There's a new Fauxnut in town. (Gothamist)
While Fort Greene's Le Petit Bakery is calling these things "Squats" (no one wants to think about exercise when escaping into a pastry!), their sign outside definitely advertises them as CRONUTS. And they are, basically, square Cronuts™. They are also just about the best damn Cronut™ imitation we've tasted to date (and we've tried many).
We were tipped off to the latest version of the croissant-donut hybrid by DNAInfo, which reported that the pastry is "shaped like a square but they still have the signature crispy, buttery insides of a croissant and deep-fried outside of a donut." Sold. We headed over there this morning.
The bakery charges $4 per Squat, and they make about 50 a day—usually running out around 11 a.m. There's no limit as to how many you can purchase at a time—we picked up five (3 bacon maple with chocolate filling, 2 sprinkled ones with vanilla filling), and there was no wait whatsoever. The verdict? Delicious!
- "The first thing I ask myself after I finish a pastry is Why are you such a pastry whore? The second is, 'Do I want more of this?' These were sweet and pleasantly chewy, but most importantly it left me wanting more. The original Cronut™ was too overbearing, too clingy. I didn't want to see or call that Cronut™ and I sure as hell didn't want to bump into it at some club in the Hamptons. This faux-nut struck a nice balance." — Chris Robbins
- "After having the original and two different fauxnuts, this one is giving real Cronut a challenge. Denser—feels more doughnut-like, with a crunchier outside and fluffier inside. Bacon is barely noticeable in a good way, and Nutella (right?) is tasty. Seems like it'd be too busy but it works. Feels less Cronutty, more crossiant doughnut-y—behaves like it's own, different, person." — Marc Yearsley
- "I'm not huge on the 'bacon must be on all the things' trend, so I was dubious, but this pastry was actually pretty good compared to other bacon-laden things I've tried recently. The bacon flavor was subtle—some might say subtle to the point of not needing to be there?—and at least the bits were cooked well and not fatty and chewy. Overall, I really dug the flavor and the texture of this fauxnut. The pastry itself was tender and crispy without falling apart and the chocolate filling had a luscious, not-too-sweet flavor. I'd get this over a regular Cronut for sure." — Nell Casey
- "As I bit into the bacon one, there was this warm, greasy splooge explosion that turns out to be warm chocolate filling. But it was like, whoa, brother, a warning would have been nice." — Jake Dobkin
- "I would just like to use this space to say that someone needs to invent a Cronut Hole, because these things are really messy when you try to split them up between coworkers." — Jen Carlson
Le Petit Bakery is located at 354 Myrtle Avenue in Brooklyn... and we're told their next fauxnut is going to be Almond Joy flavored.
