Croissant

A croissant (UK: /ˈkrwʌsɒ̃, ˈkrwæsɒ̃/,[1] US: /krəˈsɒnt, krwɑːˈsɒ̃/, French: [kʁwasɑ̃] (listen)) is a buttery, flaky, French viennoiserie pastry inspired by the shape of the Austrian kipferl but using the French yeast-leavened laminated dough.[2] Croissants are named for their historical crescent shape, the dough is layered with butter, rolled and folded several times in succession, then rolled into a thin sheet, in a technique called laminating. The process results in a layered, flaky texture, similar to a puff pastry.

Croissant

A crescent-shaped pastry

Type

Viennoiserie

Course

Breakfast

Place of origin

France

Associated national cuisine

French

Main ingredients

Yeast-leavened dough, butter

Variations

Pain aux raisins, Pain au chocolat

Crescent-shaped breads have been made since the Renaissance, and crescent-shaped cakes possibly since antiquity[3] but using brioche dough. Kipferls have long been a staple of Austrian, and French bakeries and pâtisseries. The modern croissant was developed in the early 20th century when French bakers replaced the brioche dough of the kipferl with a yeast-leavened laminated dough.[4] In the late 1970s, the development of factory-made, frozen, preformed but unbaked dough made them into a fast food that could be freshly baked by unskilled labor. The croissant bakery, notably the La Croissanterie chain, was a French response to American-style fast food,[5] and as of 2008, 30–40% of the croissants sold in French bakeries and patisseries were baked from frozen dough.[6]

Croissants are a common part of a continental breakfast in many European countries.