Cheesy Sausage and Croissant Casserole for #SundayFunday

Welcome to #SundayFunday! Wendy from A Day In The Life on The Farm invited fellow bloggers to kick back, relax, and share something tasty and fun each weekend. "Sunday should be a Family Funday. Please join us in sharing recipes that will help you to enjoy your Sunday." If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join!

Today our #SundayFunday group is hosted by Camilla who said: "January 30th is National Croissant Day. Let's share favorite recipes for MAKING croissants or just USING already made croissants (croissant bread pudding with store-bought croissants, anyone?!). Just have fun." 

Making croissants is still on my "someday" list - I haven't gotten around to it just yet. But I have gotten around to loving variations of croissants in breakfast casseroles! They make such a fabulous, airy base. Wonderfully buttery, and they crisp beautifully on top! 

This version is heavy on the gooey cheese and savory bites of sausage. It's a fabulous breakfast casserole that comes together in no time and is mostly  hands off while you let the oven do all the work. You can make it ahead the night before, then bring to room temp on the counter before baking - but I've discovered I prefer to make these right before baking so that the bread has less time to absorb liquid, and holds a little bit more texture / shape, but that's totally a personal preference thing and if for convenience you want to make it up the night before, casseroles like this are very forgiving! 

Play with the veggies / meat / cheeses and you really can mix and match however you like (or to use up what you happen to have in the fridge) - croissants and eggs make a lovely base!

Come see all of our tasty croissant dishes today! 

• Bean Cassoulet by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Cheesy Sausage and Croissant Casserole by Making Miracles
• Chocolate Croissants (Pain au Chocolate) by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Croissants aux Amandes (Almond Croissants) by Food Lust People Love
• Homemade Crescent Rolls by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Mardi Gras Cream Cheese King Cake Croissants by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Sourdough Croissants by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Yeasted Croissant by Sneha's Recipe

Cheesy Sausage and Croissant Casserole

Ingredients

Cooking spray

1 lb ground sausage

1 large white onion, finely diced

8 eggs

3 cups milk

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

8 large croissants, diced into 1" pieces

3-4 cups shredded smoked gouda cheese

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Cook the ground sausage with the diced onion in a nonstick skillet over medium to medium-high heat, until browned, and the onion is tender. Drain excess grease if desired.
3. Whisk the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper together in a medium bowl until well combined.
4. Sprinkle half of the chopped croissant pieces in the bottom of the casserole dish, and sprinkle half of the meat and onion mixture over, followed by half of the shredded cheese.
5. Repeat layer with the last of the: croissant pieces, sausage and onion mixture, and shredded cheese.
6. Pour the whisked egg mixture evenly and slowly all over the top.
7. Bake in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes, until the croissant pieces and cheese are golden on top and the eggs are set all the way through. Allow it to rest 10-15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Recipe adapted from Southern Living