Reheating a Chocolate Croissant

[DaisyM]

One of the best tricks that I've learned from Chowhound is running cold water over a day old baguette and throwing it into a hot oven for a few minutes. I'm wondering, can a day old chocolate croissant be slightly reheated to make it taste freshly made?

[sandylc]

A few minutes in the oven (or toaster oven). NO MICROWAVE.

[DaisyM]

The reason it will be day old is because I want it for Valentine's Day breakfast for DH. I won't have time to get a fresh one, so wanted to make sure that it will still be okay on day 2. I will use the toaster oven. Thank you!

[benbenberi]

In that case, it might be a good idea to wrap it up & stick it in the freezer as soon as you get it home -- that will keep it almost fresh. Reheat in the oven (toaster oven) from frozen.

[jcattles]

That makes no sense to me. If she buys it one day, planning to eat it the next, it just seems like overkill to freeze it. Just heat it up gently, however you choose to do it (microwave, toaster oven, oven).

If she was going to keep it for a week then freezing it would make sense.

[sciencediet]

If you have a Trader Joe's nearby, try their frozen ones. Proof overnight and bake in the am--at least as good as day-old bakery croissants.

[greygarious]

Though I use my microwave a great deal, I agree that it is a complete no-no for reheating croissants. I use the toaster oven unless I have another reason to heat up the full-sized oven. When using the former, it helps to cover the croissant with a piece of aluminum foil, shiny side DOWN. Just lay it over the croissant, so the top doesn't scorch.

[owen_meany]

I've always had good luck just popping day old croissants in my toaster oven for a few minutes. Watched carefully of course!

[ipsedixit]

I would just learn to like cold croissants. Really. They're not *that* bad.

[sunshine842]

only in an oven -- never in a microwave -- and **gently** -- they're delicate and it's all too easy to end up with a collapsed, chewy mess of melted butter and chocolate (and no, it's not very tasty)

[DaisyM]

Will heating it gently make the dough crispy again? Or is this just a bad idea?

[sunshine842]

it might freshen up the outer layers a bit -- but you're not going to 'hot' here -- you're going for just warm enough to soften the chocolate, which takes just a minute or two at low heat.

[mucho gordo]

10-15 seconds in the m/wave works perfectly for me.

[sunshine842]

if they are real croissants made by a baker and not mass-mixed dough regurgitated from a machine onto a conveyor belt, please don't.

[mucho gordo]

They are from Porto's, which is a well known bakery. Does that disqualify them? Are real ones only made at home in single batches?

[sunshine842]

hardly -- just that it would be a shame to subject a nice croissant to the mess that a microwave makes of pastries.

Don't get me wrong -- I use my microwave every day -- but they wreck pastries, even when limited to a few seconds.

[mucho gordo]

For me, just those few seconds are enough to give the pastry a 'fresh from the oven' taste and aroma. I do the same thing with a muffin or chocolate chip danish from another bakery.

[sandylc]

I think that a baked good that is intended to have a soft exterior texture (like a muffin) is fine nuked lightly. A baked good that carries a basic characteristic of a crisp exterior is best heated in the oven to restore this texture. Clearly, if you have a croissant emergency and are in a hurry, the nuker COULD be used; it just isn't the best thing to do!

[mucho gordo]

I wasn't aware that a croissant had a crisp exterior. Mine seem to be on the flaky side.

[sandylc]

Flaky AND lightly crisp. Never soft or mushy.

[mucho gordo]

I never thought of it as 'lightly crisp'; never soft or mushy; just flaky, even after reheat in m/wave. Comes out like oven fresh.

[sunshine842]

all this little flaky bits are supposed to be crackly and crumbly -- i.e., lightly crisp.

The microwave heats all the little pockets of air that are crucial to a croissant/pain au chocolate, then softens the butter, so the little pockets collapse, leaving all those little flaky bits sopping up the softened butter -- leaving your lovely flaky croissant a spongey, greasy mass.

Toaster oven FTW.

[mucho gordo]

I was under the impression that a 'light crisp' was attained only after the croissant has come out of the oven, cools down and sets.

[sunshine842]

nope -- they're wonderfully flaky and crispy when they're still warm, right out of the oven.

[sandylc]

Your croissants might not be of great quality?

[mucho gordo]

I have to assume you're not familiar with bakery I mentioned upthread (Porto's). Quality is not an issue here.

[sandylc]

No, I'm not...we must be on different parts of the planet! I'll look it up on Mr. Google.

[jcattles]

I don't care what the others say, I'm with you! I've always put them in the microwave for a few seconds. Just enough to warm them up, not get them a gooey hot mess.

Geez people, just because it's different from what you do, doesn't make it wrong.

[sandylc]

We're just concerned about preserving the wonderful texture and structure that are unique to excellent croissants. Do what you will...but the OP did ask!

[mucho gordo]

Exactly! Thank you

[sunshine842]

It was, for me, much more of "but there's a much better way to do that!" -- I don't see anywhere that I said it was wrong -- the strongest wording I gave it was 'please don't do that to your croissant"

And I wasn't even nasty or hysterical about it -- and I even said *why* I felt that way, not just a shrill voice through the intarwebs laying down the law for no apparent reason.

If I'm not mistaken, the original question was requesting the best way to reheat a pain au chocolat --

If you want to nuke yours, I couldn't care less-- but I still don't think it's the best way to do it.