Where to Find Cronuts in Orange County

What is a Cronut?

Cronut –a hybrid of a croissant and a doughnut that takes laminated  croissant dough that is laid out and stamped and deep fried just like a doughnut, resulting in a crispy, flakey pastry that eats like a doughnut. They are easy to love and even easier to make you hate yourself after eating three of them. The term Cronut and recipe are actually trademarked by the owner, Dominique Ansel, owner of the Ansel Bakery.  Chef Ansel spent three months perfecting his recipe. After cronuts become a household name, variations of the croisant/doughnut hybrid  spread across the globe using the name cronut or variations. 

Cronut and the Human Condition

The public’s carnal desire to experience something of scarce is an innate part of the human condition.A little over a 6 months ago I was watching a CNN news segment about a small bakery in New York, called Ansel Bakery, serving a hybrid of a croissant and a doughnut. I was intrigued. The camera panned out to show a line over a 1000+ people, waiting for the chance to experience a cronut of their own.

Lines during the early times of the cronut craze at Ansels bakery. Image compliments of www.dominiqueansel.com.

There were reports of fights in line, hiring of homeless people to hold their place At the time Ansel Bakery only made 200 cronuts a day,  the act of eating a cronut became the initiation right to a exclusive club. Essentially, the Cronut  1% ers  who were eating their cronuts in front of  people still in line, were telling everyone else that they are part of an unique cultural experience, and you are not!  After the New York cronut craze made it to National television, the trend spread west  to Los Angeles and now Orange County. I can proudly say that as of this morning my cronut cherry was popped and I am part of the CroNut 1%. This trend is already dying because every other Mom and Pop will be making it by Thanksgiving. My new found status is not that special, I am more like the Cronut 10% at this point.

As you can see I was very excited to loose my cronut virginity

If you are in Orange County, there are places where you can find the Cronut and I will be honest it is not too hard to find them. A simple search of Yelp turned up over 20 locations! With that said, not all imitation cronuts are created equally. Based on a recommendation from Anne Marie of the OC Weekly, I visited Janny’s Doughnuts in Irvine. See my pictures below.

Janny’s is considered by some to make one of the better cronuts in Orange County

The Plain Cronut

Janny’s plain cronut. What is lacking in the plain is not rolling it in sugar or a glaze. Great for the purist.

The cronut has flaky layers and crisp exterior

Cinnamon Apple  Cronut 

This cronut tastes like an apple pie with the sweet filling, cinnamon and flaky crust

Creme Cronut

The creme cronut is very sweet and I liked the contrasting flavors of creme and crunchy

Maple Bacon Cronut

Sweet, Salty and savory – Watch out OC Fair!

A little foodporn

I pulled up this list of shops making cronuts based on doing a “Cronut” search on Yelp and searching through references to “Cronut” in yelper reviews. I did not include shops which had bad review of their cronuts.

• DK’s Donuts – 3744 E Chapman Ave, Orange, CA 92869 And 1082 Irvine Blvd Tustin, CA 92780
• Kelly’s Donuts & Burgers – 9475 Heil Ave Fountain Valley, CA 92708
• Pandor Artisan Boulangerie & Café – 1126 Irvine Ave Newport Beach, CA 92660
• The Donuttery – 17420 Beach Blvd ,Huntington Beach, CA 92647
• Crust Bakery – 28251 Marguerite Pkwy Mission Viejo, CA 92692
• Au Coeur De Paris -  Au Coeur De Paris 9441 Edinger Ave Westminster, CA 92683
• Knotts Farm Bakery  - 8039 Beach Blvd, Buena Park, CA 90620
• Cafe 109 – 109 N Harbor, Fullerton, CA 92832
• Dough Boy’s – 4535 W Coast Hwy, Newport Beach, CA 92663
• Paris Baguette 8899 Garden Grove Blvd Garden Grove, CA 92844 and 4800 Irvine Blvd Irvine, CA 92620
• Friendly Donuts 4442 E Chapman Ave Orange, CA 92869