PARIS, France – The quintessential Parisian delight, the croissant, with its crisp, golden exterior and layers of butter, holds a special place in culinary culture. However, bakeries worldwide now offer a myriad of inventive pastries inspired by the classic croissant, from the cruffin to the cronut.
Recently, Paris has introduced its own twist on this trend: the “crookie,” a fusion of the croissant and the beloved American chocolate chip cookie.
While such innovations may appear audacious, particularly within the context of French gastronomy’s reverence for tradition, they align with the complex history of the croissant, the country’s iconic baked good.
Despite its association with Parisian culture, the croissant’s origins trace back to Vienna, as evident in any traditional boulangerie’s selection.
In October 2022, Paris welcomed the crookie into its culinary landscape. The brain behind this creation, Stéphane Louvard of Maison Louvard on Rue de Châteaudun, conceived the idea one Saturday morning after baking a particularly exquisite batch of croissants.
Louvard experimented by splitting croissants in half and filling them with chocolate chip cookie dough, baking them until the cookie set.
Initially a modest success, selling around 100 to 150 daily, the crookies gained widespread attention after a TikTok influencer featured them in February 2024.
Since then, Louvard has been tirelessly meeting the demand, producing up to 1,500 crookies per day, with a surge to 2,000 on Saturdays.
