Also Known As
Crescent, Crescent Roll

Description
A croissant is buttery, flaky bread, with a distinctive crescent shape. Croissants are made of a leavened variant of puff pastry, by layering yeast dough with butter, rolling and folding a few times in succession, and then rolling.

Making croissants by hand requires skill and patience; a batch of croissants can take several days to complete. However, with the availability of factory-made, frozen, pre-formed but unbaked dough, even inexperienced culinary enthusiasts can easily make it at home now. This innovation, along with the croissant's versatility and distinctive shape, has made it the best-known type of French pastry across the world.

In France and Spain, croissants are generally sold without any filling and eaten without added butter, but sometimes with almond filling.

How to select
• Check the expiry date before buying the croissant dough or pre-packed croissants.
• Always try to buy locally from a bakers shop than going for branded croissants, which have perhaps been baked months ago.
• If possible, go for croissants with organic ingredients.

Culinary Uses
• Croissant pastry can also be wrapped around any praline, almond paste or chocolate before baking (in the latter case, it becomes like pain au chocolat, which has a different, non-crescent shape), or sliced to admit sweet or savoury fillings.
• Warm croissants may be filled with ham and cheese or feta cheese and spinach.
• Croissants are commonly served alongside coffee as a breakfast. These croissants are typically coated with a sweet glaze.

How to store
• The croissant dough should be refrigerated and used within a week.
• Pre- baked or readymade croissants should be stored in airtight containers and consumed fresh.