A croissant (UK: /ˈkrwʌsɒ̃, ˈkrwæsɒ̃/,[1] US: /krəˈsɒnt, krwɑːˈsɒ̃/; French: [kʁwasɑ̃] ⓘ) is a French pastry made from puff pastry in a crescent shape.[2]

It is a buttery, flaky, viennoiserie pastry inspired by the shape of the Austrian kipferl, but using the French yeast-leavened laminated dough.[3] Croissants are named for their historical crescent shape. The dough is layered with butter, rolled and folded several times in succession, then rolled into a thin sheet, in a technique called laminating. The process results in a layered, flaky texture, similar to a puff pastry.

Crescent-shaped breads have been made since the Renaissance, and crescent-shaped cakes possibly since antiquity.[4] The modern croissant was developed in the early 20th century, when French bakers replaced the brioche dough of the kipferl with a yeast-leavened laminated dough.[5]

In the late 1970s, the development of factory-made, frozen, preformed but unbaked dough made them into a fast food that could be freshly baked by unskilled labor. The croissant bakery, notably the La Croissanterie chain, was a French response to American-style fast food,[6] and as of 2008, 30–40% of the croissants sold in French bakeries and patisseries were baked from frozen dough.[7]

Croissants are a common part of a continental breakfast in many European countries.

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