Can I microwave a 'bake from frozen' croissant?

December 14, 2022 7:36 AM

Can you do anything with a microwave oven to make a 'bake from frozen' croissant even slightly edible? Bought some by accident.

I accidentally bought a bag of 'bake from frozen' croissants thinking from the tiny picture on the shopping site that they were normal croissants. I don't have a working oven. I have a microwave oven. Is there anything I can do that will make these even slightly edible or do I need to just bin them?

posted by Flitcraft to Food & Drink (12 answers total)

You may be able to use an air fryer, but there's nothing you can do in a microwave with it.
posted by kschang at 7:42 AM on December 14, 2022 [4 favorites]

I mean, you could try one as an experiment (I would actually thaw first, even though they're supposed to be bake-from-frozen) but I would assume that it's not going to work.

If I were in your situation I would put them up on my local buy nothing group and they'd be gone by the end of the day. (Or if you have a neighbor with an oven/toaster oven I'd propose an exchange of half the croissants in return for use of the oven!)
posted by mskyle at 7:44 AM on December 14, 2022 [5 favorites]

If you have a burner and a pan with a lid that won’t be damaged by heating without anything in it, you could first microwave them, and then put them in the pan on a trivet on the burner at low heat until they crisp up. You'd probably need to turn them once.

Alternatively, after microwaving them you could toast them like marshmallows over a burner.
posted by jamjam at 8:13 AM on December 14, 2022 [4 favorites]

I would try frying them in a pan to make cronuts, if you have a stovetop.
posted by BlueJae at 8:16 AM on December 14, 2022 [11 favorites]

You can cook them from thawed in a waffle iron, I’m betting a skillet would work well too if that’s what you have. Cooked on a stick over a fire (have done this with biscuits in a tube)? Anything but the microwave.
posted by momus_window at 8:23 AM on December 14, 2022 [4 favorites]

You could try cooking them for longer on your microwave's lowest power setting, then as suggested above, crisping them up in a skillet, assuming you have a stovetop.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:46 AM on December 14, 2022

I might defrost and unroll it 1st, but it's certainly worth trying 1 to see what happens.

Please update your post so we know what happened.
posted by theora55 at 10:18 AM on December 14, 2022 [1 favorite]

I would try cooking on the stovetop in a covered skillet. Melt a little butter on low heat. Put in thawed crossaint. Cover and cook very gently until warmed through. Check the bottom- if you would like browner, turn up the heat and remove lid and cook for another minute.
posted by haptic_avenger at 10:24 AM on December 14, 2022 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: Stove top idea sounds interesting - may give that a go when they defrost
posted by Flitcraft at 10:27 AM on December 14, 2022 [2 favorites]

You can buy microwave crisper bags that might get you something vaguely passable, but it is equally likely you would end up with bad croissants and useless crisper bags.

You can also buy toaster bags for toasting things that aren't well suited to your toaster, and I imagine that would work better. But it still leaves you with the possibility of gross croissants and useless bags.
posted by jacquilynne at 12:22 PM on December 14, 2022

A cheap toaster oven opens up a lot of pleasant possibities for baking here and there.
posted by Oyéah at 12:43 PM on December 14, 2022 [6 favorites]

Ask a favor, make a friend -- find a neighbor who will let you use their oven, pack some butter and jam, and eat them together!
posted by amtho at 1:17 PM on December 14, 2022 [1 favorite]