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This easy Monte Cristo recipe is a quick way to enjoy the sweet, savory flavors of a Monte Cristo with less work. They are baked in crescent dough, not fried.
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This easy Monte Cristo recipe is a new way to enjoy all of the savory, sweet, and deliciousness of a Monte Cristo sandwich recipe without all of the work. It is simple to make and comes together quickly and easily. Every bite is full of ham, cream cheese, and melted cheese that just warms your heart. It is the perfect combination!
We love Monte Cristos so much that we couldn’t just have them for lunch and dinner, we had to have them for breakfast too! They already include eggs, so it just made sense to transition this recipe into a breakfast recipe! So, we decided to come up with Breakfast Monte Cristos! Then, we loved those so much that we came up with Easy Baked Monte Cristo French Toast! So, if you make our easy Monte Cristo recipe, and you love it as much as we do, make sure you try those out as well!
Easy Monte Cristo Ingredients
A Monte Cristo (glueten free) is famously known in Disneyland at the Blue Bayou restaurant. Some people compare the grilled cheese sandwich to the Monte Cristo in some ways. It has layers of ham, cheese, and cream cheese, usually made with white bread that melts together in a pan.
- Crescent dinner rolls – Make this even easier with the help of crescent dinner rolls in a rolled tube. These are always helpful and still, has a flaky texture while being baked.
- Ham – Sliced deli ham is all you need to lay on these. Pick your favorite brand and flavor.
- Swiss cheese – Either slice your own or purchase pre-sliced swiss cheese.
- Cream cheese – Use the spreadable cream cheese that easily glides across the crescent rolls. You want it to be soft and spreadable or it will tear through the crescent roll dough.
- Raspberry jam – A favorite jam of mine that is full of flavor can’t be beaten by this raspberry jam. You can use any fruit jam to get that savory and sweet combination. Blackberry, grape, and strawberry are also some of our favorites.
- Powdered sugar – This is also known as confectioners sugar. It is a processed sugar that has been blended together. Dusting the powdered sugar over the top of Monte Cristos gives it a pretty way to serve.
How to Make our Easy Monte Cristo Recipe
With this easy Monte Cristo recipe, the bread or batter that is used for a regular Monte Cristo sandwich is replaced by refrigerated crescent dough. The sandwich is baked, not fried. This saves quite a few steps in the process. These are so good dipped in raspberry jam, but they are also delicious with peach and apricot jam or preserves.
- Prepare – Roll out and then separate the refrigerated dough into 8 triangles onto a cookie sheet coated with non-stick cooking spray.
- Layer – Place one slice of ham on each triangle. Next, spread 2 teaspoons of cream cheese on each piece of ham. Lastly, place one slice of Swiss cheese over the cream cheese.
- Roll up – Take each triangle and shape it into a crescent shape.
- Bake – Place in the oven for 15 minutes or until the rolls are golden brown and the cheese melt.
- Sprinkle – After baking, sprinkle with powdered sugar.
- Dip – Start dipping it in the raspberry jam and enjoy!
Tips for the Best Easy Monte Cristo
- Dipping – If you love to dip your Monte Cristo try it with maple syrup, fruit jams, or a sweet syrup you love.
- Bread – Use a slice of bread instead of a crescent roll.
- Spread – Instead of cream cheese you can use dijon mustard or mayonnaise for another flavor.
- Protein – Deli slices of turkey, ham, or chicken will all taste delicious!
“This is a fantastic Monte Cristo recipe! They never last long in my house!”
-Nellie
Frequently Asked Questions
A Monte Cristo sandwich is a variation of the French croque-monsieur. It is a grilled or deep-fried ham and cheese sandwich topped with béchamel, a french white sauce, or with a fried egg. The sandwich first appeared on a Parisian café menu in 1910. Since then, they became a favorite all over the world, especially at my house!
A Monte Cristo is made as a double or triple-decker sandwich with ham, turkey, and swiss cheese. The layered sandwich is then dipped into an egg batter or custard. It is then deep-fried, pan-fried, or cooked on a skillet until it is golden. They either use challah bread or brioche which is thick and sweet with that butter flavor.
The Monte Cristo sandwich became famous because of Disneyland in Southern California began serving it at the Blue Bayou Restaurant in the 1960s. It is near the Cafe Orleans area of Disneyland.
The Monte Cristo is named after the French novel The Count of Monte Christo by Alexander Dumas. This is where it received its French origins. Food historians compare the Monte Cristo sandwich to the French Croque Monsieur.
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Easy Monte Cristo Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 ounces Pillsbury refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
- 8 slices ham
- 8 slices Swiss cheese
- 1/3 cup cream cheese
- raspberry jam
- powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Roll out and separate the refrigerated dough into 8 triangles onto a cookie sheet coated with non-stick cooking spray.
- Place one slice of ham on each triangle.
- Spread 2 teaspoons of cream cheese on each piece of ham.
- Place one slice of Swiss cheese over the cream cheese.
- Roll up each triangle into a crescent shape.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until rolls are golden brown.
- After baking, sprinkle with powdered sugar.
- Dip in raspberry jam and enjoy!
This is a fantastic Monte Cristo recipe! They never last long in my house!
You can never go wrong with a Monte Cristo OR store-bought crescent rolls. This recipe is a winner.
We really enjoyed this recipe! Thanks for making it easy.
So glad you enjoyed these Monte Cristos! 😀
Oh Alexa – thank you for these! A Monte Cristo is one of my favorite meals and there aren’t a lot of places in Atlanta that serve them, believe it or not! I will definitely try these – you’ve made them so easy!