There are countless things you can do with leftover croissants. Homemade filled croissants are one of the most satisfying meals you can make right in your own kitchen.

You can put just about anything on a croissant that you would when using your regular bread.

You can make breakfast croissants, French toast, sandwiches, and dessert croissants with leftover croissants.

How to fill croissants

1. Cut the croissant in half using a serrated knife.
2. Toast or warm your croissants.
3. Using a knife, spread your condiment of choice on the croissant.
4. Fill the croissant with meat, cheese, and vegetables or fruit.
5. Serve immediately.

If you’re wanting to make a meal for breakfast consider filling the croissants as a brunch croissant.

20 Breakfast Croissant Filling Ideas

• Cream cheese and fruit
• Butter
• Cinnamon and sugar
• Mayo/hot sauce/butter, cheese, sausage, and scrambled eggs
• Mayo/hot sauce/butter, cheese, sausage, bacon and scrambled eggs
• Mayo/hot sauce/butter, cheese, bacon and scrambled eggs
• Scrambled eggs
• Bacon and ketchup
• Sausage and ketchup
• Omelette and hot sauce
• Omelette and ketchup
• Mayo/hot sauce/butter, cheese, ham and scrambled eggs
• Mayo/hot sauce/butter, cheese, sausage, ham and scrambled eggs
• Scrambled eggs and cheese
• Whipped cream and fruit
• Whipped cream and syrup
• Jam
• Hazelnut spread
• Peanut butter
• Almond butter

How to make French toast with croissants

1. Heat a frying pan up to medium heat.
2. Mix together 1 egg and 2 tbsp of milk in a flat bowl you can easily dip your croissants in.
3. Add a dash of cinnamon to your egg mixture, do not mix.
4. Cut the croissants in half with a serrated knife.
5. Dip the cut side of the croissant in the egg mixture.
6. Place in the frying pan and cook for 1-2 minutes until the eggs are cooked onto the croissant creating a brown-golden color.
7. Remove croissants from the frying pan.
8. Serve immediately with whipped cream, syrup, caramel sauce, chocolate sauce or fruit. 

Cold Croissant Sandwich Recipe Ideas

Croissant sandwiches should be right before serving to keep them as fresh as possible. Cold croissant sandwiches will keep in the fridge for a few hours, but prepare them as close to serving as possible.  

Croissant Fillings for Lunch

Condiments to Fill Croissants with:

• Chipotle mayo
• Mayonnaise
• Mustard
• Dijon mustard
• Honey mustard
• Hot sauce
• Bbq sauce
• Pizza sauce
• Garlic mayonnaise
• Herbed cream cheese
• Plain cream cheese
• Strawberry cream cheese
• Hummus
• Italian Dressing

Meat Croissant Fillings:

• Turkey
• Chicken
• Ham
• Roast beef
• Bacon
• Smoked salmon
• Tuna
• Pepperoni
• Salami
• Pulled pork
• Egg salad
• Crab
• Shrimp

Cheese Croissant Fillings:

• Havarti
• Cheddar
• Mozzarella
• Parmesan
• Gouda
• Brie
• Camembert
• Feta

Vegetable Croissant Fillings:

• Lettuce
• Tomatoes
• Cucumber
• Avocado
• Arugula
• Green peppers
• Banana peppers
• Kale
• Shredded cabbage/Coleslaw
• Red onions
• Dill Pickles
• Sliced Pineapple
• Sliced Apples

Vegetarian Croissant Fillings

• Avocado
• Hummus
• Pickles
• Kale
• Sliced apples
• Lettuce
• Tomatoes
• Cucumber
• Arugula
• Havarti
• Cheddar
• Brie
• Camembert
• Gouda
• Feta
• Mozzarella
• Tofu

What can you serve with croissant sandwiches

• Chips
• Fries
• Sweet potato fries
• Green Salad
• Coleslaw
• Caesar Salad
• Cut up vegetables
• Fruit

Making stuffed croissants for dessert is a decadent way to finish off a delicious meal. Stuffed croissants need to be made right before serving. You won’t want to pre-make this ahead of time, otherwise the croissants will become soft and and soggy.

You have 2 options on how you can serve your dessert stuffed croissants.

1. Serve croissants for your guests to fill them.
2. Serve croissants filled by you.

If you’re having your guests fill their own croissants, you might want to have an array of items for them to choose from. You can make the accompaniments beforehand in small dishes for them to pick and choose.

15 Foods To Stuff Croissants for Dessert with:

• Whipped cream 
• Strawberries
• Blackberries
• Blueberries
• Raspberries
• Apricots
• Caramel sauce
• Chocolate sauce
• Strawberry sauce
• Blueberry sauce
• Bananas
• Ice cream
• Cinnamon and sugar
• Hazelnut spread
• Cream cheese & Fruit

If you’re wanting to fill the croissants yourself, choose only 1 or 2 of the above list and fill them right before serving. Try to top the croissants with a tiny bit of sauce as well, if you’re using sauce. This will give the croissants a elegant and divine look to them.

Croissants are a delicious breakfast item to serve for brunch. Croissants can be quite filling, therefore you’ll want to have a balance of lighter items to go with croissants for breakfast.

Fresh Fruit

Fresh fruit offers a balance of refreshing, juicy pieces of fruit which goes well with croissants for breakfast. You can stick to a couple of fresh berries, or cut up a variety of fruit for a fruit platter.

• cantaloupe
• pineapple
• apples
• strawberries
• blueberries

Yogurt

Yogurt is a light accompaniment to go with croissants. Vanilla yogurt is a favorite flavor that will go over well for breakfast.

Eggs

Eggs are full of protein. You can make them in a many different ways, and they add a selection to a brunch. Typically for brunch, scrambled eggs are your best choice. Scrambled eggs can be served with hot sauce, or ketchup.

• scrambled
• over easy
• sunny side up

Orange Juice or Apple Juice

Fresh, chilled fruit juice is the perfect choice for a morning breakfast with croissants. Juice is a refreshing beverage in the morning that will be the perfect drink to wash down your filling croissants.

21 foods you can stuff Croissants with:

• Whipped cream 
• Strawberries
• Blackberries
• Blueberries
• Raspberries
• Cheese and tomatoes
• Apricots
• Caramel sauce
• Chocolate sauce
• Strawberry sauce
• Blueberry sauce
• Bananas
• Scrambled eggs
• Cheese
• Ham
• Bacon
• Ice cream
• Cinnamon and sugar
• Hazelnut spread
• Fried egg and smoked salmon
• Cream cheese

You could have 2 different problems when your butter is breaking through your croissant dough.

1. Butter is too warm
2. Butter is too cold

When making your croissants, bring the butter you want for laminating completely to room temperature. I usually just leave it on the counter while I’m waiting for the first long rest of my dough (4 hours). 

Once your butter is at room temperature, you’ll want to get out your stand mixer. Mix your butter for a couple of minutes until fluffy and light. This adds air into the butter which will make it much easier to work with in your croissant dough. Add a couple of tablespoons of flour to your fluffy butter. Mix them together for another 30 seconds. 

When your dough is coming up on it’s long rest, place the butter in the fridge 30 min before you need to laminate it.

To get the butter perfectly to your required measurements, transfer the butter to a silicone mat. Use a spatula to gently move the butter into its shape for your specific measurements you need for your dough. 

Place the butter/silicone mat on a baking sheet and put it in the fridge for 30 min.

Placing the butter in the fridge for only 30 min will let it be still malleable, but not too hard or too soft.

Remove your dough from the fridge after your long rest (4 hours) and your butter layer that has been chilling for 30 min.

Place the butter on the dough and fold it like an envelope. I usually put the butter at a diagonal to the dough, and then enclose it by gently pressing the dough seams. Now you’re ready to roll your dough into a rectangle, and begin folding it like a letter. This begins the lamination process. Learn why using a marble rolling pin is ideal for rolling out croissant dough. 

If your butter is too hard, it will poke through the dough. You’ll be able to feel it easily if it’s too hard. Leave your dough out for 5 min, and try again. See if your dough and butter are more pliable and able to be rolled out.

If your butter is too soft it will ooze out of the dough and be covering your pastry edges. If your butter is too soft in your dough, place it in the fridge for 30 min until your next turn. Then your dough will be chilled enough to turn and roll again. 

How many layers for croissant dough are there?

There are a total of 81 layers. 

How are there 81 layers in croissant dough?

The first letter fold you create 3 distinct layers of butter.

In the next turn you roll out those layers, and then double the layers by folding it. 3×3 = 9

The next turn you double the layers again, 9×9 =81 layers of butter.  

What butter is best for croissants?

• Unsalted butter
• >80% fat content, ideally 84%

Eating croissants usually involve making a mess. Croissants are a flaky food to eat, so there will always be some sort of mess to clean up. However, there are a couple of things you can do to avoid the mess they make.

1. Wrap the croissant: Wrap your croissant in a napkin, or plastic wrap and eat it from the end first. Lower the napkin as needed to expose more of the croissant. The napkin will gather all of the flaked pieces that fall from it. This will also avoid getting your fingers greasy. Since croissants are made with butter laminated throughout the pastry, they tend to make your fingers greasy if you touch them.
2. Tear the croissant into bite sized pieces: Use your fingers to pull apart pieces of the croissant. All of the mess from the flaked bits of croissant will gather on your plate.
3. Use a fork and knife: Use a sharp knife to cut through the layers of the croissant and cut them into bite sized pieces. This is still an elegant way to eat a croissant without the mess.