Croissant Croque Madame
Melty cheese and salty ham are layered inside buttery croissants, then baked with béchamel sauce and stuffed with scrambled eggs.
Maybe it’s because I’ve been watching new episodes of Emily in Paris, but today I wanted to share an American spin on a classic French recipe: the Croque Madame.
A Croque Madame is a French sandwich made with thick slices of pain de mie or brioche, sliced ham, and gruyère or emmental cheese. Béchamel is spread over the sandwich, which is baked until golden. Then the whole shebang is served with a fried egg on top.
The name of this sandwich — Madame — comes from the egg resembling a lady’s fancy wide-brimmed hat. This immediately reminds me of Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady. Doesn’t Hepburn’s look below make you think of the outfits Emily wears in Paris?
Croque Madame is actually a riff on Croque Monsieur, which is a sandwich with all the same components except for the egg. So today we’re going to “riff on a riff” by adding enough American flair to a Croque Madame that Sylvie would likely give it the side-eye:
Bread: We’ll use croissants instead of white bread, which gives the sandwich a flakier texture. (Since croissants are French, it makes sense to use them in this sandwich, if you ask me.)
Eggs: Instead of an egg on top, we’ll stuff cheesy scrambled eggs inside.
Cheese: We’ll add parmesan to the béchamel sauce and cheddar to the eggs, giving the sandwich a sharper, slightly tangier taste.
Preparation: We’ll toast the croissants before assembling and baking the sandwich, adding the scrambled eggs at the last step.
While not traditional, the finished sandwich is completely irresistible. It’s buttery and flakey, with melty cheese, fluffy eggs, and salty-sweet sliced ham. The creamy béchamel on top is the finishing touch. I love the crunch-crunch sound when I cut into this sandwich, which tastes like something you’d get at an upscale cafe.
I like to serve this sandwich with breakfast potatoes, but you can also enjoy it solo. It’s hearty and filling — in other words, weekend brunch perfection.
And don’t worry if you’ve never made béchamel before! I’ve got you covered with step-by-step photos and fun variations, like a Croque Mademoiselle for vegetarians or a sweet twist with brie and apple or pear slices.
Enjoy!