An almond croissant is my coffee shop treat of choice. I was surprised to learn how easy it is to make them at home; the only tricky part being the actual croissant. These almond croissant cookies are made using the easiest rough puff pastry dough, so you don’t have to attempt to make croissants to enjoy them. You’ll still get the flaky, crispy dough and frangipane filling you love in an almond croissant but in a tiny bite-sized form.

What Is the Filling of an Almond Croissant Made Of?

Almond croissants are day-old croissants filled with almond cream, or frangipane. It’s surprisingly easy to make; you just mix together almond flour, eggs, butter, sugar, and vanilla. Because it’s butter-based, the filling melts into the croissant while baking, softening the day-old pastry while the outer layers get super crispy. It’s also easy to customize this filling with other flavors, like in my easy pumpkin croissants recipe.

Are They Easy to Make?

Yes, actually. If you have the croissants! Of course, you could use store-bought croissants and fill them with homemade frangipane. But these cookies allow you to experiment with pastry dough and result in a fully-homemade cookie. They’re called cookies, but they are really like mini almond croissants!

Bake Notes

Before beginning this recipe, make the rough puff pastry dough. You could also use store-bought puff pastry dough. But rough puff is truly easy (and fun!) to make. And once you learn how, you can make so many things with it; savory appetizers like mini eggplant parmesan puff pastries or goat cheese, apple, beet tarts, or more sweets like raspberry toaster strudels.
I honestly don’t love the flavor of almond extract, so I use only a tiny bit (less than ¼ tsp) or omit it completely. It doesn’t make or break the recipe, in my opinion.
Some almond croissant recipes use rum in the simple syrup. If you’d like to, you can add 3 tbsp of rum to the water and sugar mixture.
I like to top these with icing because I think they benefit from the added sweetness. You could opt to go the traditional almond croissant route and just sprinkle them with powdered sugar and sliced almonds, though!

Almond Croissant Cookies

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5 from 1 review

Author: Grace
Total Time: 1 hour

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Description

Tiny bite-sized almond croissants made with puff pastry and frangipane.

Ingredients

For the Pastry

1 portion of the easiest rough puff pastry dough or 1 sheet of store-bought puff pastry, thawed

For the Filling

½ stick (4 tsbp) butter, softened

¼ cup sugar

1 egg

½ cup almond flour

½ tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp almond extract, optional

Pinch of salt

For the Simple Syrup

1 cup water

2 tbsp sugar

For the Icing

¼ cup powdered sugar

1 tsp milk, plus more if needed

Tiny pinch of salt

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425 F.
In a mid-sized bowl, mix together the softened butter, sugar, egg, almond flour, vanilla extract, and salt with a fork or a spatula until it’s a cohesive mixture. Place the bowl in the fridge to chill.
Place the puff pastry dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll it out until it’s about ¾ of an inch thick.
Using a small heart-shaped cookie cutter, or any small circular object that will cut through pastry dough, cut out hearts (or circles) from the sheet of pastry. Pinch any remaining scraps of dough together, roll them a few times with the rolling pin to merge, and cut out more shapes.
Place half of the hearts on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Place the other half on a plate and refrigerate it to keep them cold. Bake the first half for 12-15 minutes. They should be puffed up and just golden brown on the bottoms but not fully crispy. Keep the oven on.
Remove the second half of the hearts from the fridge and bake them.
Meanwhile, combine the water and sugar in a small pot over medium-high heat. Stir the mixture together until the sugar is completely dissolved. Pour the simple syrup into a bowl and set it aside to cool while the pastry dough finishes baking.
Once the baked heart cookies have cooled off, gently break each one in half so that there’s a top and a bottom. I usually find a spot in the cookie that has the biggest gap between layers and pry it open from there. The sides don’t have to be even! It’s fine if the top is thicker than the bottom or vice versa.
Dunk both sides of each heart into the simple syrup, tap off any excess, and place them back together onto a sheet tray to keep track of which tops and bottoms go together.
Remove the almond cream mixture from the fridge. Spread about a teaspoon into the middle of each heart, place the tops back on, and spread about ½ a teaspoon onto the top of each heart.
Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes at 425 F.
Meanwhile, add the powdered sugar, milk, and salt to a small bowl. Stir together. The consistency of this icing should be similar to that of toothpaste; add more milk or powdered sugar as needed.
Once the cookies have cooled, drizzle them with the icing (you can use a spoon or a piping bag/Ziploc), and sprinkle them with sliced almonds.

Prep Time: 30
Cook Time: 25