Homemade Panera Bread Ham and Swiss Soufflés
Since we moved out into the 'burbs of New Jersey, James and I have had sort of a weekend tradition going on. We go to breakfast at Panera Bread, usually on a Saturday.
Now don't get me wrong - I love nearly every single thing on Panera Bread's menu - but I had never really settled on a "go-to" breakfast item until a few weeks ago when I suddenly noticed the baked egg soufflés in their baked goods case.
How I missed these before, I don't know. But they are, as far as I'm concerned, breakfast perfection. My favorite is the Ham and Swiss Baked Egg Soufflé.
The right amount of protein, plus the sweet flakiness of croissant? P-E-R-F-E-C-T.
It kind of bums me out that you can only get these little eggy baskets of win for breakfast. I'd love to be able to get them for dinner too. That's when I decided to try and make them at home.
Last Saturday, I set out with a copycat recipe created by author Todd Wilbur for Panera's Spinach Artichoke Baked Egg Souffle.
Not being a fan of artichokes, I knew I had to recreate the Ham & Swiss version if I could.
For the Brit's soufflé, I added extra black cracked pepper and minced fresh red pepper. As he devoured his breakfast about half an hour after I started out, the words "perfection", "glorious", and "magnificent" left his lips around rather large bites of food.
I don't think he was even talking to me, but to the soufflé in his hands. I think he might just be a fan.
We still love Panera's version, and won't be leaving behind our weekend breakfast traditions any time soon, but now I can have my Ham & Swiss Baked Egg Soufflé for dinner if I want too.
That makes me one happy camper.
I think you'll love them too. You can add anything you want to the egg mixture.
Think of it as an omelet inside a croissant, if you want. The ingredient world is your oyster, my friend.
But try Ham and Swiss at least once. It's a classic combination for a reason.
Panera Bread Ham and Swiss Baked Egg Soufflés
Panera Bread Ham and Swiss Baked Egg Soufflés are the best kind of breakfast food. This sweet little recipe makes just two breakfast souffles, but easily doubles or triples depending on how many you need to feed your crowd.
Ingredients
- 4 eggs, 1 reserved
- 1 tablespoon milk or half and half
- 1 tablespoons heavy cream
- ¼ cup shredded KerryGold Swiss cheese
- 1 tablespoon shredded Parmesan cheese, plus more for topping if desired
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- black pepper to taste (optional)
- 2 thick slices deli ham, diced (I used Honey Roasted. You could also use quartered Canadian Bacon slices)
- 2 tablespoons fresh minced red pepper, if desired
- ¼ 8-ounce tube Pillsbury Crescent butter flake dough (2 crescents per ramekin)
- 1 tablespoon Melted Butter, for lining the ramekins
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Mix 3 eggs, milk, and heavy cream in a large plastic or glass mixing jug until well combined. Egg yolks should be completely broken and mixed in. Add shredded Swiss cheese, Parmesan, and salt and mix again until thoroughly distributed throughout the egg mixture.
- Microwave the egg mixture in 30 second increments on high, stirring after each increment until you have a sort of solid, slightly runny scrambled egg mixture. In my 1000 watt microwave oven, this took 4 increments of 30 seconds.
- This tightens the eggs enough so that the dough at the bottom will cook, and the dough at the sides and top will not fall into them. Add diced ham, black pepper and red pepper (if desired), stirring through the egg mixture so evenly mixed throughout. Set aside.
- Sprinkle a clean surface with flour, and unroll the crescent dough. Do not separate the pairs of triangles. Instead, pinch with your fingers along the seam so that 2 triangles become 1 square of dough. You will only use 4 out of the 8 triangles included in the tube of dough. Set aside leftover dough, do not discard or pinch together.
- Flour the square of dough on both sides, and a rolling pin. Roll out the dough, turning dough once clockwise after each roll. Always roll in the same direction, directly out from yourself, until you have a square that is approximately 6″ x 6″.
- Melt about a tablespoon of butter in the microwave. Brush melted butter inside two 4″ ramekins, and then carefully line each with the 6×6 square of dough, leaving excess hanging over the edge of the ramekin.
- Fill each ramekin and dough with equal amounts of egg mixture. Sprinkle with more Parmesan cheese, if desired. Fold dough over the egg mixture so it is no longer hanging over the sides of the ramekin.
- Break and whisk the remaining egg, then brush over dough in each ramekin. This will give the dough a golden color and shine as it bakes.
- Place ramekins on the center of a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 15 minutes. While the soufflés are baking, roll the remaining crescent dough to package specifications. After 15 minutes, remove tray from oven and place the spare rolled crescents onto the baking tray around the ramekins.
- Return to oven and bake for 10-12 minutes more, until the souffles are golden brown and bubbly, and egg appears to be solidly cooked.
- The remaining crescents may need a few extra minutes, so remove the ramekins from the tray and return the tray to the oven, if necessary.
- Allow the soufflés to cool for approximately 5 minutes. You may eat the soufflés directly in the ramekins, or remove them and serve on a plate. They should remove easily since the ramekin was brushed with butter.
Notes
- Serve with extra crescents, jam, and fresh fruit for an excellent Saturday morning breakfast or weeknight Brinner!
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 2 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 986Total Fat: 65gSaturated Fat: 30gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 29gCholesterol: 454mgSodium: 1399mgCarbohydrates: 73gFiber: 3gSugar: 5gProtein: 27g
This nutritional information is just an estimate and not to be considered perfectly factual.
It's pretty good. 🙂 I think next time I'd pre-cook the egg mixture less, and bake longer. The texture was too much like scrambled egg.
Thanks for the great recipe! I was so disappointed when I couldn't get the Ham and Swiss Souffle at my Panera. This has helped fill the void! I've made a couple of changes, using country ham and puff pastry. Comes out delicious every time!
Ill will have to give this a try. The ham and Swiss is the only one I like. And it is now off the menu replaced by sausage and Gouda 🙁
I just wanted to take the time to thank you for doing this! It's my new favorite thing, considering the panera egg souffles are my favorite.
Devon, thanks so much for your kind words! I love those Panera Souffles too. These are just for when I can't get them! 😉
Made these and they are good. However, this recipe is not the Panera recipe. So if you are looking for the exact Panera recipe this is not it.
I made these today and we were very disappointed. On a scale of 1-10 I would only give this a 4 or 5. The crescent dough is not like the pastry of panera, and the filling doesn't taste the same either. I'll keep searching and experimenting.
Rebekah,
I'm really sorry you didn't care for the recipe, but I appreciate you leaving the feedback. We didn't seem to experience the same thing, and as I said in the post, the recipe is adapted from a recipe commissioned from a chef specifically by Panera Bread. Maybe this is the closest they'd allow the chef to get in terms of recipe development. Also keep in mind that the filling at Panera Bread is made from frozen egg product, so the texture/flavor is always going to be different than using fresh eggs. Would love to hear more about your experimentations!
Amber
I tried this recipe 3 times and each time a tiny tweak. I keep buying Panera to compare them. This recipe although fabulous is NOT Panera's recipe by a long shot. I precook my eggs less each time and increase baking time slightly making the texture and crust falling into a slightly more liquid center is similar to a Chicken Pot Pie than a crescent surrounding an well done omelet. To each their own but the precooking time greatly changes the texture of the final product. My changes are- Double spinach, 1/2T Parmesan on top of the covering dough and a pinch of sugar to the mix. Less precooking the eggs because of texture and the dough has never falling into the egg mixture yet.
Okprepper,
I really appreciate you taking the time to comment, though as you can see from other comments left here by Panera employees, Panera actually uses powdered eggs for their souffles. Using real egg instead is never going to give the same results.
I will also mention that this recipe was adapted directly from a "copycat recipe" commissioned BY Panera Bread by a chef. The only things I changed were the add-ins - the ham, cheese, and red pepper.
I am glad to hear you've made this recipe your own, and I really like the idea of Parmesan to top the dough.
- Amber
They only thing I can eat from Panera bread is the four cheese souffle, I LOVE them. So I was very excited to find this recipe! Looks like you did an amazing job. I tried to make them tonight and its was ok but just not as good as Panera. I can't figure out if it was the cresent or if i cooked the eggs a little to long. I will keep trying because I don;t live my a panera anymore. And they cost so much to buy. Thanks for posting this recipe.
Just had the swiss and ham souffle at panera for the 1st time! I was drooling, I loved it. Thanks so much for the recipe as I agree, this souffle would be great for dinner as well. Lori 🙂
Hope you like it at home, Lori. If you want to make the same sort of thing on a bigger scale (say for a large brunch crowd), check out my recipe for Grandma Mack's Breakfast Delight. Same flavors and textures, just in casserole form.
Completely forgot to post after my b'day brunch for my mom. They were so delicious everyone talks about them every Saturday morning! Only had a few tweaks; used chopped turkey sausage and bell peppers with aged cheddar, and instead of microwaving the eggs I cooked them in the skillet until they were 80-90% cooked and then put them in the ramekins. Thanks again!
I work at panera bread and these are way better! Real eggs out of the fride? Sign me up!
Thank you so much! I've been measuring for the past hour until I decided to ask you *why didn't i just do that* lol. I have a Panera Bread pretty close by but I really wanted to add things she loves. Hopefully I can be as successful as you've been. Thanks again.
I can't wait to make this for my mum's birthday! Great recipe, but I have one question. I know you said the ramekin measurements should be 4x4 but how deep is it? I have the 4x4's but they seem shallow compared to yours. Thanks for any help 🙂
Renaire, I had to find a measuring tape! Hah. They're about 2 1/2 inches deep. I think a more shallow ramekin will still work, you'll just have more crust at the top. I hope your mum has a wonderful birthday. But then, she's off to a great start - her daughter's making her breakfast!
Only change I made is that we like thin slices of ham, perfection!
Sandra, I'm glad you liked them. They're sooo good!
Hi Amber! I had one of these this morning after an early morning hockey session and I just have to say "YUM!" I came home and did a search and after seeing several using puff pastry (huh?) I saw that you had this recipe posted. Since I regard you as a trusted source, I will be giving this a try in the very near future. I hope it is ok if I post on my blog and link back to you. I'm new at this blogging thing, so I hope that is acceptable. Thanks for the great blog. Happy New Year! Lisa
These sound fantastic and can't wait to try them this weekend! 🙂