What Is Croissant and How Can I Use It?

Wondering what to do with croissant? This guide covers how to pick it, cook it, store it, and swap it, plus 7 recipes to put it to work.

Key Points

Laminated yeast dough with 27 or more butter layers that steam-puff into a crisp, flaky shell.
Day-old croissants beat fresh for cooking; the firmer crumb soaks up custard without turning to mush.
Reheat from frozen in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 10 minutes; never microwave or refrigerate them.
Swap brioche or challah for bread pudding, puff pastry for a flaky base.
Choose all-butter, light, hollow-sounding loaves; eat the day you buy them.

What is croissant?

A croissant is a crescent-shaped roll of laminated yeast dough. Dozens of paper-thin layers of butter are folded in so they puff into a crisp, flaky shell with an open, honeycomb crumb inside.

The French version is the one most people picture, though the technique came to Paris from the Austrian kipferl in the 1800s.

Lamination is the trick that separates a croissant from ordinary bread. A block of butter is folded into the dough and rolled out repeatedly, building 27 or more alternating layers.

In the oven the water in the butter turns to steam and lifts each layer. That is why a good croissant feels almost weightless and leaves crumbs everywhere.

Most home cooks buy them rather than make them, since the dough needs several hours of chilling between folds. Bakery croissants and good frozen ones are everywhere, and they work the same in a recipe.

Cooking With Croissants

The croissant earns its keep two ways: as a breakfast pastry on its own, and as a rich substitute for sliced bread. Day-old croissants are better than fresh for cooking, because the staler crumb soaks up custard or filling without turning to mush.

Split and toasted, a croissant becomes the base for a luxurious sandwich. Ham & Swiss Mushroom Croissants and Cheese Salami Croissants both lean on that buttery shell to carry deli fillings, and the Black Pepper Crusted Steak Sandwiches use one in place of a roll.

The other classic move is bread pudding. Tear stale croissants into a baking dish, soak them in a sweetened egg-and-cream custard, and bake. Caramel Croissant Pudding does exactly this, and the butter already in the pastry makes the result far richer than a pudding built from plain loaf.

Warm them before serving. Five minutes in a 350°F (175°C) oven re-crisps the shell and revives a croissant that has gone soft, which the microwave will never do.

Pairing and Common Mistakes

Croissants love salty and sweet company in equal measure: butter and jam, ham and Gruyère, or a smear of dark chocolate for a quick pain au chocolat. Their richness wants something sharp alongside, which is why strong coffee or a few tart berries balances them so well.

The most common mistake is treating a fresh croissant like sandwich bread. Pile a wet filling onto a crisp one and the bottom goes soggy in minutes. Toast the cut sides first, or use a day-old croissant whose firmer crumb holds up.

The second mistake is overheating. Croissants are already fully baked and mostly butter, so a hot oven or a long toast scorches the thin tips long before the center warms.

Substitutes

For a sandwich, a brioche bun or a soft Portuguese roll gives you the same buttery richness without the flake. They hold wet fillings better than a croissant does, so in some ways they are an upgrade for a messy sandwich.

In bread pudding or French toast, challah or brioche is the standard swap. Both are egg-enriched and soak up custard beautifully, though neither brings the flaky layers, so the texture comes out more cakey than shaggy.

For a flaky, layered pastry base, puff pastry is the closest cousin. It is also laminated but uses no yeast, so it puffs into crisp sheets without the bready chew.

Buying and Storing Croissants

A good croissant should feel light for its size and sound hollow when tapped. Look for a deep golden, blistered crust and visible flaky layers at the cut ends. A pale, smooth, dense one was underbaked or made with margarine.

Check the label for butter rather than oil or shortening.

Croissants stale fast. They are at their peak within hours of baking and noticeably drier by the next morning, so buy them the day you plan to eat them.

Keep them at room temperature in a paper bag, never sealed plastic, which traps moisture and softens the crust. To freeze, wrap each one tightly for up to two months, then reheat from frozen in a 350°F (175°C) oven for about 10 minutes.

Skip the refrigerator. The cold dries them out and turns them stale faster than the counter.