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Cruffins are what happens when a croissant and a muffin have a beautiful, flaky baby, buttery laminated layers baked tall in a muffin tin, rolled in crunchy sugar, and stuffed with warm chocolate hazelnut butter. I tackled these over a quiet spring weekend when the girls wanted a bakery morning without leaving the house, and they beat our homemade cinnamon rolls for sheer wow factor.
Freeze dried strawberries in the dough and a cinnamon sugar filling make this version taste like chocolate covered strawberries in pastry form.
Cruffins Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 3 hours
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 20 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 3 hours 20 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 12 cruffins
- ⚡ Calories: 296kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Buttery flaky pastry with strawberry, cinnamon sugar, and chocolate
- ✋ Difficulty: A weekend project, one step up from our from scratch cinnamon rolls
Quick Answer
Make an enriched yeast dough flavored with pulverized freeze dried strawberries, then laminate it by spreading softened butter over the rolled out dough and folding it in thirds, repeating the fold and chill cycle four times. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, cut the dough into 12 strips, tie each into a loose knot, and rise in a muffin tin until doubled. Egg wash, sprinkle with turbinado sugar, and bake at 350 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes, then stuff each with warm chocolate hazelnut butter.
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Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Folding builds real croissant layers. Each butter fold doubles the sheets of dough and fat, so by the fourth fold you have dozens of layers that puff apart in the oven.
- The muffin tin forces the layers upward. Confined on all sides, the knots can only rise tall, which is what gives cruffins their signature peeled petal top.
- Cold dough is workable dough. The repeated refrigerator rests keep the butter firm between folds, so it stays in sheets instead of smearing into the dough.
- Freeze dried strawberries flavor without moisture. Powdered berries perfume the whole dough with strawberry flavor that fresh fruit would ruin with extra water.
- Coconut sugar caramelizes gently. Its lower scorch point deepens into a caramel note in the filling without burning during the bake.
- Stuffing after baking keeps the center gooey. Piping warm chocolate hazelnut butter into the baked cruffins means a molten center in every single one.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- They look and taste like a fancy bakery case pastry, made entirely in your kitchen.
- The strawberry, cinnamon sugar, and chocolate combination tastes like a chocolate covered strawberry croissant.
- Most of the time is hands off chilling, the actual work is easier than our homemade English muffins.
Key Ingredients
An enriched dough plus a few flavor makers.
- Rapid rise yeast: One packet gives the laminated dough its lift through the long chilled rest.
- Freeze dried strawberries: Pulverized to a powder, they flavor the dough with real berry taste and zero extra moisture.
- Coconut sugar: Sweetens the dough and the cinnamon filling with a caramel note, regular sugar works too.
- Butter: A half pound, softened, spread and folded into the dough to create the flaky layers.
- Chocolate hazelnut butter: Warmed and piped into the baked cruffins for the gooey chocolate center.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
The knot and fold technique is a canvas.
- Skip the strawberry powder for a classic plain cruffin, then roll in vanilla sugar after baking.
- Stuff them with lemon curd, raspberry jam, or vanilla pastry cream instead of chocolate hazelnut butter.
- Swap the coconut sugar filling for brown sugar and extra cinnamon for a churro style cruffin.
- Short on time? Our crescent roll cinnamon rolls fake the flaky swirl in 30 minutes.
How to Make Cruffins
- Warm the milk to 110 degrees, sprinkle the yeast on top, and let it sit 5 minutes. Mix in the beaten egg and vanilla.
- Whisk the flour, coconut sugar, pulverized freeze dried strawberries, and salt in a large bowl, then stir in 1 1/2 tablespoons of melted butter and the yeast mixture until a loose dough forms.
- Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface just until it comes together, form it into a rectangle, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Roll the dough into a 10×17 inch rectangle and spread the softened butter over the lower two thirds, leaving a half inch border.
- Fold the unbuttered third down over the center, then the bottom third up over that, sealing the edges so no butter escapes.
- Roll the folded dough back into a 10×17 rectangle and fold in thirds again. Chill 45 minutes, then repeat the roll, fold, and 30 minute chill three more times.
- After the last fold, refrigerate the dough at least 5 hours, preferably overnight.
- Roll the rested dough into a 20×12 inch rectangle, sprinkle with the cinnamon and coconut sugar mixture, press it in, fold in thirds one final time, and roll back out to 20×12.
- Cut the dough into 12 even strips with a pizza cutter, tie each strip into a loose knot, and place them in a greased muffin tin.
- Cover and let the knots rise in a warm spot until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.
- Brush each cruffin with egg wash, sprinkle with turbinado sugar, and bake at 350 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes until deep golden brown.
- Cool 5 minutes in the tin, then move to a wire rack. Warm the chocolate hazelnut butter, snip a hole in the top of each cruffin, and pipe about a tablespoon into each center.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Watch the milk temperature. Above 115 degrees kills the yeast, below 105 it wakes up slowly, 110 is the sweet spot.
- Keep the butter spreadable but not melty. It should smear like soft cream cheese, if it starts to look greasy, chill everything 15 minutes.
- Flour the surface lightly but often. A stuck rectangle tears and lets the butter escape the folds.
- Do not skip the overnight rest. It relaxes the gluten and firms the butter so the final roll out does not fight you.
- Tie the knots loosely. They need slack to expand, tight knots bake into dense centers.
- Pipe the filling while the cruffins are warm. The chocolate flows into all the layers instead of sitting in a pocket.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
Serve these warm as the centerpiece of a special occasion brunch, with a breakfast casserole holding down the savory side of the table.
For Mother”s Day or a birthday morning, plate one with fresh strawberries and coffee, nobody will believe it did not come from a bakery. Round the spread out with buttermilk pancakes for the kids.
They also make a gorgeous edible gift, box two or three in parchment like you would a batch of our baked oats jars for a new neighbor.
Cruffins are best the day they are baked, while the layers are crisp. Store extras in an airtight container overnight and refresh in a 300 degree oven for 5 minutes. The stuffed chocolate center keeps them tasting fresh through day two, but I would not push it further.
Cruffins FAQs
A cruffin is a croissant muffin hybrid, laminated buttery dough is cut into strips, tied into knots, and baked in a muffin tin so the flaky layers rise tall like a muffin. The pastry was popularized by bakeries in Australia and San Francisco before home bakers took it on.
They are a project, but a forgiving one. The folding technique is simplified from true croissant lamination, and every fold is followed by a chill, so nothing has to happen fast. If you can roll dough into a rectangle and fold a letter, you can make cruffins.
Yes, crescent roll sheets or thawed puff pastry make a shortcut version. Roll the sheet with cinnamon sugar, cut, knot, and bake in a muffin tin at 350 degrees until golden. The layers are less dramatic but the shape and fun are all there.
The butter got too warm and absorbed into the dough instead of staying in sheets. Keep the chill steps honest, and if the dough ever feels sticky or looks greasy mid fold, put it back in the refrigerator for 15 minutes before continuing.
This version pipes in chocolate hazelnut butter, but lemon curd, raspberry or strawberry jam, pastry cream, cookie butter, and sweetened cream cheese all work beautifully. Pipe any filling in after baking so the centers stay gooey instead of leaking out in the oven.
Yes, the recipe is built around it. The folded dough needs at least 5 hours in the refrigerator and holds beautifully overnight, so do the folds one evening and shape, rise, and bake the next morning for fresh warm cruffins by brunch.
Made these Cruffins? Leave a comment and a star rating below, I would love to hear how they turned out!
Cruffins
Ingredients
For the dough
- 1 cup milk
- 1 package rapid-rise yeast
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 & 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons coconut sugar*
- 1 ounce freeze-dried strawberries pulverized into a powder**
- pinch sea salt
- 1/2 pound unsalted butter divided, softened
For the filling
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar*
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon optional
For the topping
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar
For the stuffing
- 2/3 cup chocolate hazelnut butter
Instructions
For the dough
- Place the milk in a medium-sized bowl and microwave in 15-second intervals until it reaches 110°F, you will know it is at the correct temperature when a meat thermometer placed into the milk reaches 110°F, do not heat for longer. Sprinkle the yeast on top, and let sit 5 minutes. Add the beaten egg and vanilla, mix to combine.
- In a large bowl, add the flour, sugar, freeze-dried strawberries, and salt. Whisk to combine. Melt 1 & 1/2 tablespoons of the unsalted butter and mix into the wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until a loose dough starts to form.
- On a clean, lightly floured work surface, turn out the dough and knead by hand until the dough comes together with no dry spots, but do not overwork. The dough will still be slightly wet/tacky.
- Form the dough into a rough rectangle and place it onto a baking sheet that is lightly floured, and lightly flour the top of the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for one hour.
- Lightly flour a clean work surface. Roll out the dough into a 10×17 inch rectangle. Make sure it is not sticking to the work surface, add more flour if necessary. With a short side of the dough facing you spread the softened butter (it should be very soft but not melty, just easy to spread) over the dough on the lower two-thirds. Leave a 1/2 inch border around all the sides and do not butter that area.
- Now, make a three-way fold. Fold the upper 1/3 of the dough over onto the buttered side, towards the center of the dough. Next, fold the lower 1/3 of the dough on top, making a rectangle. No butter should be exposed, it is sealed completely. Pinch all the edges on the seams so no butter escapes.
- Gently roll out the dough into a 10×17 rectangle. Keeping the surfaces lightly floured. Brush off any excess flour, and again, take the top 1/3 of the dough and fold in toward the center, take the bottom 1/3 of the dough and fold on top to form a rectangle. Place back on the baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 45 minutes. Repeat this same folding and rolling out process three more times with 30 minutes in the fridge between each interval.
- After the last fold, place it back on the sheet tray, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 5 hours, preferably overnight.
- When you are ready to prepare the rolls, roll out the dough onto a lightly floured, clean work surface into a 20×12 inch rectangle. Have the longer side facing you. Next, add the fillings.
For the filling
- Mix together the cinnamon and sugar. Sprinkle all over the dough, leaving a 2-inch border around the whole dough. Press the sugar into the dough, and do the same 1/3 fold as previous. Roll out again into a 20×12 inch rectangle.
- Cut into 12 even strips, this is most easily done with a pizza cutter. Tie each strip into a loose knot and place into a muffin tin. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and place in a warm place until the dough is about doubled in size. Depending on the temperature of your home, this can take about an hour and a half.
For the topping
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Beat together the egg and water to make an egg wash. Brush the egg wash lightly on top of each cruffin. Sprinkle on the turbinado sugar onto each one. Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown.
- Let cool for 5 minutes in the muffin tin on a wired rack. Once slightly cooled, take out the cruffins and let cool completely on the wired rack.
For the stuffing
- Once the cruffins are cooled, warm up the chocolate hazelnut butter in a microwave-safe bowl by microwaving in 15-second intervals, stirring in between until pipeable.
- Place the chocolate hazelnut butter into a piping bag or a resealable plastic bag and cut a small corner off. Taking a pairing knife, cut a small hole into the top of each cruffin and stuff with 1 tablespoon the chocolate hazelnut butter each.
Notes
Nutrition
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