Pain au Chocolat, Chocolatine, Chocolate Croissant: Whatever You Call It, I’ll Eat It

I have many food weaknesses, but pain au chocolat is probably in the Top 10. A delicious, flaky pastry surrounding a rich strip of chocolate. Who can refuse? Not me.

My addiction began while studying abroad in Paris. Although I’ve always been a fan of cakes, I never loved pastries or pastry-puff-like dough. Croissants? Wasn’t a big fan. However, when I came across these rolls (essentially dressed-up croissants), something changed.

Maybe it was their plump shape (“cuboid” as Wikipedia notes) and inviting color – a golden brown just asking you to take a bite. Or maybe the enticing factor was their chocolate insides. Chocolaaaaaaaate!

If I’m being honest, it likely also had something to do with the price. A staple in French boulangeries/patisseries, the pain au chocolat is like a go-to snack for kids after school. At about 1 euro 20 centimes, it was the perfect treat for me to eat with some thé ou un café.

Anyhoo, I recently stopped by The Octopus Literary Salon in Oakland and had zero will power against the pain au chocolat in the glass pastry display/dome (is there a word for those?) next to the cash register. When I first got to the counter, I told myself, no, you don’t need another pastry, Aya, but lo and behold: I went back at the counter in an hour.

Pain au Chocolat: a Photo Journey

I thought it’d be fun to go back through my photos over the past couple of years and see how many pain au chocolats I documented with my camera. Uuuuuuunfortunately, after a semi-thorough search, it seems like I didn’t document that many pain au chocolat. Still, below you’ll find a snippet of my pain au chocolat eating adventures across Québec, Paris and California!

The next time you see a pain au chocolat/chocolatine/chocolate croissant – in France, or otherwise – I urge you to eat it 😉