Luckily I knew there would be people who “adapted” it. Unluckily it is perfect the way it is so I had to try and remember how it was originally instead of following adapatitions. Glad you’re back up!
I don’t know if I have ever in my life wanted to eat somethings so badly! Yum!
that’s what i was thinking too!
Try it with strawberry cream cheese. Its amazing too. Also you can cook up a piece or two like regular french toast in a frying pan. I love this breakfast.
Could this work with brioche bread? I make rrgular french toast with brioche
Sure! You might want to throw an extra egg in there if you use a heavier bread, though.
Do the croissants have to be stale? I don’t think they would last long enough to get stale if I didn’t hide them.
Not REALLY, but they’ll absorb more of the liquid if they’re stale.
This sounds so wonderful!!! I just love that it is an overnight preparation….such a time savor!! Thanks for another great recipe!!
Looks wonderful and definately will make it. My question is whole milk? 2%? 1%? I never know which to use and only have skim milk in the house so buy specifically for each recipe.
Thanks.
Doesn’t really matter–I used 1%, and whole would be divine.
Oh wow this looks delicious and I love that you used croissants! Beautiful recipe!!
Don’t like the big chunks of cream cheese in the blueberry French toast ? Put it in the blender with the egg and milk mixture, heavenly and no chunks!
(A huge family fave BTW and I am recruited to make it everytime hubby’s work has a brunch. the whole office asks him to get me to make it and it’s always the only dish completely demolished!) my secret ingredient? Add white chocolate chips in with the bread before pouring the egg mixture over it!! You don’t taste the chocolate, just an added richness.
Could you tell me if these turn out soggy? I cannot handle soggy French toast!
No sogginess! I can’t handle it, either.
ohhhhhh, ahhhhhhhh…scrumptious!
This looks to die for! I think I just gained 10 lbs looking at it but it’s surly an awesome V-Day treat, we all need that now don’t we!! YUM!
guess the lady of the house will have a reason o stay in bed longer .
Sounds like a heart attack in a pan!
Sounds Yummy! I love lemon. But I think the juice of one lemon is more 1-2 table spoons not teaspoons. Which amount should go into the cream cheese? I have loved your cookbook thank you!
You’re right–typo on my part! :)
sounds great!!!
I don’ have lemon extract. Can I use lemon juice instead and how much?
I thought about that, and you can try it, but my worry is that lemon juice curdles both eggs and milk, so I worried about winding up with a big, curdly mess, you know?
Soooo, if I make this and stick it in the fridge and tell my hubby to heat it up in the morning and serve it to me, does it still count as him making me breakfast in bed??? I’ll go with yes. :-D
Thanks so much for the awesome recipe. I love stuffed french toast and I can’t imagine this being anything but amazing!
That is an awesome idea. Think I will do this too. ;-)
It’s in my fridge right now..Making it for hubby and I to eat after dinner tomorrow night..I will report back since no one has yet..I’m so excited!!
It was so good..we had it gone in 2days..YUMMY!!!!!
I made this dish this weekend for my hubby at our cabin with a slight twist. Instead of strawberries, I used blueberries. I made a blueberry sauce ( I used the strawberry sauce recipe but replaced the berries. It was still a little chunky but not bad) and left everything else in the recipe. IT TURNED OUT AMAZING. So creamy on the inside, crunchy on the outside. YUM YUM YUM!!! Thanks Our Best Bites!
I almost died and went to heaven just looking at this recipe! French Toast is my favorite breakfast…and I love anything with cream cheese and/or strawberries. I also saw your Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies…can’t wait to try both of these recipes!
Thanks for the fantastic recipe! I made it this morning for a special Valentine’s Day breakfast and it was a hit. I cut the recipe in half because we have a small family, and I found that it only took about 15 minutes after I took the foil off for it to be nicely done.
Made it. Plain ol’ delicious. I sweet lemon aroma filled my house this morning. Bliss. :)
It’s in my oven right now! Can’t wait to eat it for dinner. Was going to have it for breakfast, but I overlooked the “refrigerate 8-10 hours” part the first time I read over it. It will amazing though!
Sorry just a fireman that cooks, so how do I make the strawberry sauce?
Just need to open my eyes. Found it. Going to try this on my crew!
Can you substitute something else for the lemon extract if you don’t have lemon extract on hand?
Sure, use a splash of lemon juice instead.
These were AMAZING!!! My husband and toddler loved them too! FYI, after I took the foil off, mine were completely done in 14-15 minutes. Thank you so much for this recipe.
i was wondering if I have to refrigerate. I was planning these for dinner and am now disappointed because I just realized they won’t be ready until breakfast. What if I don’t refrigerate and put them straight into the oven? My fault for not reading entire recipe before starting.
Made this for Easter breakfast and it was scrumptious. Thanks!
This looks great. I sure wish, however, there was a way to add a picture to the recipe when I print it. Sigh….
My husband doesn’t like lemon… Is there anything I can substitute for the lemon ingredients (maybe vanilla extract instead of lemon extract, etc)? Or should I just leave them out?
You could do any kind of citrus, or do vanilla, or almond. :)
I am wondering if this could be baked the night before and reheated in the morning? I want to make it for my daughter’s First Communion which is at 9 am and no one will be home to cook the food before the guests arrive to eat breakfast! I would love suggestions!
I’ve never tried it, but I IMAGINE it would be okay. You might want to do a test run ahead of time to make sure! :)
Mmm these are incredible!! I made them for Easter breakfast and they were divine! I didn’t have any lemon extract so I just left it out. Also, the cream cheese spread for the croissants was so good, the hubs and I were fighting over who got to lick the bowl!