1. Flat croissant
The flat croissant was created by South Korean mother Goh Ah-ra, who was looking for something that she could make with her daughter.
The Korean name, keuloonggi, hints to how the creation came about. The keu from keuloonggi comes from “croissant”, and loonggi from nurungji – the scorched, crispy layer that forms at the bottom of a pot of rice.
According to an interview with a Korean media outlet, Goh and her daughter enjoy baking at home and they often make nurungji and croffles (croissant waffles). One day, Goh combined the two concepts to create a croissant nurungji – a flattened, crispy croissant.
The delicious hybrid was able to find many fans across the world because Goh works at the bakery department of a food-related subsidiary of Korean conglomerate Hyundai.
Vezzley still creates flat croissants and many people say their hefty keuloonggi is unmatched. It might be worth paying a visit there during your next trip to Seoul.
How to make it:
Either buy frozen croissant dough or make your own dough. If you are using the former, put it into an air fryer or the oven for around five minutes until softened. Then, use a rolling pin to flatten the dough.
Spread maple syrup and sugar on both sides. Place the flat dough in a heated frying pan, cover with baking paper, and put something heavy like a pot on top. Use low heat to brown both sides of the dough until golden and crisp.
In Hong Kong, find flat croissants at bakeries such as The Baker & The Bottleman, Sarasei and Hazukido, and at The Fullerton Hong Kong hotel.
2. The croffle
The croffle, a cross between a croissant and a waffle, does not have an origin story as clear as that of the flat croissant. While some claim it was created by Irish pastry chef Louise Lennox in 2017, a 2015 recipe video on YouTube by Food and Wine magazine proves otherwise.
At some point, someone put in frozen croissant dough and discovered that the result was more delicious than a regular waffle because of the buttery flavour, flakiness and croissant layers.
The croffle became a huge hit and many bakeries started to make them. While they can be found anywhere in the world now, head to Saddler Haus in Seoul for the city’s most celebrated croffle. Located in Garosu-gil in Gangnam, the bakery has all kinds of flavours, from truffle and potato to basil and sticky caramel.
Many Korean celebrities have picked the bakery as the best spot to get your croffle fix. At the height of its popularity, people would queue up outside the shop.
How to make it yourself
Making a croffle yourself is extremely simple – provided you have a waffle maker. Again, start with either ready-made frozen croissant dough or your own. If you are using frozen dough, defrost it for around 10 minutes at room temperature. You can add a layer of sugar to the dough for added crunchiness.
Put the dough into the waffle machine and bake it for around a minute and a half, or until your desired level of crispiness is achieved – remember to check on the dough throughout the process to make sure it is not burning.
3. Crookie
Although the crookie was discovered by TikTok users in December 2023, Louvard was making it well before that. According to reports, he made a crookie for the first time in the middle of 2022. It was not an ambitious creation of any sort, just something he made for fun one day after seeing his employees prepare cookie dough as he was about to make croissants.
The crookie has not always been a big hit – in its early days, there were times when the pastry chef would have to throw away the crookies that did not sell that day. He was quoted as saying that, on a good day, 30 crookies would sell. After a TikTokker posted a viral video about the crookie, this changed.
Louvard, who was apparently taken aback by the crazy demand for crookies, has commented that they are just pastries. Bakeries around the world soon picked up on the trend and began making their own versions.
How to make it yourself
Making a crookie is simple if you use ready-made frozen croissant dough and cookie dough, although you need to defrost the frozen dough and let it puff up first, as you will be baking a croissant and not simply flattening it or throwing it into a waffle maker.
If you are using frozen croissant dough, follow the given instructions on how long you have to keep it out at room temperature for. This is probably around two hours. Have your cookie dough ready as well.
Stick the defrosted croissant dough into an oven set at 170 degrees Celsius (340 degrees Fahrenheit). After 15 minutes take the dough out, slice it horizontally into two and put some cookie dough in between the halves. Then add more to the top of the croissant. Put it back in the oven, lower the temperature to 160 degrees Celsius, and bake for around 10 minutes.
