8 Mouth-Watering French Viennoiseries You Need to Eat At Least Once

If you’re visiting any French city or village, you only have to walk a few minutes before coming across a boulangerie – a French bakery filled with baguettes, bread loaves, coffee, desserts, and typical viennoiseries.

Viennoiseries are the delicious baked goods that make breakfast in France special. Different than “pastries” (such as eclairs, tarts, or millefeuille), viennoiseries are the golden-brown, lightly-sweetened, dough-based baked goods that are typically eaten for breakfast – think croissants or pain au chocolat.

However, you can find and eat these baked goods throughout the day, and I can attest to the fact that they make an excellent afternoon snack 😉

Why are they called “viennoiseries”? The name comes from the Austrian baker, August Zang, who opened a bakery in Paris in 1830 named “Boulangerie Viennoise.”

This was a brand new type of bakery in Paris, and Zang introduced Parisians to many of the precursors of our favorite French pastries and breads today. Later, the term “viennoiserie” was coined after his bakery and the name stuck, even though the sweets didn’t truly originate in Austria.

Here are 8 typical French viennoiseries that you can find in just about any boulangerie around France – I’d highly recommend you try to sample all of them and decide what your favorite is!

1. Croissant

Croissants are the hallmark of French viennoiserie, instantly recognizable by their curved shape and almost synonymous with France. The modern croissant is only about 100 years old, but layered, flaky breads have been made since the Middle Ages, maybe even earlier.

However, French bakers in the early 20th century transformed these layered breads into the flaky, buttery delight we know today.

Making a croissant involves a meticulous process called laminating. This technique layers yeast-leavened dough with butter, rolled and folded multiple times, resulting in a delicate, flaky texture. The dough is then rolled into thin sheets and shaped into crescents before baking.

The name croissant actually came from the shape – crescent.

When you bite into a croissant, you’ll experience multiple complementing textures – crisp, flaky layers on the outside and a soft, airy interior.

While you can get good croissants in almost any bakery in France, there are certainly some that do croissants better than others. There is actually a “Best Butter Croissant in Paris” award that is bestowed every year to one bakery in the greater Paris region.

In 2024, the award went to Maison Doucet, and previous winners include La Maison d’Isabelle, Chez Meunier and Maison Carton.

2. Pain au Chocolat (Chocolatine)

Pain au chocolat is essentially a variation on a croissant – as it is the same type of flaky laminated dough, but shaped into a square and filled with two strips of chocolate.

Pain au chocolat is said to have originated in the 1830’s by the Austrian baker, August Zang (who we mentioned in the introduction). He introduced the precursor to today’s pain au chocolat: the schokoladencroissant, a sweet bread with chocolate inside.

However, other stories state that the chocolate croissant originated in southwest France by the British when they controlled the Aquitaine region.

Either way, today this chocolatey pastry is beloved throughout France – although the name of the pastry is quite divisive. Northern and eastern France called it the pain au chocolat, whereas southern and western France (particularly around Bordeaux and Toulouse) call it the chocolatine.

Either way, a light dose of chocolate with your breakfast pastry is not a bad way to start off the morning!

3. Croissant aux Amandes

A croissant aux amandes, or an almond croissant, is a variation that was developed as a way for bakers to use up leftover croissants. Croissants really are only good within a half day of baking – after that, they start to get dry and over-soft.

Croissant aux amandes solves the problem of what to do with any day-old, as the croissant is sliced in half and filled with a frangipane, or an almond paste or cream.

The croissant is topped with a few sliced almonds, baked, sprinkled with powdered sugar, and voila! Good as new.

I happen to love croissant aux amandes – they are often my first choice for a breakfast pasty when visiting France.

4. Brioche

Brioche is another staple French pastry made from a simple mixture of butter, eggs, sugar, milk, and yeast, creating a fluffy sweet bread. The French enjoy brioche at any time throughout the day, and it is often served as an afternoon snack (or gouter) for French children.

Brioche has an interesting history, as mentions of the bread date back to the Middle Ages. Brioche then, however, was harder and less sweet – the modern version was developed in the 19th century.

Perhaps most famously, brioche is actually the word in the infamous phrase uttered by Marie-Antoinette: “Let them eat cake” is actually translated from “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche.”

Of course, Marie Antoinette almost certainly did not actually say this phrase, but it was attributed to her years later and has certainly stuck.

Brioche can be made into large loaves, but you can also find individual, muffin-sized brioche for sale in just about any boulangerie in France. Plain brioche is delicious, but different flavors or add-ons are frequently mixed in for extra variety!

5. Pain aux Raisins

Pain aux raisins, sometimes referred to as an “escargot” (which translates literally to “snails”), is a variety off of croissants and their typical laminated puff pastry dough.

Instead of being rolled into a crescent shape, the dough is rolled up with raisins and a light slather of pastry cream. Typically, you pull apart the circle of dough as you eat it, each bite getting a bit of crispy bread, creamy filling, and sweet raisin.

One language note that I think is fascinating is the name of this pastry. In French, “raisin” actually means “grape” in English. To talk about an English raisin, French actually just adds on the adjective “sec“, which means “dry.” So an English raisin is “raisin sec” in French.

Yet the pain aux raisins are definitely not made with fresh grapes!

6. Chausson aux Pommes

Chausson aux pommes are French apple turnovers, created by putting a spiced apple mixture on a puff pastry circle, and then folding the circle over to enclose the apple mixture.

The name “chausson” is not the French equivalent of the word “turnover,” but rather means “slipper”, as the pocked of dough that encircles the apple mixture might resemble the shoe you slip your foot into in the middle of the night.

The chausson aux pommes is said to have originated in Calais, and the tale is a heartwarming one.

In 1630, the town was suffering from an epidemic, so the chatelaine (or lady of the town), passed out flour and apples to the townspeople, and they made the original version of the apple turnover.

Today, the holiday, Fete du Chausson aux Pommes, is celebrated every September in Calais.

7. Pain Suisse

Pain suisse is a delicious pastry made either from the same puff pastry dough as croissants or with brioche dough. The dough is shaped into a long rectangle, and filled with vanilla pastry cream and chocolate chips.

Sometimes the dough is twisted into a corkscrew-like shape, but often you’ll find it as a flat rectangle.

Pain Suisse goes by a lot of names – sometimes brioche suisse, sometimes just “une suisse”. But they’re always a delicious morning treat.

8. Chouquette

The name “chouquette” comes from the term “choux pastry”, the type of dough used to make delights such as éclairs or beignets. Chouquettes are essentially little balls of choux dough studded with pearl sugar.

They are light, airy, and bite-sized, and often displayed in little baskets on top of a pastry case instead of inside the case itself.

Chouquettes originated in the 1500s by Popelini, the chef for the court of Queen Catherine de Medici.

Chouquettes are essentially the mini, plain version of cream puffs or profiteroles, but I think they are really delicious and a fun little treat. It’s definitely worth picking up a few to enjoy as an afternoon snack or with your morning breakfast.

The Wrap Up

One of my favorite parts of visiting France is the delicious breakfasts I get to enjoy. And the star of those breakfasts are these scrumptious viennoiseries. So as you explore on your next trip, make sure you sample these treats; I’m sure that you’ll find some favorites among these fantastic offerings.