Tiny cinnamon sugar croissant cereal is a crisp and delicious snack! All you need is puff pastry, cinnamon, sugar and egg. These tiny croissants are surprisingly meditative to make!
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In 2020, L’Appartement 4F was just a small home bakery in Brooklyn and took the world by storm with the release of their mini croissant cereal. Their cereal boxes currently retail for $50 per box of 250 mini croissant cereals–and they feel nearly impossible to get! Each of their boxes are hand-rolled and baked with care, so they only turn out a few boxes a day.
After trying and failing for several weeks to buy a box from L’Appartement 4F, I finally tried making a homemade version with friends. They were delightfully crunchy and surprisingly very fun to make. If you’re also curious about croissant cereal, I highly recommend trying this homemade version!
Note: I did finally get to try the actual L’Appartement 4F version at the Best NYC Croissant Finale! Their cereal was actually quite a bit bigger than my version (maybe 3/4″ square) but similarly crunchy. It had just a faint cinnamon flavor from the cinnamon simple syrup vs. being rolled in cinnamon sugar. My ultimate conclusion is that you can make just as good a version at home if you can’t get your hands on the real thing!
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Tiny, crisp croissants: A little crunchy, a little tender and rolled in cinnamon sugar–these are delicious!
- Perfect for a fun activity: Have your friends over for a little croissant rolling party and eat them all together for brunch after!
- Easy to make: Once you get the hang of rolling these mini croissants, I promise it gets fun!
- Perfectly customizable: You can flavor these croissants however you might flavor plain puff pastry! Try freeze-dried fruit powder in place of the sugar for a tangy, fruity flavor.
Recipe Ingredients
- Puff pastry: You can use storebought or homemade. I like using Claire Saffitz’s homemade puff pastry recipe which uses butter, flour, sugar and salt
- You can also use storebought or homemade croissant dough for a more authentic version. I just find puff pastry easier to make at home or find in the store–and it will taste quite similar!
How to Make Mini Croissant Cereal
To make croissant cereal, start by rolling out your puff pastry or croissant dough into a large thin sheet. Cut this sheet into 1″ strips, then cut each strip into long triangles (the base will measure around 1/2″).
One triangle at a time, stretch the tip away from the base to create an elongated triangle. Dip the tip of the triangle into a beaten egg, then roll up the base of the triangle to form a croissant shape. The egg wash helps keep the croissant sealed!
Once you’ve chilled your assembled croissants, brush with egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 375 until golden brown and enjoy!
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Keep the dough as cold as possible: After working with a section of dough, place all of your rolled croissants on a plate in the fridge or freezer to keep the dough nice and firm. If the croissants get too soft, they’ll lose their shape in the oven.
- Bake longer for more crisp, shorter for more chew: I like my mini croissants crisp and deeply golden. If you want a little more chew, you can take them out when they’re still a little pale.
Storage
- Storage: Store your baked croissant cereal in an airtight container for up to 1 week at room temperature. Ensure they are cooled completely before storing them.
- Freezing: Once shaped and chilled, you can freeze the croissant dough for baking at a later date. Place the shaped croissants in a single layer on a plate or baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Put the plate in the freezer for 15-20 minutes to flash freeze them. Once solid, transfer croissants to a freezer-safe container and store up to 1 month.
- Thawing: You can bake the croissants directly from frozen–you may need to add an extra 5-10 minutes to the bake time. Brush the frozen croissants with egg wash, cinnamon sugar, and bake.
Additions and Substitutions
- Vegan option: If you’d like to make these vegan, you can make the puff pastry from scratch with a plant-based butter. You can also use water or a plant-based egg like Just Egg in place of the egg.
- Flavoring: Try swapping the cinnamon for a freeze-dried fruit powder like raspberry.
Frequently Asked Questions
It greatly depends how fast you can roll and how many people are working together. It took me around an hour to make 3/4 cup of cereal (rolling, freezing and baking). With several people working together, you might be able to make several cups in one hour.
I recommend storing leftover croissant cereal in an airtight container for up to one week. But it’s best consumed the day it’s baked!
Yes! The mini croissants freeze very well. Simply place all the assembled croissants on a baking tray until frozen. Then transfer all the frozen croissants to a freezer-safe container and keep in the freezer up to 1 month. When ready to bake, bake from frozen following the recipe (you may need to add a few more minutes to the bake time to get them perfectly golden).
Any kind you like! Cow’s milk or a plant-based milk like almond, soy or oat would all be delicious–it just depends on what you prefer.
I think adding toppings like sliced strawberries, blueberries or raspberries would pair really well with this cereal.
Tools for This Recipe
Mini Croissant Cereal
Ingredients
- 8 oz puff pastry (around one storebought puff pastry sheet)
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 3/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1 large egg, beaten
Instructions
- On a lightly floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll out about 1-2 oz of dough as thin as possible (slightly thinner than 1/8").
- Cut the dough into long strips about 1" wide. Place all of the strips except one on a plate and place in the fridge to keep them cool while you work on the first strip.
- Cut the strip into long triangles, about 1 centimeter wide at the base. Working with one triangle at a time, gently stretch the dough to lengthen the triangle.
- Dip the tip of the triangle in beaten egg. Starting from the base, roll the dough up until it forms a tiny croissant shape–the egg will help seal the dough once rolled up. Place the finished croissants on a plate and keep in the fridge to firm up as you work on additional croissants.
- Once all the croissants are assembled, preheat the oven to 375 while you chill the croissants for at least 10 minutes. In a small bowl, mix together the sugar and cinnamon.
- Once the oven is preheated, brush the croissants with beaten egg and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until they smell fragrant and are a deep golden brown.Let cool completely and enjoy with milk (or by themselves)!
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