Most of our mornings look the same around here. Mr. Spouse is usually up and out the door before anyone else' alarms go off. He does get to go in a little later some mornings, but it seems like he's gone before we get up most days. My boys always set their alarm for 6:30 so they can watch TV before I roll out of bed around 7. Since the boys make their own lunches and take care of all of their personal stuff alone (getting dressed, brushing teeth, etc.), I have plenty of time to make breakfast and get dressed before we head out the door by 8. Some mornings I have quick breakfasts on hand....cereal, cinnamon rolls, muffins....but some mornings I actually cook.
I call those my "miracle mornings" :)
I've never been much of a breakfast person myself. I'd rather have breakfast food for dinner. Coffee usually holds me over until about 11 when I'm finally ready for lunch. My boys, on the other hand, love breakfast. My oldest would eat a steady diet of pancakes, waffles, and cinnamon rolls every morning if we let him and my youngest would prefer cereal, muffins, eggs, and biscuits. Because I want them to have some sort of sustenance in their bellies before heading to school, I don't mind giving them what they want (for the most part). It just makes for a happier morning for everyone. And I really love happy mornings :)
Since it's just me and the boys most mornings, I don't make huge breakfasts...especially since I don't normally eat before 11. When Mr.Spouse is home however, I try to make something all three of my guys can enjoy. And if there is anything leftover, Mr. Spouse will take it to work and share with his kids. It's a win-win. When I found this recipe, I knew I had to throw it into the rotation. It has all the makings of a great breakfast...chocolate, croissants, and sugar, OH MY!
Here's a little bit about our experience with this recipe!
CHOCOLATE CHIP CROISSANT BAKE
1 package (10-13oz) of mini croissants (found in your grocery store bakery area), chopped
2 pkgs. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 1/3 C. sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 C. milk
2 C. semi-sweet chocolate chip morsels
Just in case you're wondering, here are the mini croissants. I'm honestly shocked these all made it into the baking dish because I could've eaten the entire package. Alone. #sadbuttrue
Chop the croissants into small bite-sized pieces and add them to a greased 9x13 baking dish.
In a separate bowl, beat your cream cheese until smooth before adding any of the other ingredients. And be sure that it's softened (room temperature). I didn't do this and I wish I would have!!! After reading some of the comments on the original post, I think this is the step where I went wrong. You see, I put the cream cheese into the bowl with all the other ingredients and then mixed until everything was combined. It was softened, but maybe not enough?! My cream cheese ended up looking more like cottage cheese when it was all said and done. This didn't affect the taste whatsoever...it was still REALLY good!!!...but the appearance made all three of my boys a little wary.
Once your cream cheese is beat until smooth, add the remaining ingredients (sugar, eggs, vanilla, & milk) until well combined and pour the mixture evenly over the croissants.
See what I mean about the lumpy cream cheese?!?!
I prepped this dish the night before I baked it giving it time to set. All I had to do was wake up a little earlier on a Friday morning, take it out of the fridge, and pop it in the oven at 350 for about 45 minutes and it was ready to go! That's what I call a pretty sweet morning :)
As you can see, even after baking I had little lumps of cream cheese all over the place. Again, it didn't affect the taste, just the appearance.
It was a bit soggy on the bottom which presented a bit of a problem for my texture sensitive 9-year-old, so he abandoned ship pretty quickly. Bless. I'm sure I did something wrong...total user error!...because from the looks of the original recipe, it's not supposed to be soggy at all, LOL!
I'm not giving up on this recipe because it has serious potential and it really tastes fantastic!!! I love the idea of baking this and taking it to potluck brunches and showers. It would be great if you're entertaining company, too! I just want to get it right before I share it with a crowd!
Next time, I'm going to make sure the cream cheese is super softened and I'll be sure to beat it before adding any of the extra ingredients. I also plan on adding a little cinnamon to the mixture, too. The sogginess??? What could I have done differently? Less egg? Less milk?? More croissants?? Not sure! I need to keep playing with it to figure all that out because I surely don't want a crispy croissant bake, but I don't want it soggy either. I guess there's only one way to find out! And I know what my boys will be trying again tomorrow morning :) Ha!
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