Flat croissants, the latest pastry craze to land on the Costa del Sol: but is it a crime?

TikTokers in South Korea were responsible for the latest pastry craze: the flat croissant. Literally a flattened French breakfast treat. From there to California and then, predictably, from the US to the rest of the world. And now it has arrived on the Costa del Sol.

"It's true that many see it as a crime, preparing the croissant with its airy layers and slices, and then squashing it, but we thought it was a fun trend. At the end of the day it's a trend, people like to try different things," says Rocío Bonilla, who manages the San Chocolate bakery along with Inés Ledesma in Fuengirola.

They have always liked to be creative and original, which is why they didn't think twice about selling flat croissants as well: "As we make a lot of croissants every day, around 50 to 60, we keep about 10 or 15 to flatten them, usually a couple of times a week. People love them", Bonilla points out, explaining that this flattened croissant - as she prefers to call it - is made like a normal croissant and then caramelised, acquiring a "certain caramelised touch".

The next step is to flatten it and bake it with a weight on top. The result has a certain similarity to the crunchy puff pastry of the traditional Spanish 'palmera' pastry, although the flat croissant is even thinner. Toppings such as pistachio, dark chocolate with almonds and walnuts, white chocolate, lotus biscuit or strawberry pink chocolate are added. Soon, they will also be available in gift boxes like cinnamon rolls, cookies or traditional croissants.

"As a pastry chef, I recognise that it's a crime, but I like to follow the trends, so why not?", added Raffaella Panico, together with her partner Luigi, who runs Caramello Salato (Calle Carretería in Malaga city).

There they make the Italian croissant, which they explain is different from the French croissant: it is egg-based, the dough is flat and it takes longer to bake. After the success of the New York rolls, she has also ventured into flat croissants, to which they add kinder topping, oreo, chocolate with orange and pistachio cream (brought directly from Sicily).

There are others, like Carlos Pérez from Fermento and Julieta Coffee, who are not going to follow this latest trend: "It takes effort to achieve that sponginess and that honeycombed result and then flatten it. The essence is lost. For me it's a mistreatment of the croissant." Carlos says he has no plans to sell them in his establishments. Aberration? A passing trend? A success as a croissant-palmera? Time will tell.