Anyone with a penchant for pastries would notice an avalanche of crazy croissants in Westchester: rolled, stuffed, flattened, dipped — even hollowed out and filled with hot chocolate.
When did this croissant madness first erupt in Westchester?
Looking to that big ol’ city just south of us provides context: Maman in Tribeca had the croissant cube stuffed with pumpkin pie cream last fall. Lafayette Grand Café & Bakery in Noho launched The Suprême in 2022, a cream-filled croissant rolled into wheel shape. And Supermoon Bakehouse in the Lower East Side created the “cruffin,” the croissant-muffin, and other eccentric croissant creations for years.
But perhaps the roots of this decadent deliciousness took hold in 2013, when French pastry chef Dominique Ansel introduced and trademarked The Cronut, a croissant-doughnut hybrid. Cronut-craving crowds reserved a taste of the monthly flavors online for pickup or twiddled their empty thumbs while standing on lines that wound through Spring Street.
All this succulent shapeshifting begs the question: How did the croissant get its original curled-in crescent shape in the first place?
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The croissant originates from Austria as the kipferl as early as the 13th century, so the legend is false that it was created in mockery of the moon on the Ottoman flag after the Ottoman Empire lost in the Battle of Vienna, according to the Institute of Culinary Education.
While the classic croissant has been transforming in variations across Westchester and the world, it’s unclear when — or if — this wave will ever crest as customers keep clamoring for more.
For almost as long as Bella’s Bake Shop has been crafting creative pastries and breads in Mount Kisco, David Chiappinelli, owner with wife Tatyana, has been conjuring new croissant styles.
He has a cinnamon bun made from croissant dough, a chocolate lava croissant mound that contains a cupcake and, within that, chocolate ganache. Each week, customers discover new creations, sometimes spotted on the bakery’s growing Instagram account.
“Everyone wants to go viral, so everyone is trying every shape of croissant and throwing it at the wall and seeing what sticks,” Chiappinelli says. “We don’t make anything we wouldn’t want to eat though.”
Chiapinelli isn’t a big fan of one croissant trend: the flattened croissant, which is so flat it’s crunchy like a cracker or hard cookie.
After all, it takes Chiapinelli four days to make his classic croissants, from mixing the sourdough starter and mixing the dough to laminating the 81 layers and then proofing and baking it.
“The whole idea is to have a light croissant. It takes a lot of skill to make it properly and at scale,” he says. That may be why the croissant is so popular. It’s decadent and difficult to make well. And when it’s done well, in whatever shape or form, it has good potential to become TikTok’s next viral viennoiserie.
Check out some of the crazy croissants you can get at these Westchester bakeries.
Cro-lato
This croissant-gelato pressed sandwich is a summery concoction for which we thank Chiappinelli — in between bites. Real gelato in chocolate, vanilla, or cherry-vanilla sits between a sliced, fresh croissant, which is then pressed in a little tabletop machine that resembles a George Foreman Grill. “In Sicily, they do it with brioche,” Chiappinelli says about the gelato sandwich. “I was inspired by that. They don’t use a hot-press though.” This is a haute way to cool off from that summer sunshine.
The Round Croissant
In recent years, the croissant has turned circular, looking like a wheel of those thin pastry and butter layers. And then bakers have been piping in pistachio cream, pumpkin cream, crème brulee — anything delectable that often matches the season. La Tulipe Desserts in Mount Kisco has offered customers a pistachio-filled round for a limited time, dipped in a pistachio chocolate and topped with crumbled pure Sicilian pistachios. This incarnation is not always sweet, however. Find it nearby instead stuffed with cream cheese and topped with everything bagel seasoning at Bella’s Bake Shop.
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The Crookie
Cookie dough-stuffed croissant is a nod to our childhood (or late-night?) habit of eating cookie dough before the cookies are even baked. Piped in and then bursting forth on top, this fun hybrid is available at several bakeries, such as Flour Power in Pelham, Martine’s Fine Bake Shoppe in Scarsdale, Bella’s Bake Shop in Mount Kisco, and The Snackery Bake Shop in Rye. It’s a prime example of how anything goes when it’s good. Martine’s version is more of a cookie dough croissant sandwich, with another layer of cookie dough on top for decadent measure.
Martine’s
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Flour Power
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The Snackery
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The Flat Croissant
First appearing in bakeries in Seoul, South Korea in 2023 before TikTok took hold, flat croissants are proliferating. It starts with fluffy three-dimensional croissants that are purposely compressed until a centimeter (or so) thick, then brushed with butter and honey or sugar and baked or fried for a two-dimensional treat that’s often dipped or sprinkled. At The Snackery Bake Shop in Rye, the flat croissant is called a “crookie” and comes in three variations: dipped in dark chocolate, white chocolate, or sprinkled in powdered sugar. It’s available daily.
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More
And we know there are more possibilities in Westchester. Consider Bella’s viral-on-social winter creation of a hot-chocolate filled croissant, hollowed inside, sealed with cooled, hardened ganache and filled with the decadent drink. On the slightly less wild side, we’ve seen croissant bread pudding in a variety of flavor combinations. Happy hunting for more madness for your mouth.