The Croffle Will Be Your 2022 Breakfast TikTok Obsession
Thanks to the rise of social media, quirky food options have amused, inspired, confused, and entertained people on the internet. Many people attempt to recreate these food trends at home, hoping against hope that their results will be nothing less than awe-inspiring. Dalgona coffee was a huge trend during the pandemic, for example, and motivated many TikTokers to post their homemade versions of the recipe, which is a simple combination of instant coffee powder, milk, water, and sugar.
Another food trend that has been making a splash on the internet is the croffle, a South Korean trend that combines waffles and croissants to produce a crispy treat that's surprisingly soft when you bite into it (via Eater). The Croffle House, a restaurant in New York, was conceptualized after its co-founder, pastry chef Kooksu Kim, picked up the recipe from his pals in Seoul in 2019.
The croffle's origins are disputed. According to Time Out New York, the confection is believed to have originated in South Korea, but Eater's Caroline Shin pointed out that the unusual treat was created years ago in a "home cooking video" by Food and Wine in 2015. TV personality Louise Lennox was also believed to have worked on the dish while teaming up with a bakery brand in Dublin, Ireland called Cuisine de France. It was only in 2018 that the croffle is believed to have made its way to South Korea.
It looks like a promising pick for 2022
The croffle seems to be having its moment, according to many TikTok users who have already posted over 155 million videos on the dish and are rather enthusiastic about it. In fact, even Yelp's food forecast for the new year has a spot for the croffle, and predicts many foodies will happily "embrace this decadent breakfast treat with their favorite sweet and savory toppings."
At the Croffle House in Flushing, Queens, customers can order the dish in different ways such as plain with maple syrup, Nutella with banana, grape with whipped cream, basil pesto with crushed pepper, and more. There's even a cheese variant with cream custard. There are also recipes online — like The Spiced Chickpea's cinnamon coffee croffles — that guide home cooks in mastering the art of baking this creation at home. A Redditor tried making the dish at home and loved the results so much that they posted a tempting picture and wrote, "Instead of baking, I waffled the croissants that I made. I proofed them first, then rolled them in sugar and put them in the waffle iron. So delicious and easy! And perhaps tastier than regular croissants."