Let me start by saying, this Apple Fritter Breakfast Casserole Recipe is out of this world amazing! With layers of flaky croissants, caramelized apples and cream flavored with Apple Butter all baked to perfection. Top that with sweet glaze, there is no way that this Apple Fritter Casserole could be anything but delicious!
This tasty recipe is sponsored by Musselman’s.
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Easy Apple Fritter Casserole
The chunks of fresh apple add texture. While the Musselman’s Apple Butter provides the concentrated apple flavor.
Enjoy the Apple Fritter experience without making a trip to the donut shop!
This recipe is perfect for a weekend breakfast or brunch. With minimal effort, you can serve up this Apple Fritter Breakfast Casserole to your hungry family and friends. And don’t forget that Mother’s Day is right around the corner. Show your Mom that you appreciate her with a surprise brunch.
Apple Fritters are my all time favorite donuts. I either get a fritter or a glazed old fashioned. The glazed old fashioned is the donut I choose when I’m watching my weight. What? No donuts on your diet plan!?!
Goodness Gracious! Is there anything more beautiful than apple chunks swimming in sugar and butter? Answer: No.
Easy Peasy! Prep . . . Bake . . . Glaze . . . Eat.
Gratuitous Glaze GIF … You’re Welcome!
A little slice of heaven on a plate along with a colorful Spring tulip arrangement. Brunch never looked so good!
Here are a more tasty brunch ideas:
Rum Raisin Croissant Bread Pudding Bake
Monkey Bread Muffins
Candied Bacon
Apple Fritter Breakfast Casserole
Let me start by saying, this Apple Fritter Breakfast Casserole Recipe is out of this world amazing! With layers of flaky croissants, caramelized apples and cream flavored with Apple Butter all baked to perfection. Top that with sweet glaze, there is no way that this Apple Fritter Casserole could be anything but delicious!
Ingredients
Apple Mixture
- 4-5 Fuji Apples - peeled and chopped, 5 cups
- 6 Tablespoons Butter
- 1 packed Cup Brown Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Corn Starch
- 2 Tablespoons Warm Water
Casserole
- 5 Large Croissants - sliced in half across the middle, about 12 ounces
- 1/2 Cup Heavy Cream
- 1/2 Cup Musselman's Apple Butter
- 3 Lightly Beaten Eggs
- 1/8 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
Glaze
- 3/4 Cup Powdered Sugar
- 4 Tablespoons Heavy Cream
Instructions
Apple Mixture
- Melt butter in a large sauté pan, over medium heat. Add brown sugar and stir until completely incorporated. Transfer chopped apples to pan and stir until coated with sugar mixture. Cook for 5 minutes while stirring frequently. In a small bowl, stir together the corn starch and warm water. Add the corn starch mixture to apples and continue to cook/stir for 5 more minutes. Remove from heat and set aside while prepping the other ingredients. The apples should be soft and the liquid will be a syrup consistency.
Casserole
- Preheat oven to 375°F
- Whisk together the heavy cream, Musselman's Apple Butter, eggs and cinnamon. Spray 9x11 casserole dish with non-stick. Place the bottom halves of the croissants in an even layer. Pour half of the apple butter/cream mixture over the croissants. Top with half of the caramelized apple mixture. Arrange the croissant tops in an even layer. Top with the remaining cream mixture and apples. Pour all of the syrupy apple mixture over the casserole. Gently press down on the top with a wooden spoon or spatula. Bake at 375° for 25 minutes. Once lightly browned on top; remove from oven, glaze and serve.
Glaze
- Mix powdered sugar and heavy cream together with a fork until smooth. Drizzle over the Apple Fritter Casserole. (These measurements yield 1/2 cup of glaze.)
Nutrition Information
Yield 8 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 551Total Fat 27gSaturated Fat 16gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 9gCholesterol 146mgSodium 307mgCarbohydrates 71gFiber 3gSugar 52gProtein 7g
Nutritional information on WonkyWonderful is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site.
Croissants. Apple butter. THAT GLAZE!!!! This is fabulous Nicole!!!! What an incredible breakfast!!!
Thanks Heather! Not to toot my own horn … but this is freaking amazing! lol
want, need, drooling!
Thanks Heather 🙂
Someone is definitely make this for me for Mothers Day!! Thanks for Posting!!!
Michele
Haha, they better!
Oh my gosh I really, really, really wish I had apples and croissants right now so I could make this. It’s 7am and my stomach is grumbling hard for this casserole!! Looks amazing Nicole!
Oh gosh, this sounds and looks absolutely fantastic. Will definitely be making this for breakfast one weekend soon!
Thanks Laura! I hope you enjoy … it is perfect for a lazy Sunday breakfast 🙂
im making this for my husband tomorrow and I plan on using my homemade apple butter, do you think that is ok or is there a certain reason I need to use the store bought one?
Homemade apple butter should work just fine. I hope your hubby and you enjoy!
Can I make this the night before and bake and glaze in the morning?
Hi Christine! I think that it would get soggy if it were to sit overnight. But, I have only made it all at once in the morning. So I don’t know for sure. Let me know if you give it a try.
Nicole, I made it the day before and baked it. I didn’t put the icing on. I covered it with foil and kept it in the refrigerator over night. The next morning I drizzled about 2-3 tables spoons of the heavy cream I had left over and warmed ti in the over on 325 for about 30 minutes. THEN, I put on the icing. It was delicious !
Thanks for leaving a comment about your experience. I’m glad to know that refrigerating overnight works too. I’m also so happy that you enjoyed!!!
I plan to make this for our church coffee bar on .Sunday morning. Sounds delish. I’m afraid to make the night before since I don’t want to take a chance that it is soggy, but might try it sometime that way, too. Would be time saving for sure. Thanks for sharing.
I hope everyone enjoys!
I did a “trial run” this morning on the apple fritter casserole. It is very yummy. I didn’t get my “juice” for the apples the consistency of “syrup”, so am thinking I might add 1 Tablespoon corn starch instead of 1 teaspoon as the recipe calls. Since I will be more rushed in the morning, I thought I would peel and chop the apples tonight and put in a Baggie in the refrigerator, so they will be ready for coking with the butter and brown sugar.
I did find the casserole a little more “soggy” than I had expected, and hopping the difference in the corn starch might help. Any other suggestions are greatly appreciated.
That sounds like a good idea, Barbara. I’m guessing maybe it depends on how juicy the apples are. I think the additional corn starch should thicken the sauce. You could also cook it a little bit longer to achieve that syrupy consistency. I hope you and everyone else enjoys 😀
Do you bake the croissants before hand and then again when baking the casserole? Making this for church tomorrow. Maybe should have practiced today. 😉 looks so yummy!
I didn’t bake or toast the croissants before hand. I’m sure that would be fine. It would probably make it a little crisper. Enjoy!
Can you mix up the apple fritter casserole the night before and bake it in the morning??
Hi Wendi! I wouldn’t recommend pre-making this casserole because it will get soggy.
I did not have Apple butter, so I used Apple sauce (I added a dash of nutmeg and a bigger dash of cinnamon to the mixture). I also added some cinnamon when the apples were in the pan. It turned out amazing!
Your adaptations sound delicious! I’m glad you enjoyed this 🙂
This just made it to the Christmas morning menu. I’m going to put my little twist on it and do a caramel drizzle instead. 🙂
Yum! That does sound amazing! I hope you enjoy 🙂
Hi looks and sounds so amazing. Was wondering how it might turn out using Apple pie filling, heated with some extra spice?
Hi Krystal. I haven’t tried that but I think it should work. I don’t see why not. Great idea!
I made this, this morning for our church Sunday School class! I hope they love it as much as I love the smell of my house right now. Thanks for posting! Found this recipe off of Pinterest.
I hope everyone loved it! Happy Holidays 🙂
Do you use croissants from a can? Or are they already made? Hosting xmas and want to try this for breakfast 🙂
I used the already made croissants. Enjoy 😀
I jsut wanted to say I made this today and it is absolutely fantastic. Thank you for sharing this recipe
You’re Welcome! I’m so happy that you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
I made this last night to bring into work for a special day. Turned out GREAT!!! I did have to add more cornstarch to get the apples to thicken, but otherwise, I made it as written. Thanks – this is a great recipe!
So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Just a quick question, if I were to use canned pie filling, do you think I would need 2 cans? I’m struggling with the fresh apple to canned pie filling ratio. Thanks in advance.
Hi Becky! Yes, I would imagine 2 cans would be best. 1 can may not be apple-y enough 🙂
I made a variation of this for brunch, I didnt have apple butter so I put a couple tablespoons of applesauce a 1/2 tablespoon of melted butter into egg mix along with some pumpkin pie seasoning, I know its not apple butter, I also chopped up a couple small apples, like macs, I had around and placed them ontop of the 1st croissant layer spinkled some cinnamon sugar and pie spice on top and then spooned a can of musselmans apple pie filling on top, then I spinkled some oat crumb topping on that layer laid down the tops pressing down on the to soak mixture in and spinkled some more crumb onto it. Just came out of the oven looks yummy, thanks for the inspiration.
Your version sounds great!
I tried this for Christmas brunch. I added 1/2 teaspoon apple pie spice to the apples and casserole and used the apples I had around. I wish I would have added much more cornstarch to the apple mix, The finished product smelled and tasted heavenly, but was soggy, more like a wet bread pudding.
Oh no. I;m sorry to hear that. If you make it again more cornstarch or cooking a bit longer will thicken it up for you.
Do you think it would work to make the apple filling in advance and refrigerate a day or two before assembling the dish?
I would think that would work fine. I haven’t tried it though.
I’ve baked this for 45 minutes already and it still looks exactly the same. It’s too wet and ggooe to take out and serve. I have a lot of disappointed people, work nothing to feed them
Well that is strange. I’m not sure how cornstarch and eggs could bake for 45 minutes and still be thin. Perhaps your apples released more juice.
Curious to know if this has been made ahead of time. Would like to make it for a weekend up north but so much easier to make at home before we go.
Apologies for missing your comment. This can be made ahead, just expect that the longer the liquid soaks into the casserole the more moist it will be.
Hey can this be done without the eggs ?
The eggs act as the binder so I’m not sure how well it would turn out without them.
Could I cut up the croissants and layer them in the dish? I bought croissants but it was a box of 4 large.