Viral treat the ‘crookie’ arrives in Perth after taking TikTok by storm but does it live up to the hype?

Loosen your belts because a new viral treat has landed in Perth and it’s not one for the calorie conscious.

Say hello to the crookie (or croissough as some are calling it), a pastry hybrid consisting of a crispy croissant filled with raw choc chip cookie dough and baked.

The crookie is the latest addition to the mash-up food craze which has also welcomed portmanteau pastries like the cronut (a cross between a croissant and a doughnut), crouffle (a croissant and waffle mix) and cruffin (croissant and a muffin rolled into one).

Stephane Louvard from Parisian bakery Boulangerie Louvard is credited with coming up with the bright idea to combine his two top selling products into one calorific offering. Since launching on his menu in December 2023, the crookie has gone on to conquer the world via viral Instagram posts and Tik Tok videos of home cooks attempting to replicate the treat amassing millions of views online.

Perth bakeries and cookie stores have been quick to jump on the bandwagon with La Bomb Cookies and Gelato in Cottesloe and Fremantle and Zonts Bakehouse in Northbridge both offering the diet-busting delicacy.

La Bomb owners Nick Paas and Beatriz Exposito came across the treat on TikTok and decided to make their own. Layers Bakery in Subiaco provides the croissants which La Bomb fill with cookie dough and bake.

La Bomb launched their take, called a croissough, two weeks ago and within a day of advertising it on social media, Paas arrived at their Cottesloe store to find scores of people queuing to try it.

“It was pretty crazy,” Paas said. “We had people come all the way from Joondalup and Quinns Rocks to buy them.”

La Bomb sell three variations of their croissough — Biscoff, Nutella and traditional choc chip.

Originally intended as a limited edition item, Paas said they may keep the croissough on the menu longer than intended.

“It they are really popular we might keep them around,” he said.

Zonts Bakehouse have worked in collaboration with Mt Hawthorn’s Cookie Loaded to create their crookie which they launched last weekend.

“We sold out by 10am that first weekend,” Zonts owner Lionel Chong said.

“It’s been really, really crazy and I think we underestimated demand.”

Chong said they originally planned to sell their choc chip crookie, which is only available on weekends, until the end of the month but may continue producing it if demand remains high.

So what’s all the fuss about? Here’s our verdict on the crookie.

Jay’s verdict:

Not having a sweet tooth myself, I dragged Breakfast and Brunch guru Kate Emery along to help me taste test La Bomb’s croissough. Plus you know what they say about calories shared are calories halved (OK, maybe they don’t say that but they should). The first bite of my Biscoff flavoured croissough was divine but I was struggling by my fourth bite. We definitely should have split one between us but turns out Kate isn’t the sharing type. The croissough was all the naughty but tasty things — sweet, salty, buttery, flaky, goey and very rich. I wanted to power on but rather pathetically, I only managed half. Pastry enthusiasts and influencers will love it.

7/10

Kate’s verdict:

I have never been broken by a baked good before but the croissough came close. Eating my Nutella version was like detonating a sugar, carb and fat bomb in my mouth. It was sweet, rich and crunchy where it needed to be and soft and gooey where it should be. After finishing it — of course I finished it — I wanted to retreat to my sugar coma. I also wanted to order another to take home. I’m not usually someone who enjoys sharing food (I’m too greedy) but the crookie is so rich it would be perfectly split between two. That said, if you’re not on intimate terms with your dining companion before you start, you will be by the time you’ve broken apart that pastry shell like it’s a lobster’s carapace and licked the last of the chocolate from your fingers.

8/10