Irish Cream Croissant Bake

Help me settle a debate in our house.  Is 30,000 steps too many for a vacation itinerary?😬🫩  Kidding, sort of.😂  I'm the trip planner in our relationship my goal for any trip is to make sure that we get the most out of every single minute that we have to explore a new city.🏃🏻‍♀️ I want to be certain that we hit all of the touristy highlights and find the hidden gems in each place - even if that means that we have to sacrifice sleep.😅  If this seems more like a conquest than a vacation - my husband would agree with you.  Can you believe that he thinks vacations should be relaxing and restful?🤣  

It's taken a long time but I'm finally learning to combine our vacation styles.  Last month we spent 4 days running around London (sometimes literally) followed by a week of relaxing and floating down the English canals on a narrow boat. #compromise😅 

I've learned to compromise but I may never stop pleading my case for an ambitious vacation itinerary.  And one of my biggest selling points is always extra steps = more calories burned which means more croissants, chocolate au pain, cinnamon rolls, scones and biscuits.🥐  London is chock full of delicious patisseries and we tried to sample them all. 😋 

Anyone else feel overwhelmed when standing in front of a case of chocolate, almond, cinnamon or raspberry filled croissants?  How could I possibly choose just one?  My solution - order one for breakfast and another for an afternoon snack.  (Now you can see why I needed to walk some extra steps.😅)  Now that I'm home, I don't have access to a patisserie with freshly baked croissants - which is probably a good thing - but I still crave those scrumptious morning pastries.  For now, I'll have to make my croissant breakfast bake in my own kitchen.  

Irish Cream Croissant Bake
12-13 croissants
4 eggs
1 cup Irish Cream
4 oz cream cheese
½ cup milk
¼ cup brown sugar
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp cinnamon powder
¼ tsp salt

Berries:
⅓ cup raspberries, blueberries & blackberries

Crumble Topping:
1 cup chopped pecans
¼ cup brown sugar
2 tbsp butter
¼ tsp cinnamon powder
1/4 tsp salt

Beat together eggs, Irish Cream, milk, syrup, ¼ c. brown sugar, vanilla, almond, salt & cinnamon. 

Dip each croissant into mixture.  Grease a 9x13" baking dish.  

Layer dipped croissants in baking dish - overlapping as necessary to fit.  

Cut cream cheese into pieces and disperse over the top of casserole.  Pour remaining batter over top.  

Combine topping ingredients in food processor.  Pulse to combine.  Sprinkle topping over casserole.  ​

Cover dish with foil and bake 20 minutes at 375.  Uncover and bake another 25 minutes. 

Sprinkle berries over the croissants.  

Note:  I made the crumble topping ahead of time and stored it in the refrigerator but I forgot to add it to the recipe before serving.🤦🏻‍♀️  It was still delicious without it but I recommend that you try it both ways.  

Ciao!

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