Cheddar’s is a popular casual dining restaurant chain with over 165 locations across the United States. They are known for their scratch-made comfort food and homemade recipes. One of their signature baked goods offered on the menu are croissants. But an important question arises – does Cheddar’s actually make their own croissants from scratch? Or do they rely on pre-made frozen croissants that just get baked off on-site? Let’s investigate this culinary question further.
What are croissants?
Before determining if Cheddar’s makes their own croissants, it’s helpful to understand exactly what croissants are. Croissants are a delicate, flaky, viennoiserie pastry that originated in Austria but became popularized in France. The distinctive shape of the croissant resembles a crescent moon.
Traditional croissants are made via laminating – which is a multi-step process of layering dough with butter to create the signature flaky texture. The basic ingredients in croissant dough include flour, yeast, salt, sugar, milk, and of course, lots of butter. The dough is chilled, layered, folded, chilled again, and then shaped before proofing and baking. This labor-intensive process is what creates authentic, light and crispy croissants.
The Challenges of Making In-House Croissants
There are several major challenges involved in making croissants totally from scratch on-site at a restaurant:
Time
The lengthy, multi-day process of laminating, proofing and baking fresh croissants requires a significant amount of labor and time. Many restaurants don’t have the dedicated pastry staff and kitchen hours needed to accommodate this.
Training
Proper croissant technique is an artform that takes training and skill to master. Not all culinary staff have the expertise required to consistently produce high-quality croissants.
Ingredients
Quality European-style butter with a high fat content is ideal for croissants. Sourcing and storing this specialty ingredient can be difficult for restaurants with variable supply chains.
Consistency
Even for skilled bakers, homemade croissants can be prone to inconsistencies in flavor, texture, shape, and flakiness on a day-to-day basis.
Volume
For large restaurant chains like Cheddar’s that serve hundreds or thousands of customers per day, producing enough fresh croissants to meet demand would be an enormous undertaking.
So while making everything in-house from scratch is often seen as the ideal, when it comes to finicky viennoiserie like croissants, using high-quality pre-made frozen dough that just requires proofing and baking is an understandable compromise that allows for menu consistency.
Clues That Cheddar’s Croissants Are Pre-Made
While Cheddar’s doesn’t publicly disclose their croissant preparation methods, there are a few clues that point to their croissants likely being pre-made rather than crafted in-house:
Consistent shape and texture
Customers report that Cheddar’s croissants are tender and flaky, yet generally uniform in appearance across locations. This level of consistency would be hard to guarantee with made from scratch croissants.
Swift preparation
Orders of croissants arrive rapidly after ordering, versus the 30-60 minute wait times common at bakeries baking croissants to order. This indicates Cheddar’s likely has pre-made product on hand.
Lack of on-site proofing areas
In restaurants that bake croissants from raw dough, designated proofing areas for the raw dough to rise would be a necessity. Cheddar’s kitchen layouts lack sufficient temperature and humidity controlled spaces for proper proofing.
No obvious laminating or shaping areas
Again, since the labor-intensive lamination and shaping process for croissants requires a good amount of space and equipment, the absence of these in Cheddar’s kitchens suggests offsite preparation.
Centralized commissary facilities
Most mass restaurant chains have central commissary kitchens that prepare sauces, baked goods and other menu items for distribution across all locations. It would be logical for par-baked croissants to be prepared in these spaces.
Are Pre-Made Croissants Necessarily Worse?
While pre-made frozen croissants reputations may suffer in comparison to ones crafted completely in-house, modern commercial processors are quite adept at creating high-quality products.
Factors to consider:
Many high-end bakeries also use pre-made dough
Surprisingly, even revered artisanal bakeries often rely on pre-made frozen butter blocks and dough to streamline croissant preparation while still finishing details like shape, egg wash and baking in-house.
Technology has improved frozen dough
Manufacturing and freezing techniques have advanced, allowing pre-made dough to rival fresh. Controlled fermentation, vacuum sealing and flash freezing all help preserve flavor.
Skilled finishing is still important
The proofing, egg wash, baking and storage steps still impact the final product, so skilled kitchen staff is still integral for serving fresh, delicious croissants daily.
Volumes and consistency are easier to manage
Pre-made dough ensures a consistent supply of quality croissants, even with high guest demand and potential supply chain issues.
It allows specialization of labor
With croissant making centralized off-site at specialty facilities, Cheddar’s kitchen staff can focus their expertise on preparing the restaurant’s other scratch-made menu items.
How Cheddar’s Gets High Marks for Their Croissants
The pre-made nature of Cheddar’s croissants does not seem to sacrifice freshness or guest satisfaction, based on reviews:
Positive reviews
Cheddar’s croissants earn consistent praise online for their soft interior, crispy exterior, authentic flavor and delicate texture.
Freshly baked daily
Though the raw dough is prepared off-site, customers report croissants being baked fresh daily rather than using stale day-old product.
Served warm
Reviewers enjoy that croissants arrive straight from the oven, still warm – indicating good kitchen coordination to bake as needed.
High-quality ingredients
Cheddar’s notes that their croissants are made with unbleached wheat flour, real butter and pure cane sugar.
Cheddar’s Croissant Nutrition Facts
Here is an overview of the nutrition facts for Cheddar’s croissants:
| Nutrition Facts | Serving Size 1 croissant |
|---|---|
| Calories | 370 |
| Fat | 18g |
| Carbohydrates | 43g |
| Protein | 7g |
As expected from an authentic butter-laden croissant, a significant portion of the calories come from fat. The carbohydrate content is also quite high, coming from the enriched bread dough. But many find the indulgence worth the extra calories when enjoying a freshly baked croissant!
How To Order Cheddar’s Croissants
Cheddar’s offers a few ways for guests to enjoy their croissants:
Breakfast Menu
The croissants are listed under the “Breakfast Baked Goods” section of Cheddar’s breakfast menu, where you can order them individually or as part of a breakfast combo plate.
Appetizer Order
Some guests opt to order croissants as an appetizer prior to an entree. This is a great way to sample the product while having a meal.
To-Go Option
For a quick breakfast or snack on the run, you can call in advance to order take-out croissants freshly packaged to enjoy later.
Kids Meal
Cheddar’s allows substitution of the standard kids meal side dish for an item from their breakfast menu, including a croissant served warm with jelly on the side.
Dessert Pairing
Finally, some guests love to complement the flaky layers of a croissant with a sweet dessert like ice cream. It makes for the perfect hearty dessert pairing.
Conclusion
In summary, the consensus seems to be that while Cheddar’s likely uses pre-made frozen dough rather than baking all components of their croissants in-house, their methods do not sacrifice on the final product. Customers find their croissants to deliver on the promise of a classic French-style viennoiserie with tender, buttery flavor. By leveraging commissary expertise and quality ingredients, then finishing with warm bake-off on-site, Cheddar’s balances efficiency and guest satisfaction. So while not truly homemade, Cheddar’s signature croissants still earn positive marks as a menu treat.