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Wake up your morning routine with this Croissant French Toast recipe. In just 30 minutes, you can have a warm breakfast of battered, pan-fried, buttery croissants ready to drizzle with syrup and devour.
Croissant French Toast is one of my favorite brunch or breakfast recipes. It’s perfect for all the holidays like Christmas morning and Easter, and it’s also great for an average Saturday morning. Flaky croissants are already delicious on their own, so transforming them into a rich custard-coated breakfast delight can only help.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Croissants: Check the day-old section at the bakery or supermarket. Since they soak up the custard well, slightly-stale pastries work perfectly here.
- All-purpose flour and baking powder: Adding this common baking combo to the batter is the key to scoring the light and fluffy texture.
Step-by-step instructions
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil for easy cleanup. In a large bowl or dish, whisk together milk, sugar, eggs, salt, and pure vanilla extract until smooth. Add flour and baking powder, stirring to combine until there are no lumps. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat and coat with nonstick spray or oil. Working in batches, dip croissant halves in egg mixture, allowing excess liquid to drip back into the bowl.
- Arrange in a single layer on the skillet. Cook until golden brown on one side, about 3 to 5 minutes. Flip each half and continue to cook until golden brown on the second side sides.
- Remove to prepared baking sheet and keep warm in the oven until serving time. Repeat with remaining croissant halves. Serve with syrup, powdered sugar, whipped cream, and other toppings as desired.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This Croissant French Toast recipe creates 12 halves, or 6 servings (I plan on 1 full croissant per person).
- Storage: Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Freezer: Arrange cooled French toast in a single layer, not touching, on a small baking sheet or plate. Freeze until the French toast pieces are frozen individually, then transfer to a freezer-safe bag. Freeze up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or reheat in the microwave from frozen.
- Build a French toast bar: Each diner can top as desired when you set out bowls of maple syrup, whipped cream, fresh berries, banana slices, strawberry sauce, honey, powdered sugar, candied pecans, and/or crumbled bacon.
- French Toast Sticks: Learn how to transform Texas Toast into French Toast Sticks, coated in cinnamon in sugar, in just 30 minutes, then dunk in syrup, jam, or any sweet sauce you crave.
- French Toast Bake: This custardy make-ahead Baked French Toast recipe only gets better as it chills overnight. The next morning, add a cinnamon streusel topping, bake, and pile with fresh berries for a delicious breakfast for six!
- Challah French Toast: Leftover challah bread makes the most delicious Challah French Toast! Serve it with plenty of butter and syrup or try a dusting of powdered sugar and a squeeze of fresh lime juice. You’ll love it!
- Cornflake French Toast: Cornflake French Toast allows you to enjoy two breakfast menu favorites, cereal and French toast, in one easy, family-friendly breakfast recipe.
- More breakfast casseroles: Feeding a crowd? Try Sausage Hash Brown Casserole, Overnight Breakfast Casserole, or Cheesy Potato Casserole.
Frequently Asked Questions
Croissants get their flaky layers from copious amounts of butter. You can pop a croissant in a toaster or toaster oven to heat it up, but keep an eye on it so the butter doesn’t burn.
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Croissant French Toast
Ingredients
- 2 cups milk
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 6 croissants halved lengthwise
- maple syrup, powdered sugar, whipped cream, strawberry sauce, and other desired toppings for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil for easy cleanup. In a large bowl, whisk together milk, sugar, eggs, salt, and vanilla until smooth. Add flour and baking powder, stirring to combine until there are no lumps.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and coat with nonstick spray or oil. Working in batches, dip croissant halves in batter, allowing excess to drip back into the bowl. Arrange in a single layer on the skillet.
- Cook until golden brown on one side, about 3 to 5 minutes. Flip each half and continue to cook until golden brown on the second side sides. Remove to prepared baking sheet and keep warm in the oven until serving time. Repeat with remaining croissant halves. Serve with syrup, powdered sugar, whipped cream, and strawberries as desired.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Croissants: Check the day-old section at the bakery or supermarket. Since they soak up the custard well, slightly-stale pastries work perfectly for this Croissant French Toast recipe.
- All-purpose flour and baking powder: Adding this common baking combo to the batter is the key to score the light and fluffy texture.
- Yield: This Croissant French Toast recipe creates 12 halves, or 6 servings (I plan on 1 full croissant per person).
- Storage: Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
I’m here to say this is a great recipe. I toasted the croissants first, this is a must. Thank you :)
Thank you Holly. Toasting them sounds delicious! – Meggan
This is my new favorite breakfast recipe. I’ve made it two weekends in a row and it made leftovers for my husband during the week and he loves it I do end up with leftover batter because I use a croissant loaf and I just use whatever bread I have on hand to use it up. It’s so delicious and I added chocolate chips and it was so good.
Thank you so much for writing, Linda! I’m so happy you both love it! – Meggan
I love this recipe. Thank you so much
You’re so welcome, Denni! I’m glad you loved it! – Meggan
Our family is vegan, but I always fondly remember croissant French toast that I had at a resort years ago. Happened to pick up some vegan croissants yesterday and decided to try to find a recipe that would be easy enough to veganize. I’ve done vegan French toast with regular bread, but didn’t love the recipes I’d tried. Ran across yours and decided to give it a try.
Used non-dairy milk and Just Egg egg substitute (3 TBSP = 1 egg). Everything else was fine as is.
Turned out delicious! The tip to keep them warm was also very helpful. My 5 year old gobbled it up and he can be wary of trying new things (even if he likes all the components). Hubby had a piece I’d kept warm and said it was good. I then made fresh pieces for him and my non-vegan stepson and they really enjoyed it. This recipe is definitely a keeper! Thank you!
You’re so welcome, Maya! Thank you for your lovely comment! I’m glad you were able to adapt the recipe. I’m happy it was a hit with your family! – Meggan
Hello, just wondering why we’re heating the oven to 200 degrees and lining a baking sheet with foil… maybe I missed something…
Hi Vicki, it’s to keep them warm while cooking them in batches. (Double-checked to make sure it wasn’t missing from the recipe, it’s in step 3.) Take care! – Meggan
Holy moly this was amazing! My husband and I both absolutely loved this recipe! Never tried flour and baking powder in my French toast batter. It was perfect! I did add a little cinnamon and nutmeg, but other than that, I followed the recipe exactly. Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks Mandi! So glad you enjoyed, – Meggan
Crazy good! My husband came home from the store with a large tray of clearance croissants so I took to the internet to figure out what to do with them and this recipe did not disappoint!
Hi Aimee, thank you! I’m so glad you liked it and put those croissants to good use. – Meggan
Made it with a banana Fosters topping, delicious!
Hi Lise, that sounds AMAZING! – Meggan
THE BEST FRENCH TOAST IVE EVER HAD!!!
Thank you Alice! – Meggan
TOP w/ Fresh Mango Chunks, Sliced Almonds (toasted or not), and a Cream Cheese Drizzle.*
* Beat 1/2 pack Philly cream cheese ( foil pack not tub) 1/2 cup sifted Powered Sugar, 1 tsp Vanilla extract and add enough milk 3-6 Tbs to make a glaze consistency. Beat well.
Thanks Chef Meggan, Great recipe and enjoyed the tips!! Everybody loved them and will definitely make them again!!
Chef Hoppy USCG
Everybody loved this recipe!! Will make it again!!
Thanks Chef Hoppy, so glad you all enjoyed! – Meggan
Delicious!
Thank you Kristi! -Meggan
I made this with La Boulangerie croissant bread. I doubled the recipe because of how many slices of bread I had. My family said it was the best French toast they’d ever had. I also froze the remaining and toasted them to reheat and they were almost just as good! Amazing recipe!
I tried the recipe and found that the 1 cup flour was too much. It came out too gooey and lumpy. What did I do wrong?
Hi Tatsuo, if the batter was lumpy, my guess is either 1). you didn’t whisk it enough, thus the lumps, or 2). you just don’t personally like this kind of batter. Gooey, well, batter is generally a bit gooey right? Sorry you had trouble. I like it with 1 cup of flour, but you clearly had something else in mind, and I’m sorry about that. I just wanted something substantial that would coat the croissants well. -Meggan
Made them, loved them, whole family inhaled them, doing it again today! Do you have a newsletter I can sign up for? I’m a huge fan of Nagi’s work and would love to receive your recipes in my inbox, too!
Hi Celeste! You’re so nice! Nagi is great, I love her stuff too. I’ll get you signed up for the email list. Right now it’s just the daily email of when a new post goes up, but at some point I hope to make it more useful. Thank you for your kind words, I’m glad your family loved the Croissant French Toast! -Meggan
Inspired by this post, I searched for and found a delicious looking but complicated recipe for baking gluten-free croissants. The layered dough used in them is not simple even with conventional flours. They will take two days for prep and 20 minutes to bake but I’m up for the challenge. Store bought gluten free anything is overly expensive and tastes disgusting at best. I’ll let you know how it works out.
Why am I not surprised? :) Two days to prep – no problem! I cannot wait to hear about your results. Pretty sure there is another newspaper article in future! PS: “Disgusting at best” is my new favorite phrase.
Meggan … Omg this looks so fabulous!!! You took croissant to another level!!!! What an utterly delicious and indulgent meal :)
Thanks lady!!! I was soooo lucky to have Nagi help me get these shots. She’s amazing!!
YUM! Double French whammy!
One piece is never enough ha ha! Nagi helped with these photos so they are extra-good. :)
This recipe sounds so good, but I don’t see it. Can you post it? I don’t want to screw this up as it sounds like something my wife and kids will love. Thanks.
Well THAT’S embarrassing, Glen! I’m so sorry about that. The recipe is there now. Thank you so much for visiting and I hope the family loves the French toast. It’s a huge hit around here!
You. Are. A. Genius. I am obsessed with french toast and this is pretty much taking it to the highest level you can!! Pinning pinning pinning!!
Meggan this look so delicious! I love croissants and the idea of turning them into french toast. Love your photos!
Yowza! This looks incredible! I’ve never though of adding flour to my French toast batter, but it makes perfect sense…and seeing how these croissants turned out, I’m totally a believer now!
I have been thinking about croissant bread pudding! Let’s do it! We should make at least 2 versions. Sounds delish!
I’ve been a bit addicted to croissants lately, especially toasted ones, so it isn’t too much of a leap for me to imagine these beautiful creations in my head! I love this idea (love your ‘pour shot’, too!)
Thanks Helen, croissants are the best. :) For me the most challenging part is not eating them all before I can turn them into French Toast!
Two things. One – I will eat this like CJ. So please allow two small cups of syrup. Two. We had croissant bread pudding the other night at dinner. You and I will create this next! No ifs, ands, or buts about it!
Oh, wow–I haven’t seen such a yummy breakfast in a long while. The yogurt and berry routine could use some changing up for this!
Thanks Ala, it was all very delicious! Although yogurt and berries are good too. :)
I’m in a breakfast rut, I need a new recipe and I do love croissants.
It’s easy to fall into a breakfast rut, I am not always so ambitious at breakfast time either. :)
This sounds and looks so good Meggan! Wish I had a couple for breakfast this morning.
Thanks Matt, it was a big hit in our house!