Comparison Croffle to Puffwaffle

The only thing I enjoyed with my daughter was to have brunch at a good restaurant on weekends, but now, I eat brunch at home every day.

Before COVID-19, breakfast was as simple as a cup of coffee and toast, lunch at work, and had dinner outside often. Due to the pandemic, my daughter moved into my house, and she and I were only at home. So I had to cook three times a day. That was so cumbersome that we decided to have only brunch and dinner twice a day.

One of my favorite brunch menus is Croffle. Usually, I bake it with frozen croissant dough.

I went to Trader Joe’s a few days ago, and I found a puff pastry dough just next to a croissant dough in the freezer. It was $0.50 cheaper than croissant dough.

My eyes were wide open. I immediately took out my cell phone and tapped on the calculator while lamenting why this caught my eyes only now. The puff pastry was about $2.74 cheaper, comparing the price and weight between both. I picked it up right away.

When I organized my shopping in the refrigerator after I got home, I was proud that I had found a new cheap item but also somewhat bitterness stole over gently.

Is it an aftereffect of COVID-19 or my nature that my hands go there even if it is a few cents cheaper? It would be more comforting to dismiss it as a Corona Sequelae.

My aftereffects of COVID-19

• Pure Olive Oil → Change to Kroger vegetable oil (About 4 times cheaper)
• Maple Syrup → Change to Kroger original pancake syrup (About 3 times cheaper)
• Starbucks Coffee → Change to Folgers coffee (About 3 times cheaper)
• Tide → Change to Sun triple clean (About 2 times cheaper)

I found out myself I don’t choose products based on quality and taste, but only by price. Coronavirous doesn’t only make me stay at home, but also lowers the quality of my life.

Anyway, If we make a waffle with croissant dough it is called a Croffle.

Croissant + Waffle = Croffle

If we make a waffle with puff pastry dough, is it called a Puffle also?

Puff pastry + Waffle = Puffle ?

I searched Puffle on Google, and I found that small purple furry pet. If so…, I will call it Puffwaffle. ^^

Anyway, I baked both to see which one is better for brunch.

Comparison of Croffle and Puffwaffle

◆Processing

Croffle

• The croissant dough rose 1.5 times after the frozen dough had defrosted at room temperature for 1 hour.
• It contained so much butter that it didn’t stick to the plate.
• As soon as I got up, I took the frozen dough out of the freezer, and then I took a shower then baked it. This way was convenient to meet the time.

Puffwaffle

• The Puff pastry dough didn’t rise after the frozen dough had defrosted at room temperature for 2 hours.
• As if the dough didn’t contain a lot of butter like the croissant dough, it stuck to the plate and the shape was distorted in the process of transferring it to the waffle machine.
• To be convenient to meet the time, I transferred the dough from the freezer to the refrigerator before going to bed, and took it out of the refrigerator as soon as I woke up in the morning, then baked it after taking a shower.
• It was much easier to defrost by Step 1; Spreading the wrap on the plate, Step 2: Applying butter on the front and back of the dough, Step 3; Place dough on the plate, Step 4; Putting it in the refrigerator.

◆Baking Time

• Croffle; About 5 minutes
• Puff waffle: About 7 minutes

※The time will be different depending on the waffle machine.

◆Taste and Texture

Croffle

• The surface is crispy, and the inside is moist.
• The texture of the chewing is soft.
• The zest of butter is rich.
• Just like croissant bread.

Puffwaffle

• The surface is crunchy, and the inside is also crunchy too.
• slightly salty.
• Dry texture and not oily.
• Like crunchy Italian breadsticks.

Which one is better for brunch ?

◆My daughter’s review

Croffle is better because that

1. Both are good, but croffle is more soft, so better for brunch.
2. Puffwaffle is good for kind of treats.

◆My review

Puffwaffle is better because that

1. Even though the same size, I feel more fullness with puffwaffle. Maybe, because of more layers of this.
2. Rather than the oily croffle with lots of butter, the puffwaffle is more savorous with a combination of its own slightly salty and sweet fruit topping.
3. It is fun to chew because of the flaky and crumbly texture.
4. The most important thing is that it is cheaper.

From now on, I think we will have Puffwaffles as brunch at home. Of course, we’ll eat Croffles from time to time.

However, the dough both of croissant and puff pastry look similar. I wonder, what is the difference besides the butter more or less.

The difference
between Croissant and Puff Pastry

◆Dough

Puff Pastry

• Add only butter or margarine, salt and water to the flour and roll it out thinly.
• Do not add Yeast.

Croissant

• Add sugar, milk and more butter to the puff pastry dough.
• Add Yeast.

◆Layer

Puff Pastry

-Over about 729 layers, due to folding up the dough into thirds over 5 times.

Croissant

-Over about 81 layers, due to folding up the dough into thirds over 3 times.

※ Why so many layers

• When folded up the dough into thirds, the layer becomes 3.
• The dough folded 1 time → 3 Layers
• The dough folded 2 times → 9 Layers
• The number of layers depends on the number of folds.

◆Texture

Puff Pastry

• Thin and light.
• Similar to pie.
• There is no ‘Air Pocket’ between layers.
• The layer is so thin that it is crumblier and crispier.

Croissant

• There is an ‘Air Pocket’ between layers.
• Layer has elasticity, so we can peel it off one by one. (It reminds me of my bad habit of peeling off one layer at a time. ^^)
• It is close to bread that is crispy on the surface, but moist on the inside.

※Cronuts, Croffles, and Croffins baked with the croissant dough.