Croissants Are Subject To More Chaos Than Any Other Food (And We Love It)

How do we love croissants? Oh, let us count the ways! Born from a dense Austrian baked good called kipferl, croissants have evolved into an impossibly airy treat that goes well with just about everything. Folks have been making killer croissant combinations — pairing the pastries with other delicious things like brownies, cookies, macaroons, and ice cream — ever since French pastry chef Dominique Ansel gave us the Cronut in 2013. Aside from making more than 200 variations of the Cronut since then, Ansel's invention also inspired culinary creators to mix their own favorite treats with their go-to croissant recipes, giving us a slew of legendary goodies.

Most recently, Vancouver-based Ruby Macarons popularized the MaCrossiant, a cream-filled croissant topped with a crispy meringue shell that has been making its rounds on TikTok. Just like the macaron cookies they mimic, MaCrossiants can be found in a rainbow of colors and flavors. Available for purchase via direct message to Ruby Macarons' Instagram, those who have tried them say they taste as good as they look. Recognizing that they are on the fast track to sweets stardom, other bakeries hopped on the MaCrossiant train, making their own version of the viral treats. This comes after the crookie, a croissant filled with chocolate chip cookie dough that recently took TikTok by storm.

Read more: 13 Store-Bought Ice Cream Bars Ranked From Worst To Best

Brownies, And Cookies, And Ice Cream, Oh My!

Perhaps cookies aren't quite your jam (speaking of jam, it's another great filling for croissants), but what about brownies? Crownies, a croissant and brownie hybrid, have rich brownie batter baked into the center of the buttery, flaky pastry. With a glorious brownie drizzle on top, it's perfect for fans of chocolate croissants. Pastry chef Thibault Hauchard even bakes marshmallows into his crownies for expertly elevated s'mores. For ice cream lovers, the pièce de résistance of imaginative croissant-based desserts has to be croissant ice cream.

While cruffins (part croissant, part muffin) and croons (stuffed croissant moons) add some fun textures to the mix, croissant ice cream takes that idea to a whole new level. Made famous by Tyler Florence, executive chef of San Francisco's Miller & Lux Provisions, this treat is made by piling creamy soft serve ice cream (which tastes so good because of the excess air in it, by the way) into a hollowed-out croissant. Florence told People that diners were making long treks just to get a taste of his creation. A food truck located outside Islington Town Hall in London also serves a croissant ice cream cone, complete with chopped pistachios or hazelnuts, that has some folks on TikTok ready to drop everything for an impromptu trip across the pond — and we won't be far behind!

Read the original article on Mashed.