Food & Drink
The Crookie is the New “It” Pastry to Hit Baltimore
The innovative treat—essentially what happens when a chocolate-chip cookie melts inside a croissant—is a favorite on the pastry lineup at sister spots La Maison and Café Dear Leon.
Move over cronut, cruffin, and brookies (a brownie and a cookie), there’s a new so-called “Frankenpastry” in town.
The crookie—what happens when a chocolate-chip cookie melts inside a croissant—is the latest “It” pastry to hit Baltimore.
And it’s a buttery, salty, sweet sensation. The innovative treat was first invented in 2022 by baker Stéphane Louvard, owner of Maison Louvard in Paris, who decided to experiment at work one day while making croissants next to his kitchen crew who were toiling over a batch of chocolate-chip cookies. He put the two together and—voila!—the crookie was born.
Louvard sold several dozen crookies that day, but the treat really took off when it went viral on TikTok, with more than 43 million video views to date. Ever since taking social media by storm, crookies have sprung up in bakeries across the world—including Baltimore where La Masion by Café Dear Leon (and their Canton sister spot Café Dear Leon) is believed to be the first local bakery to sell the creation.
Min Kim, owner of La Maison in Remington decided to add crookies to his pastry lineup as a favor to a patron.
“One of our regulars who has been coming to the store since it opened had been asking us to make crookies. He was sending us Instagram videos and posts like, ‘I know you have a great croissants and great cookies, can you put them together?’” says Kim.
The bakery’s creation is a classic croissant with their French-style brown butter chocolate-chip cookie dough folded inside in the laminated pastry. The top of the croissant is blanketed by a salty caramelized melted chocolate.
“I’d seen crookies before,” says Kim. “We try to stay on top of pastry trends and see what’s out there. Last year, I was like, ‘Let’s just to make this as a gift to our regulars.’”
Of course, other fans have followed, says Kim, and crookies are especially popular with the moppets.
“Not every trend is great,” says Min, who sells some 60 crookies a day, “but this is one that people really wanted to see here in Baltimore.”