It’s National Croissant Day! This national food day is the perfect opportunity to celebrate the buttery and flaky pastry treat we all know and love.
Croissants come in many varieties, each one as delicious as the next. There are the traditional butter croissants, and also filled croissants like the popular pain au chocolat.
Other sweet croissant fillings include marzipan (a paste of sugar and almonds), jams and cream while savory fillings include ingredients like ham, cheese, and spinach.
Whether you want to enjoy a coffee and croissant from a local bakery, or make your own, the choice is up to you! This food holiday is celebrated annually on January 30, though we wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to celebrate it all year long.
National days of the year like National Croissant Day are a fun way to celebrate foods, animals and items that you come into contact with. Be sure to check out this national days guide for more information about them.
Croissant history
Though this tasty pastry evokes thoughts of dining in Parisian cafés, surprisingly three legends point to the croissant originating in Vienna, Austria and not France.
There is little documentation to support the specifics of these stories as they relate to croissants, but they have been widely told and offered as part of the timeline of croissant history in France.
The Battle of Vienna
The first story took place during The Battle of Vienna in 1683, where Vienna was under siege by the Ottoman Empire. During one of the Ottoman Empire’s attempts to enter the city, they dug tunnels to bypass the walls of the city to gain entry.
Legend says that during this tunneling attempt, they were thwarted by the bakers who worked in Vienna. While working in underground basement storerooms, the bakers heard the sounds of digging and realized it was the Ottoman Empire.
They then informed the army who stopped them. To celebrate, the bakers created pastries called kipferl, which were baked in crescent shapes to symbolize the crescent moon on the Ottoman Empire flag.
There is a similar story about the pretzel which is also thought to have stopped the Siege of Vienna in 1510. You can learn about this story and more pretzel history here.
Marie Antionette
The next story in croissant history leads us to Marie Antionette. She was born in Vienna, Austria to the Hasburg empress Maria Theresa. In 1770, at only 15 years old, she married King Louis XVI to solidify the alliance between the French and Hasburg thrones.
The legend says that she was so nostalgic for her hometown that asked French bakers to make her something similar to a kipferl, which was a crescent shaped bread roll from Austria.
They obliged, and baked her the crescent shaped pastry, which is thought to have been an early inspiration for the croissants we enjoy today. The major difference between a kipferl and a croissant is that croissants have laminated dough, while a kipferl does not.
August Zang
The third story involves August Zang, who was an Austrian baker, entrepreneur and military officer. In the late 1830s, he opened a bakery in Paris called the Boulangerie Viennoise.
Legend says that he began baking the Austrian kipferl in his bakery, and that was how France was introduced to the inspiration for the croissant. Over time the recipe was tweaked, and the name changed to croissant, which roughly translates to mean crescent in French.
However, Zang didn’t stay around to watch the evolution of the croissant. When censorship was lifted in Austria in 1848, he traveled home to found a newspaper called Die Presse.
How to celebrate National Croissant Day
The most obvious way to celebrate National Croissant Day is to enjoy a croissant. You can either get one fresh from a local bakery, or make your own at home!
Croissants are a versatile food, and can be enjoyed at any meal of the day. They are most often enjoyed for breakfast with a hot beverage like a cup of tea or a café au lait.
However they can also be served for lunch in the form of a chicken salad croissant sandwich or as an after dinner dessert like this caramel croissant pudding.
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- Decorate your space with croissant themed art, like this neon croissant sign, or this croissant print.
- Bring a batch of croissants to work to share with your coworkers.
- Read a biography about Marie Antionette or a book about the Battle of Vienna, as they are both rumored to have played a part in the history of croissants.
- Look up cooking classes in your area to see if any are offering croissant making classes.
- Keep croissants close to your heart with this golden croissant necklace.
- If you like both doughnuts and croissants, try a cronut today, which is a combination of the two!
- Show your love of croissants by wearing croissant themed clothing like this croissant hat, this croissant sweatshirt or these croissant socks.
If you’re looking for more baked goods worth celebrating, check out the king cake, served during Mardi Gras, or hot cross buns which grace us with their appearance at Easter and during National Hot Cross Bun Day on September 11.
Share this post with about the croissant origin with your friends on twitter:
If you enjoyed learning ways about National Croissant Day and the stories surrounding the croissant origin don’t forget to share this post with your friends. Here’s a tweet to get you started:
Celebrate National Croissant Day by learning the where the croissant originated. Hint: it's not France! 🇫🇷🥐🇦🇹 #NationalCroissantDay #CroissantHistory Share on XMore January 30 national days
Did you enjoy learning about National Croissant Day? You’ll be excited to know that there are over 150 national days in January! Like this one, many of the observances are January national food days.
There’s so many reasons to celebrate January 30, because it is home to more than one national day!
Here is a full list of all the January 30 national days:
- National Croissant Day
- National Escape Day
- Inane Answering Message Day
- School Day of Non Violence and Peace
- Yodel for Your Neighbors Day
Make sure to watch this YouTube video to learn about more national food days in January.
Pin this post on National Croissant Day for later
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About the author
Since graduating from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Jess has been living and working in Los Angeles, CA. She is a freelance writer, specializing in content related to fashion, food and drink and film industry topics. Find out more about Jess here.