MoMo & Coco

The ultimate updated guide to NYC’s best viral croissant shapes dessert trend

Introduction

It’s somewhat hard to believe that the pandemic was almost five years ago now :O Where the pandemic saw viral apartment bakeries pop up in NYC, the year or two after was all about how those bakeries expanded from the apartment setting into an explosive wave of new brick-and-mortar bakeries (see here and here). In order to distinguish themselves from the masses, some of these bakeries increasingly played around with pastry shapes.  The first shape that went viral was Lafayette’s giant wheel croissant, and from there, croissants may now be found in all types of weird and wonderful shapes. We previously chronicled all the different shapes we have seen to date (see here for that past list) and we now update it for 2025 — cube, square, circle, tube, flat, brain,  flower croissants.  Bookmark this page, as we will keep updating!

Round wheel croissants

  • ☑  Dessert destination: 
  • ☑ Budget: $$.
  • ☑ Must-eat: Rotating flavours.
  • ☑ Short and sweet story:  We previously reviewed Lafayette’s wheel croissant here and 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. 

Round with ears croissant

  • ☑ Dessert destination: Bibble & Sip, Midtown Manhattan.
  • ☑ Budget: $$.
  • ☑ Must-eat:  The llama croissant. 
  • ☑ Short and sweet story: Together with Supermoon Bakehouse, Bibble & Sip is one of our longest-standing all-time favourite bakeries in NYC, i.e. one of the few bakeries actually worth the hype. We love the trompe l’oeil cakes, gigantic cream puffs, and annual Lunar New Year celebration macaron sets from Bibble, and now there is another reason to visit — oversized round croissant with ears! They have made a viral croissant resembling their llama mascot, complete with cute face etched in with chocolate and filled in the centre with a luscious gingery cream. Hellooooo breakfast dessert 😛

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 and 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 also offer a worthy cube rendition as well – you will be hard-pressed to decide between this shape and the more cutesy Illama one. 

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. 

Flat diamond croissant

  • ☑ Dessert destination: 
  • ☑ Budget: $$.
  • ☑ Must-eat:  Chocolate flat diamond croissant.
  • ☑ Short and sweet story: What happens when you steamroll a cube or square croissant? You get a f-l-a-t croissant, *insert evil chortle*.  The newest patisserie on this list, Salswee, laminates half a flakey diamond with chocolate, and calls it a “Flatiron.” By contrast, Angelina, not satisfied with just offering a wheel-shaped croissant, also flattens out the dough, dips it into a pistachio, strawberry or chocolate coating and shakes a carnival of sprinkles all over it. This version is somewhat harder than Salswee’s interpretation. Both are more or less a palmier pastry, even if they are marketed as “croissants.”

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 and here. We sneak this into in the list, although it is not strictly a croissant dough pastry. We also haven’t seen it back at the Workshop for some time, so this may be the most elusive of the viral croissant pastries on this list.

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