When I first heard the word and description of cronuts I was amazed and I am so excited to tell others like you about them! Cronuts are a croissant and donut in one it has the texture of a croissant and shape and toppings like a donut. You may find cronuts in bakeries or cafes. 

 You should read this article to learn about why cronuts are such amazing treats or if you are interested in baking to find a new recipe and it’s culture.

                        

 How it came to be…

 In 2013, bakery owner Dominique Ansel created the pastry out of dough similar to a croissant with flavored cream inside. The Cronut was introduced on May 10, 2013, at Ansel’s bakery, Dominique Ansel Bakery, in New York’s Soho neighborhood. These delicious treats soon became very popular and the bakery soon saw hundreds of people lining up to get their hands on the delicious treats called cronuts. Traffic to the bakery’s website increased by more than 300 percent. A star had been born.

And How did he do it all?

Every batch of cronuts he made took around 3 days to prepare! Day one- mixing the dough and leaving it to sit/rise overnight, Day 2- Butter is incorporated and hundreds of dough are layered together for it to rise again, Day 3- the dough is cut, formed into the Cronut shape, and left to rise again. Once each has tripled in size, Cronut by Cronut is fried in grapeseed oil, filled with cream, rolled in sugar, and finished with a glaze.

In his bakery, the daily cronut output is about 360! Also on an average day, there are 60-100 people in line for a cronut. Ever since he started selling this magnificent treat he comes out with a new flavor of filing. Such as Sweet Clementine Ricotta, Peanut Butter Rum Caramel, Lemon Maple, and Brown Sugar Rhubarb. 

Cronuts now:

 Ansel’s first international bakery opened in Tokyo in 2015, and another international outpost—this time, in London—will open this summer. Thus the Cronut, for all its imitations, iterations, and bidding wars, shows no signs of stopping. 

 https://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2016-05-09/the-complete-history-of-the-cronut

Now the fun part:

Here is one of the more current recipes.

5 hours 14 servings 240 calories

• 2 ¼ teaspoons of active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water 
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 2 1/2 tablespoons white sugar, or more to taste
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 pound all-purpose flour
• 12 tablespoons butter at room temperature, divided

Instructions:

1. Place yeast into the mixing bowl of a large stand mixer. Whisk in warm water and let stand until creamy foam forms on top, about 5 minutes. Add salt, sugar, milk, 2 tablespoons melted butter, vanilla extract, egg, and nutmeg. Whisk the mixture thoroughly. Pour flour on top of liquid ingredients. Place mixing bowl onto the mixer.
2. Attach the dough hook to the mixer and knead on low speed until the dough comes together in a ball and becomes soft and sticky, about 3 minutes. The dough will stick to the hook and pull away from the side of the bowl.
3. Transfer dough to a floured work surface, knead 2 or 3 times and shape into a ball. Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate for 20 minutes to let the gluten relax.
4. Remove dough from the refrigerator, unwrap, and dust lightly with flour. Roll out into a 9×18-inch rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Evenly spread 6 tablespoons softened unsalted butter onto the middle third of the dough. Fold one unbuttered third over the buttered third and press lightly; spread the remaining 6 tablespoons of the unsalted button on top of that third. Fold remaining third over the first (buttered) third. Transfer dough onto a sheet pan, cover lightly with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and refrigerate 20 to 30 more minutes for the butter to become firm. Sprinkle dough lightly with flour as you work if it becomes sticky.
5. Return dough to the floured work surface and pat very gently into an 8×14 rectangle about 1/2-inch thick. Fold outer thirds over center third as before; roll out into an 8×14-inch rectangle again. Keep edges of the rectangle as straight as possible. Fold in thirds as before. Cover dough lightly with a kitchen towel, and refrigerate for 2 hours.
6. Roll the dough out to about 3/8 inch thick. Cut dough in half crosswise. Leave half on a lightly floured work surface; refrigerate another half of dough until needed.
7. Use a sharp 3-inch circular cutter to cut 8 circles of dough from a piece on the work surface. Use a 1-inch size cutter to cut the donut holes out of the dough circles.
8. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper and sprinkle lightly with flour. Arrange cronuts and holes onto the prepared baking sheet. Let rise in a draft-free, warm place (such as an unheated oven) until doubled in size, about 1 hour.