MoMo & Coco

The different shapes of NYC’s viral croissant craze

Introduction

Last summer, you may recall our round-up review of the best new bakeries to hit NYC (see here).  Fast forward a year, that bakery craze has morphed into taking croissant dough and shaping it into forms other than the typical crescent moon. We chronicle all the different shapes we have seen to date in this list — cube, square, circle, tube, brain, flower croissants.  Bookmark this page, as we will keep updating!

Updated November 2023.

Round wheel croissants

  • ☑  Dessert destination: 
  • ☑ Budget: $$.
  • ☑ Must-eat: Rotating flavours.
  • ☑ Short and sweet story:  We previously reviewed Lafayette’s wheel croissant here. Flavours rotate monthly, and the lines are still long.  If you are an impatient dessert addict, head to Angelina’s for a similar circle-shaped croissant and no wait time.  Note that Angelina’s version errs on the somewhat burnt and crispier side of things, by comparison to Lafayette’s.  We prefer Angelina’s bomboloni more. 

Cube croissant

  • ☑ Dessert destination:
  • ☑ Budget: $$.
  • ☑ Must-eat:  The Strawberry and Blueberry from Julien, or chocolate from Bibble & Sip.
  • ☑ Short and sweet story:  We previously reviewed the myriad bakery treats on offer at Julien’s here. Julien’s cube croissants are probably our favourite “different-shaped croissants” on this list — it tastes closest to a traditional croissant, with the pastry consistently flaky (rather than burnt or under-baked), and the custard or jam filling neatly bisecting the centre of the creation.  Bibble & Sip is one of our longest-standing favourite dessert spots, and they also offer a worthy cube rendition as well.

Square croissant

  • ☑ Dessert destination: Hokkaido Cheese Tarts, Koreatown, Manhattan.
  • ☑ Budget: $$.
  • ☑ Must-eat:  The Earl Grey and Matcha. 
  • ☑ Short and sweet story:  Hokkaido’s square croissants are softer in texture than the other croissant creations on this list — almost like a brioche.  They also possess a lighter cream filling.  Other flavours available aside from the two pictured below include strawberry and chocolate. 

Tube and brain croissant

  • ☑ Dessert destination:  Unregular Bakery, Union Square, Manhattan.
  • ☑ Budget: $$.
  • ☑ Must-eat:  Kinder bueno tube croissant, or pain au chocolat.
  • ☑ Short and sweet story: The curiously-named Unregular Bakery specializes in a selection of slightly eccentric viennoiseries. On your visit, you might see a handful of wheel-shaped croissants stuffed with savoury components, but make a beeline instead to the minion-shaped “tube croissant.” It’s all hazelnut chocolate dreams, and we love the flaky wafer crusting. By contrast, the pain au chocolat croissant resembles a swirly brain to us, studded with black dots.

Flower pastry

  • ☑ Dessert destination:  Dominique Ansel Workshop, Flatiron, Manhattan.
  • ☑ Budget: $$.
  • ☑ Must-eat:  Coffee Creme Brulee Flower Pastry.
  • ☑ Short and sweet story: We previously reviewed this pastry here. We sneak this into in the list, although it is not strictly a croissant dough pastry. 😛

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