croissant

Flaky, buttery croissants are a breakfast essential for millions, the best loved viennoiserie not only in France but around the world.

But there are croissants and there are croissants, and it’s worth asking around to find out which bakeries make them from scratch. Many buy frozen ones that they bake in the morning; the cheap ones sold in bags in supermarkets are often more like ssweet bread.

Usually the choices are between a croissant ordinaire made with margarine or croissants au beurre. You can’t tell by looking at them, so often bakeries make the butter ones straight, and give the ordinaires the crescent shape of their name.

You can find them with almonds (aux amandes) or savoury ones stuffed with ham and bechamel or melted cheese. Bakers outside of France began to make experiment with the recipe, starting with Dominique Ansel, who in 2013 combined croissants with doughnuts to create the Cronut. Australia with the Cruffin.

2022 was the year of the Cromboloni (croissants with Italian cream filled bomboloni doughnuts), another New York invention that has crossed the Atlantic to become le New York roll in France (although you won’t see many outside Paris).

That same year, bakers at Maison Louvard in Paris decided to cross their excellent croissants with chocolate chip cookies to make the ‘Crookie.’ At first they sold a few on weekends...until February 2024 when a TikTok influencer discovered them, and the rest is history.