Mexican Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding

3 bars of chocolate chopped (I prefer two dark choco bars and one semi-sweet bar)

½ cup of sugar

¼ of bag of your favorite semi-sweet chocolate chips

4 large eggs

6 egg yolks

5 croissants, halved

4 cups half-and-half

1 ½ tsp instant espresso

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Create a double boiler (glass medium sized bowl, placed over small saucepan filled with water, but not touching the bowl) and place on medium heat.  Add chopped chocolate (from bars) and begin to melt. Add ¼ cup of sugar and stir.  Lastly, incorporate the espresso and cinnamon and fold in until chocolate is melted completely.  Set aside to cool completely.

Meanwhile, in a medium sized bowl, whisk together the whole eggs, egg yolks, half-and-half, vanilla and the remaining ¼ cup of sugar. Set the custard mixture aside.

Slice the croissants in halves lengthwise and place in a medium to large baking dish, roughly 2 1/ 2 inches in height.  Place the pan in a larger one filled with at least one inch of hot water to create a water bath.