The 10 Most Unconventional Croissant Trends: The Good and the Bad

In a previous world, before the invention of the internet and the emergence of social media trends, the croissant was an unassuming buttery pastry, served for breakfast or brunch with marmalade and a coffee. If you were feeling particularly adventurous, you may even have stuffed it with ham and cheese for lunch. In the early 2010s, however, the first croissant viral trend took place when the famous French pastry was crossed with a donut, and the rest is history.

The popularity of the Cronut led to countless more croissant hybrids, crossing them with everything from hot chocolate to sourdough bread. We’ve had flat ones, square ones, and cereal ones, and social media — in particular TikTok — has gone nuts each time.

Croissant purists are unlikely to approve of many of these unusual inventions, but the internet doesn’t care. If the latest trend involves creating a new treat with buttery, flaky layers, then TikTok wants to taste it. Whether you are a croissant fanatic or just want to find out what all the fuss is about, let’s take a look at 10 of the wildest croissant trends of recent years.

Before 2013, the croissant was a simple, if delicious, breakfast pastry, loved by millions across the world, and perfect with just a smear of jam or honey. That was until New York pastry chef Dominique Ansel created a Mother’s Day treat that would change the landscape of croissants forever — the Cronut. Within days, people were queuing outside the bakery to get their hands on this delicious new invention.

The Cronut transpired after Ansel’s girlfriend suggested he make a donut as the special treat, but as a Frenchman, he decided to make one from croissant dough. While it may be tempting to call the Cronut a deep fried croissant, it took the experienced chef many attempts before he perfected the art of the beautifully flaky pastry without it being greasy. To make a true Cronut takes three whole days, and in an interview with Tasting Table, Ansel points out this timeframe cannot be reduced. “You cannot do it in less than this,” he insists. “There’s no shortcut.” Thankfully, the hundreds of people who queued outside his bakery from the early hours felt it was worth the wait, and a new classic dessert was born, the first of so many croissant hybrids to come.

If you’ve ever looked at your waffle iron and wondered what else you could possibly cook in it, surely the simple answer is — a croissant. In 2017, Louise Lennox, an Irish pastry chef, cooked croissant dough in a waffle iron, and suddenly a dessert to rival the Cronut was invented. If you thought a flaky, buttery croissant couldn’t get any better, the way the waffle iron crisps up the outside is bound to prove otherwise.

Before long, they were all over TikTok, with users creating their own simple croffles using frozen croissants and their own waffle iron. Once the pastry is perfectly crispy, that is when the fun starts. The grooved ridges of the croffle demand a delicious topping to fill them, and that is your chance to take the humble croissant to a ridiculous new level of flavor. Sweet toppings include classics such as hazelnut chocolate spread, honey, or fresh fruit with yogurt, but savory toppings work brilliantly, too. Cured meats like salami and prosciutto, grated cheese, or even smashed avocado will all create a brilliant brunch for a lazy Sunday. The versatility of the croffle makes it an easy-to-make snack or light lunch that you can make if you are having people around or simply want to indulge on your own.

If your idea of sweet heaven is to have a croissant alongside a steaming cup of hot chocolate, then you are definitely going to love this next croissant hybrid. Gone are the days of drinking your hot chocolate then discarding the cup, as this indulgent viral dessert allows you to ease the vessel, too.

You can find this popular pastry at Lakon Paris Patisserie where they fill a circular hollow croissant with dark hot chocolate, before topping with the classics of whipped cream, marshmallows, and chocolate shavings. The treat was made for Instagram and TikTok, with videos of the thick hot chocolate being poured into the pastry casing circulating widely online.

Getting the texture of the hot chocolate spot on is key to the success, and relative mess, of the hot chocolate croissant. If the liquid is too runny, or the pastry too thin, there is a real danger of leakage, which is not going to end well as scorching liquid starts to escape from vulnerable corners of the croissant. Get it right though, and you have a show stopping dessert that combines a favorite pastry with a classic drink — what more could you ask for from a viral food trend?

In France, the croissant is a staple of the breakfast scene, so it was only a matter of time before we embraced that idea and took it a step further with the invention of croissant cereal. We already have miniature versions of lots of other breakfast cereals, in the form of Frosted Mini Wheats or mini Trix, so we were always going to love the idea of mini cereal croissants.

L’Appartement 4F in Brooklyn is to blame for this croissant trend, and it will now cost you $50 to get your hands on a box, if you manage to get there before they run out. The name of the bakery comes from the original location of the owners’ baking endeavors — their apartment during the pandemic. They have had a physical bakery since 2021, and the tiny flaky cereal is just as popular now. Their website recommends to arrive as soon as they open to secure one of the 10 boxes a day of the croissant cereal that they sell.

Of course, you could always make your own, but it will take quite a bit more effort than simply opening a box of cereal. Still, if you can get a hold of some or create your own, you will be treated to a stunning bowl of cereal that you will be obliged to gobble up before they lose their flakiness.

When asked what cuisine you would most associate with the celebrated croissant, not many people would suggest Japan, but once you have given the viral croissant onigiri a try, you will understand the significance. Based on the classic Japanese rice ball, it swaps the usual rice for croissant pastry instead, and creates a brilliant savory-sweet combo in the process.

The signature triangle shape makes cronigiri super photogenic, and the fillings mean that customers are guaranteed to come back for more. While they can be filled with virtually any ingredients, the original versions often featured fish and spicy condiments. They first gained popularity in Singapore, but can now be found across the globe since going viral. These perfect parcels of savory filling wrapped in the flaky pastry have become a sensation for good reason — the umami filling and sweet exterior create a wonderful contrast that is a refreshing change from the super sweet croissant hybrids that preceded them.

If there was one croissant trend that was always going to be a big hit, it was a hybrid of croissant and cookie. The crookie also happens to be one of the easiest on this list to recreate at home, assuming you have a batch of croissants and some cookie dough.

Perhaps surprisingly, this particular craze started in Paris, France. It went relatively unnoticed for the first year, until a TikTok influencer tried and shared the treat, which resulted in it going viral and becoming another croissant hybrid sensation. The bakery where they originated has gone from double figures of sales per day to over 1500 hundred on busy days since the craze caught on.

There are many ways to make your own crookie, but one thing you can guarantee is that it will be sweet, as in really sweet. A light breakfast it is not, but if you fancy an indulgent mid-afternoon treat or a satisfying dessert, it will definitely hit the spot.

Have you ever taken a look at your breakfast croissant, and thought that the classic crescent shape just wasn’t working for you any more? Well, in spite of the fact that they are literally named after a crescent, one of the croissant trends of 2023 was the geometrically satisfying cube croissant.

Though originally invented five years earlier, Le Cube took off after being sold in Le Deli Robuchon in London. And if the right angles aren’t enough to draw you in, just wait until you see what it looks like when you rip into it. Filled with chocolate or vanilla ganache, the whole treat is a feast for the eyes as well as the taste buds. With the crisp outside and oh-so-satisfying soft interior, it is clear to see why this croissant trend became such a craze. If you’re attempting to make your own, you can stuff them with fruit compotes, caramel, or even savory fillings such as cheese, as the gooey filling will be a delicious contrast to the flaky, sumptuous pastry.

If you have never tasted an Italian bomboloni, the first thing you must do is right that particular wrong. It takes the form of a light, airy donut, filled with vanilla crema pasticcera, though you can sometimes get them in other flavors. They are often served with or after breakfast in Italy, placing them in the same category as croissants, so it makes sense that a mash-up would be on the cards, in the form of a cromboloni.

Taking the traditional donut shape, but using croissant dough instead, these cylindrical treats are piped full of delicious pastry cream to the point of bursting, making them a joy to eat — and a messy one at that. Also known as The Suprême or the New York Roll, they originated at LaFayette Grand Café and Bakery in New York City and quickly rose to fame as the next trendy croissant crossover. The fusion of French and Italian breakfast treats proved a big hit, and although they saw the height of their fame in 2023, they are still a popular option in bakeries across the globe a few years on.

Why you would want to take a beautifully puffed up, airy croissant and squash it till it more resembles a pancake is anyone’s guess, but TikTok knows better, of course. And while you may have accidentally joined in this trend the last time you packed a bottle of milk on top of your baked goods at the grocery store, chances are it didn’t quite fulfill the criteria of the flat croissant trend.

As you would expect, the texture of a flattened croissant is a totally different experience to a regular, inflated one. Once it is toasted, the whole croissant becomes crispy, rather than just the outside, creating a unique crunch that is unfamiliar, but oddly satisfying. There is also the benefit that they don’t cause quite as much flaky mess as a regular croissant, though you can still expect to leave a trail of crumbs.

The flattened top lends itself much better to toppings than a crescent-shaped original, making it an excellent base for holding chocolate spread, sliced fresh fruit, or savory options such as cream cheese. While this particular trend may not seem like much of a departure from the croissant itself, with the right additions, it can be transformed into a delicious dessert that is a breeze to make.

If you have ever tucked into a tangy sourdough bread and thought it could really do with having flaky layers, then this croissant trend is for you. It is less of a sweet treat then most of the other delights on this list, and makes a unique alternative to add to your bread routine.

The viral hybrid is made by adding copious amounts of grated butter into the sourdough, before stretching and layering multiple times to create the signature flakiness. The reaction on social media was huge, with many TikTokers proclaiming it is the best bread they have ever tasted. The outside turns a golden brown and can be easily pulled apart to reveal the slightly acidic bread inside.

Neither croissants or sourdough are exactly quick recipes to make, so it is safe to say that this crossover recipe is going to need a significant time commitment if you want to make it at home. In fact, it will take more than a day from starting it out, to taking the finished loaf out of the oven. If you enjoy a baking challenge, it will be worth the effort when you turn it out and admire your Insta-worthy creation that tastes even better than it looks.