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Take a French pastry that’s been painstakingly shaped; flawless in its simplicity—and then stuff it with an American sugar-and -utter bomb. The TikTok viral cookie croissant feels slightly blasphemous at first glance, but that’s part of the fun of it. What’s even more fun is that it’s a great way to use past-prime store bought croissants. Here’s my favorite way to make them (and then make them even better).
This instance of pastry profanity is actually credited to have started at a French bakery, Maison Louvard. It’s not even too off-brand for French croissant treatment in general—take the almond croissant, for example, which is stuffed with a flavorful almond batter and baked to sweet, caramelized perfection. Stuffing sweet dough or batter into the center of a second-rate packaged croissant and baking it again creates a marriage of crisp, toasted pastry and soft—or even gooey—cookie. It only requires two ingredients and about 12 minutes in the oven.
How to make a “Crookie” at home
I choose the path of least resistance. Instead of making my own cookie dough, I bought one of those sausages of Toll House chocolate chip cookie dough.
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
1. Split a store bought, packaged croissant (those need improving anyway), and stuff it with about a tablespoon of cookie dough, flattened. I used mini croissants, so if you have full-sized ones you may want to use more cookie dough.
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
2. Put the “lid” back on and secure another flattened spoonful of dough on top. Bake the whole monstrosity in a 350°F oven for about 12 minutes. Alternatively, you can use an air fryer set to “air fry” at 325°F for about eight minutes.
Keep the grocery list simple:
Tips to improve your cookie croissant
My biggest problem with this preparation is that it’s hard to bake the cookie center all the way through. Any cookie dough that doesn’t bloom out to the surface stays gooey. It’s so gooey, actually, it’s basically liquid. Most packaged cookie dough is safe to consume raw (it’ll say so on the wrapper if it is), so safety isn’t an issue, but personally, I like cooked cookies.
Actually cook the cookie dough
If you’re in the same cooked-cookie-boat with me, it’s a simple fix: Proceed to press cookie dough onto the cut-side of the split croissant’s bottom half, and onto the exterior of the top half, just like before. This time, don’t stack the layers. Instead, place the two halves onto a sheet tray, cookie-side up, and bake them. Use the same temperature, and the same amount of time. Since the cookie dough is exposed, they’ll bake through completely. Stack the halves once the croissant comes out of the oven, and enjoy.
Why stop with the basics?
Cookie dough alone is good, but I’m in the business of great, dammit. Croissants are a versatile buttery dough, so anything pairs well with them. Cookies are also, oddly, rather flexible. Anything you’d stir into your cookie dough can be tucked it into your crookie. Anything. You can switch up the cookie dough flavor too. Chocolate chip cookie dough pairs well with crispy bacon crumbles, pretzels, potato chips, or corn flakes. Sugar cookie dough is a friend to granola, cashews, or rosemary. My favorite pairing today was adding a long slice of banana along with Reese’s Pieces cookie dough. With just a little experimentation, you’ll have your next favorite snack ready in less than 15 minutes.