When you need a croissant in the morning
Iris and I had fresh-baked croissants for breakfast. Seattle is lucky enough to be home to the world-class croissants of Cafe Besalu. This morning’s croissants weren’t in the same league, but they were better than any other croissants I’ve had in town: crisp and flaky, properly leavened, deeply browned, and not stomach-churningly huge. Here’s the arduous process by which I made them:
10pm last night: Take croissants out of the freezer and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
7am this morning: Preheat oven to 350°F.
7:45am: Place pan in oven.
8:05am: Remove pan from oven and transfer croissants to cooling rack.
8:15am: Eat.
These croissants came from Trader Joe’s, in a box of eight for $4. Here’s what they look like. They contain no weird ingredients, no margarine, no preservatives. They’re billed as “mini-croissants,” though to me they’re exactly the size a croissant should be. (I did eat a second one later in the day for purely scientific purposes, and they hold up very well, just sitting out on a plate.) This is one of the greatest convenience products ever, if you can call a product that has to be defrosted for 7 to 9 hours “convenient.” It’s as if Red Baron came out with a new line of frozen pizza comparable to Pizzeria Bianco, or Nalley’s chili won a cookoff.
Also available, dangerously enough, in chocolate.
Comment by matt wright
I love Trader Joes. The last couple of times we have moved house, we had areas mapped out that were only 5 minutes from a TJs. I cannot imagine not living close to one!
Those croissants sound great. I am certainly going to pick some up this weekend.
Posted on April 8, 2008 at 9:24 pm
Comment by Lauren
Metropolitan Market and Whole Foods carry these as well - I can’t remember the brand but I remember the packaging looks French. I was surprised that they weren’t horrible and, while baking, actually made the house smell like fresh baked bread!
Posted on April 9, 2008 at 11:04 am
Comment by Maggi
And a bargain at Trader Joe’s too! I was just over at Williams Sonoma and saw them as well. $40 for 15 of them.
Posted on April 10, 2008 at 11:45 am
Comment by Wendy
We tried the chocolate ones this morning (they’re not so much of a bargain, being 4 to a package, but they’re probably larger). They were pretty good, but I like more substance and CHEW to my croissants, instead of a mouthful of air… so do you think I will like the plain croissants?
Posted on April 13, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Comment by mamster
The plain ones are way better. That is my only criticism of them, though, that they’re not well-layered all the way through and a little too airy inside. I’d try them, though—because they’re smaller, there’s a higher ratio of surface area to interior.
Posted on April 13, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Comment by Moose
Sounds great, I will have to try them. I tried the chocolate ones before and thought they were a bit greasy. Check out http://www.traderjoesfan.com
Posted on April 16, 2008 at 10:47 pm