Croissants are the most celebrated pastries renowned all over the globe. These yeasted viennoiseries are enriched with sugar and butter. There’s no match for the laminated flaky texture, fat-coated dough and folded layers of a traditional croissant recipe. These recipes may drastically vary along with environmental and cultural factors so there are naturally many croissant variants.
Not every recipe or bakery is created equal and we know that it’s of the utmost importance for croissant aficionados to know which one’s the best, no matter where they are in the world. Here are the best croissants that you can find in the world.
Du Pain et des Idées – Paris, France
We’re talking about croissants and Paris is the place where we should start, shouldn’t we? Surrounded by the magnificence of Canal Saint Martin, Du Pain et des Idées in Paris is the croissant bakery you should be visiting after a stroll along the river Seine. Their famed master-boulanger, Christophe Vasseur is a renowned artisan baker whose exceptional skills in using high-end, organic ingredients make his croissants the perfect bliss.
The best thing about this place is that you’ll always get a freshly made serving because they’re constantly baking out some of the finest French croissants in the country all through the day.
Aux Pains de Papy – London, England
Butter is the central part of any croissant and no one knows it better than Mathieu Esposito, founder of the Aux Pains de Papy Bakery. They make their croissants as truthful to the classical French recipes as they possibly can. Aux Pains de Papy’s croissant recipe ensures adequate glossy exterior, honeycomb layers, delicious butter and lots of it. It tastes best when warm so visitors usually dash down there during a stroll and grab their hot croissant serving with trademark aux chocolates.
Dominique Ansel – New York, New York
Dominique Ansel is one of the most renowned chefs in the world of pastry and baked goods, having tens of awards and accolades to his name. He has often been named in award lists around the globe for his creativity and innovation in the culinary art of baking.
The croissant-donut fusion, famous as ‘cronut,’ is his signature bakery item, lauded globally by magazines like Time as one of the best innovations. DKA, a sweet, buttery croissant with a gooey, loose center is another signature pastry from the baker, which surprisingly sells twice as much as the cronut. Even if you don’t prefer these inventions, you’ll love to have a few traditional croissants because they’re just as good.
Amandine Patisserie Café – Los Angeles, California
With the neatly set sidewalk tables in a strip mall around Koreatown, Amandine is an unexpectedly uptown pastry shop and probably one of LA’s finest. Despite being diverse and assorted with a lot of streamlined options, the star of Amandine’s menu is definitely their dedicated section on croissants. Almond croissant is the most preferred option due to a myriad of reasons.
Getting the balance absolutely right for almond croissants is quite tough because it can get cloying easily, overwhelmed by too much artificially flavored almond extracts. Conversely, Amandine’s almond croissant is the perfect blend of nutty richness and the signature fruity essence of almonds. They work really hard to get the perfect, crisp finishing and a light, soothing exterior.
Lune Croissanterie – Melbourne, Australia
Any list mentioning world-class croissants would definitely be incomplete without Lune’s. It’s servings are sized generously with a flaky, gentle crust of slivered almonds and a mildly sweet filling in the center to keep the croissant calories in check. Lune’s marvelous croissant recipes helped put them on the global map, especially after the New York Times proclaimed them as the world’s best croissant.
Its founder, Kate Reid, used her background knowledge as a former engineer to create a world class climate-controlled cube for the warehouse to ensure top-notch baking quality. Apart from their signature almond offer, you can even look into the cruffins (muffin plus croissant), chocolate croissants, or even double-baked croissants.
Hof Kelsten – Montreal, Canada
People usually forget about the French part and history of Canada but it’s real, it’s there and Hof Kelsten is an exemplary vestige of the great French connection with North America. Montreal’s whole croissant scene begins and ends with the eminent bakers at Hof Kelsten bakery.
No matter how you look at their croissants; the quality of their golden crisp crusts or the aroma of quality butter used in it, the whole package radiates perfection. The fluffy, soft filing at the center makes it all the more scrumptious just as you’d like in a homemade croissant.
Jason Bakery – Cape Town, South Africa
Whether it’s the classic butter croissants, almond or emmental cheese ones, the whole-wheat options or even the traditional 61 percent Valrhona pain au chocolat, Jason Bakery will never disappoint you. They bake in-house, every single morning and along with their diverse pastry selection, their quality is not something you can overlook as a croissant aficionado no matter where you are on the globe. The best of this Cape Town bakery is, however, their signature bacon croissant and the doughssant, a blend of donuts and croissant.
Patisserie – San Francisco, California
The croissants you’ll find here will be nothing short of what you may see or experience in France itself thanks to the efforts by Michael Suas, founder of San Francisco Baking Institute and former pastry chef for Gary Danko and Manresa, Blinda Leong. Their trademark classic croissant servings lie in a marble-top classic pastry case at their European-fashioned shop.
If you want something new to look at other than the stacked layers of golden croissants, you should take a look at other options as well like their signature almond banana chocolate croissant. It’s encased in a flaky almond crust with a soft and warm center filling of delicious banana chocolate blend.
The chocolate banana almond serving contains the optimal balance between nutty richness and sweet, nutty finishing. In fact, the Patisserie is so renowned that people from across the town make a visit there solely for grabbing a bite