There are few things that I love more than a ham and cheese croissant. Surely my family, my friends… but the rest I am drawing a blank on. I mean, that combination of flaky buttery pastry, melty cheese, and salty ham – come on! If it’s not perfection it’s very close to it. I don’t know why after all this time of loving them, I never thought to throw them together in a breakfast bake but luckily I came across this recipe and can make up for lost time.

Cheese, ham, and flaky pastry are natural flavor companions and in this bake, they come together in a way that’s incredibly easy to serve to your loved ones. If you haven’t dipped your toe into the waters of breakfast casseroles much, let me tell you – they make life pretty easy (or at least your mornings). Most of them can be made ahead (this one included), so you get all your ingredients in a casserole dish, tuck it into the fridge, and once your alarm goes off in the morning all you need to do is pre-heat your oven and pop the dish in.

Because you’re also pairing this trio with a custardy thyme-infused base, it helps to use day-old croissants or even to dry them out a bit in the oven before you assemble the casserole. You don’t want to lose all their delicious texture to the egg mixture!

The roots of this dish are a french toast bake – bread-like item, check; egg and milk base, check; fun flavor add-ins, definitely check – but it takes its taste cues from a pastry classic. It’s a scrumptious way to go about serving some ham, eggs, and cheese for breakfast or brunch, that’s for sure!