‘The Candied Croissant Trend Makes the Best Croque Madame'

If you ever find yourself with leftover or stale croissants (I know, what?), TikTok has the perfect way to resurrect them, of course. The candied croissant has been showing up on everyone’s FYP lately. A croissant, flattened and slathered in butter and honey and crisped up in a pan turns into a surprisingly wonderful base for a breakfast sandwich, ice cream sandwich or simply as-is.

The hack makes your stale cafe croissants go from sad to spectacular and makes your typical grocery store croissant palatable. Plus, making a sandwich with these crispy croissants is an elegant way to level up your typical breakfast sandwich and start your day out on a delicious note.

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Croque Madame on a Candied Croissant<p>Courtesy of Jessica Wrubel</p>
Croque Madame on a Candied Croissant

Courtesy of Jessica Wrubel

What is the candied croissant?

The candied croissant is a simple, easy way to resurrect a plain croissant. Creators are taking the baked beauties, flattening them with a rolling pin, slathering them with butter, drizzling them with honey and searing them in a hot pan to get a flattened crispy base that’s perfect for building sandwiches with. It’s a great way to put a new spin on your old favorite sandwich.

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What are the ingredients for the candied croissant?

A fresh or day-old croissant, butter, honey and sandwich toppings of choice. I loosely followed the recipe by TikToker Alexa Santos (@alexawhatsfordinner) where she made a Croque Madame out of her candied croissant. TikTokers are using the flattened croissants as a base for fried eggs, ice cream and even one genius combo of a flattened chocolate croissant spread with Nutella. The combos are inventive and can be savory or sweet, depending on what you’re going for.

Candied Croissant Ingredients<p>Courtesy of Jessica Wrubel</p>
Candied Croissant Ingredients

Courtesy of Jessica Wrubel

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What is the recipe for the candied croissant?

Ingredients:

  • 1 Tablespoon butter

  • Drizzle of honey

  • 1 croissant

Directions:

  1. Flatten your croissant fully with a rolling pin.

  2. Spread butter on both sides of the croissant

  3. Drizzle with honey

  4. Sear in a hot pan until golden brown on both sides

  5. Top with sandwich toppings of choice, ice cream, or eat as-is

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What does the candied croissant taste like?

Rather than building on regular bread, my candied croissant sandwich had a certain “je ne sais quoi” about it. I made a slightly different version of Santos’ Croque Madame. I made mine with roasted turkey, Gruyere and a fried egg and topped it with fresh thyme. It was soft and pillowy but crisp and cheesy at the same time. The egg had that perfect, velvety, runny yolk when I sliced it into the sandwich, which cascaded in a dreamlike way over the caramelized flakes of pastry. What really brought it over the edge was the fresh thyme (as all fresh herbs tend to do).

Sliced Croque Madame<p>Courtesy of Jessica Wrubel</p>
Sliced Croque Madame

Courtesy of Jessica Wrubel

Tips for making the candied croissant even better

  • You don’t need a fresh croissant for this since you’re going to be cooking it, but make sure that it’s not so stale that it crumbles at the mere sight of your rolling pin (I had a crumbly mess on my hands for round one of this recipe).

  • Creators are making the “candied” part two ways: by drizzling honey over the already-seared croissant with butter; and adding it after the butter but before the sear. I tried it both ways and the better way is the former; searing with the honey caused the croissant to burn too quickly and took a couple of tries before it came out in an acceptable fashion.

  • I lightly sprayed my pan with cooking spray before placing the croissant down since I was nervous that the honey would stick and burn (see the last tip).

  • If you’re making a sandwich out of it, build it after the croissant has come out of the pan and cooled for a minute. The idea is to get it crispy but not burn on one side as your build the sandwich in the pan. I layered my croissant with ingredients and baked it for a few minutes at 350°F until the cheese melted.

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