Cookie-stuffed croissants are a craze at Long Island bakeries
Keeping up with the croissant trends is more difficult than ever. A new fad seems to drop down every month, starting with Dominique Ansel's Cronut and moving on to cruffins, croffles, cube croissants, flat croissants, croissants shaped into circles and filled with cream and deep-fried croissants that are glazed like doughnuts.
The latest craze — crookies, a hybrid of a croissant and a cookie — dropped earlier this spring, when Long Island bakeries responded to a viral TikTok video from Paris and began posting their own renditions on social media. Within weeks, a couple of purveyors blossomed to 10. And now it seems just about every spot selling croissants is doing a crookie, whether they like it or not.
Being skeptical is a prudent move when it comes to these Instagram-fueled Frankensteins. But this particular creation is legitimately intriguing. After all, croissants and cookies are among the most delicious baked goods. But do they taste good together? And does the crookie have staying power? Here are bakeries across Long Island where you can try one yourself, along with a top spot to find a worthwhile crookie.
What's a crookie?
While the original Parisian bakery did not specify how the treat was made, dozens of copycat recipe videos from all over the world emerged to fill the void. The venerable Buttercooky Bakery in Floral Park, Manhasset and Huntington prepares a twice-baked croissant in a similar fashion.
Co-owner Benny Borgognone Jr. said they dove into croissant experimentation and came up with the twice-baked treat, evolving from a croissant tart they'd already been making. “You’re left with this beautiful, modernized European pastry that kind of became Americanized,” he said. “France has éclairs, Italy has croissants. America’s classic dessert is a cookie.”
Buttercooky bakeries prepare them two to three times a day, baking the croissants first, letting them sit for 15-20 minutes and then splitting them open and filling them with cookie dough and baking again for 8-10 minutes, “so the cookie is not fully cooked through,” Borgognone Jr. said. They’re finished with powdered sugar and put in a box, which is then put into a retro machine that ties it with string. The cookie itself is mostly tucked into the center of the rather firm croissant ($6.75), giving off the impression that it's a cookie dough filling, rather than a 50/50 fusion of cookie and croissant.
Crookies are less novel than they seem
The essential problem of the crookie is that, for now at least, it feels more like a stunt than something you'd regularly consume for breakfast, or even dessert. It's so sweet that eating one feels dangerously decadent. But what about traditional French viennoiserie like chocolate croissants — known as pain au chocolat in France — and the even sweeter almond croissants stuffed with sugar cream and baked in syrup? In this context, the crookie is right at home.
Borgognone said that at his shop, the crookie isn't even really a trend anymore. “I think it’s going to be around for awhile, because not everybody loves a croissant. … But a cookie is a thing, someone in the household’s going to want a cookie.” he said.
You don't need a great croissant to make a great crookie
Preparing croissants from scratch can be a time-consuming process that requires days of rolling dough with butter, refrigerating it and rerolling to create the characteristic flaky layers. (This process is known as laminating.) That's why many bakeries opt to buy already-prepared dough.
But not at Huntington's Fiorello Dolce, whose baker Gerard Fioravanti spends two days making his croissants, which are among the best on Long Island. They may even be superior to his crookie, which is baked just once, altogether. This technique results in some overcooked bits of cookie on the edges that interfere with the stunningly crackly texture of the fantastic croissant. Suggestion: Heat it up before you consume for an optimum texture.
Fiorello Dolce owner Gerard Fioravanti holds a tray of crookies in Huntington. Credit: Randee Daddona
Surprisingly, the Queens-based cookie chain Chip City serves one of the most satisfying crookies in the area, despite the fact that the mini croissant tasted like a mass-produced crescent roll ($6). The trick is, Chip City gets its croissant dough from a vendor, splits it in half while still raw and bakes it directly with the raw cookie dough so that the two become one. Their crookies, available at select locations in four varieties including our favorite triple chocolate, was so deliciously fudgy and prominent that the whole thing just works.
You absolutely need to heat this up first
The crookie tastes far superior when eaten hot. Fresh from the oven might be best, but even just a little pop in the microwave for 20 seconds does the trick, mellowing the firm and flaky croissant and molding it together with the gooey cookie.
Crookies are popular at Torte Jeff Pie Co + Bakery in Port Jefferson. Credit: Stephanie Foley
Ripping into the salted chocolate chunk crookie ($7) at Torte Jeff Pie Co & Bakery in Port Jefferson was a heavenly moment — and not just because this quaintly decorated shop is so cute. The chocolate was melty, the croissant was soft and supple and perfectly shaped into a crescent. Owner Lisa Harris, who prepares her crookies in a shared commercial space, makes several varieties including a peanut butter crookie, a triple chocolate brownie crookie dipped into ganache, and a kitchen sink crookie with chocolate chunks, pretzels and crushed Oreos. All are magnificent, treating both croissants and cookies with equal respect.
Long Island bakeries that make crookies
Buttercooky Bakery
Floral Park, Manhasset and Huntington
This family-owned bakery, which dates to 1962, bakes crookies two to four times per day, depending on the location. Right now it only sells a salted chocolate chip, but is also experimenting with a rainbow cookie croissant for the future. Call ahead to get them fresh out of the oven, or reheat at home to soften.
More info: 217 Jericho Tpke., Floral Park, 516-354-3831; 140 Plandome Rd., Manhasset, 516-627-1600; 495 New York Ave., Huntington, 631-424-4034. buttercookybakery.com
Sweet Karma Desserts
136 Manetto Hill Rd., Plainview
This bakery specializes in cakes and gluten-free treats. But it also goes beyond the norm with its crookies, serving a chocolate chip and also a rainbow cookie croissant ($4.68). It doesn't get more New York than that.
More info: 516-794-4478, sweetkarmadesserts.com
Fiorello Dolce
57 Wall St., Huntington
Tucked into a shopping center behind the AMC movie theater, this bakery has been a pioneer in the artisanal croissant movement on Long Island. Gerard Fioravanti spends two days making his croissants and crookies, which have a beautiful, flaky crust.
More info: 631-424-0803, thebakersghost.com.
Chip City
Locations in East Northport, Garden City, Huntington, Merrick and North Babylon sell crookies
This local chain of cookie shops from Astoria, Queens, now sports more than 30 locations and makes a formidable crookie. Make sure to call ahead, because the locations have different operating hours and some sell out by the morning.
More info: chipcitycookies.com.
Torte Jeff Pie Co. & Bakery
218 E. Main St., Port Jefferson
Lisa Harris has one of the most quaint bakeries on Long Island and her crookies are equally impressive. The salted chocolate is a personal favorite, but a dining companion swore by the peanut butter. Ask them to heat it up for 20 seconds in the microwave for a transformative experience.
More info: 631-456-1532, tortejeffpie.com
With Samantha Brachman
Andi Berlin is from Arizona and does not know where she is going. But when she gets there, she’ll find something beautiful and delicious that the world needs to taste.
