Most of the menu at PRB Boulangerie at Time Out Market is authentically French, from the delightful espresso drinks to the buckwheat crêpes, ham-and-butter baguette sandwiches and nutty financiers. But when it comes to a chocolate chip cookie, American style cannot be beat, says owner Loic Le Garrec.
The very American combination of butter, sugar, just enough salt and rich chocolate chips makes for a crispy-on-the-outside and soft-inside cookie that’s “perfect just the way it is,” Le Garrec says. Compared with typical French technique—which is always in pursuit of perfection—it is a bulkier, more homestyle treat than the delicacies native to Parisian pastry kitchens.
But when the cookie’s powers combine with classic French technique? Well, delicious new traditions are born.
PRB Boulangerie introduced a cookie-filled croissant—aka the “crookie”—earlier this year as a weekend-only special at its bakeries in Somerville, Cambridge and the South End. Since debuting at Time Out Market in July, the crookie has become a weekend tradition.
To craft the crookie, PRB bakers make their classic croissants as usual: Layers of buttery pastry puffed up in the oven. The fully baked croissants are split across the middle, then sandwiched back together with American-style chocolate chip cookie dough inside. Another helping of dough goes on top of the croissant before it goes back into the oven. The finished product has a crispy cookie-cap and a creamy, chocolate-flecked interior—not to mention, flaky pastry all around.
“The two textures go really well together,” Le Garrec says. “Everything about it is really fun.”
The crookie has become a bit of a viral sensation in Boston. It continues to be available every Saturday and Sunday morning at all PRB locations, including Time Out Market. Get there early: It typically sells out by noon.