A cruffin is what happens when a croissant and a muffin are asked to resolve their differences by producing something that captures the best quality of each: the shatteringly flaky, buttery, laminated layers of a croissant in the shape and portion size of a muffin, baked in a muffin tin so the dough spirals upward into a tall, dramatic swirl with exposed, caramelized edges and a soft, layered interior. Vegan Peach Pie Cruffins take this already extraordinary format and fill it with a spiced peach pie filling — diced fresh or tinned peaches cooked with brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, lemon juice, and a small amount of cornstarch until thick and jammy — that is layered between the laminated dough as it is rolled, so every layer of dough alternates with a stripe of caramelized, fragrant peach filling. The cruffin dough is an enriched, laminated dough made vegan through the use of vegan block butter (for the fat layers that create the flaky lamination) and plant milk with a small amount of aquafaba to provide the richness and structure that egg provides in a traditional enriched dough. The finished cruffins are pulled from the oven when the exposed dough edges are deeply golden and caramelized and the peach filling is bubbling; they are rolled in cinnamon sugar while still warm, then glazed with a thin drizzle of vanilla icing. They are extraordinary. They are 100% vegan, dairy-free, and egg-free. They make 12 cruffins. They are the kind of bake that requires a full morning and rewards it completely. The technique is why the lamination stays distinct through the bake rather than compressing into a bread-like crumb.
The technique is the cold-lamination-and-rest method. The structural principle of any laminated dough — croissant, pain au chocolat, Danish pastry, cruffin — is the alternation of thin layers of dough and thin layers of solid fat, created by repeatedly folding the dough over the fat block and rolling it out; the fat layers remain solid and separate from the dough layers as long as both are kept cold. When the laminated dough enters the oven, the water in the fat layers turns to steam and forces the dough layers apart, creating the characteristic flaky separation — the “feuilletage” or thousand-leaf structure — of a good laminated pastry. If the fat warms and softens before or during lamination, it merges with the dough rather than remaining as a separate layer; the steam cannot separate what is already merged, and the result is a dense, bready dough rather than a flaky, layered one. The cold-lamination-and-rest method manages this temperature-sensitivity through four disciplined rest periods. Rest 1: after the initial dough is made, it rests in the refrigerator for 1 hour to relax the gluten (tense gluten snaps back during rolling and tears the fat layers). Rest 2: after the butter block is beaten to a pliable consistency and enclosed in the dough, the package rests in the refrigerator for 20 minutes before the first fold — ensuring the butter is still cold and firm. Rest 3: after the first two folds (the “double turn”), the dough rests in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before the final fold, allowing the butter to re-firm and the gluten to relax again. Rest 4: after the cruffins are shaped and placed in the muffin tin, they rest at room temperature for 60–90 minutes to proof slightly — this final rest allows the yeast to produce a small amount of gas that lifts the layers slightly without over-proofing, which would collapse the fat structure. The result of these four managed rests is a cruffin with clearly visible, distinct dough layers visible from the side, a flaky interior that separates into individual petals when pulled apart, and a caramelized surface that shatters on the first bite.
This recipe makes 12 cruffins.
Recipe Information
| Prep Time | Cook Time | Total Time | Servings | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 hr active + 3 hrs resting | 22 mins | ~4 hrs 30 mins total | 12 | ~380 kcal |
Ingredients
For the Cruffin Dough
- 500g (4 cups) strong white bread flour (high-protein flour; the higher gluten content of bread flour provides the structure to hold the lamination; all-purpose flour can be used but produces a slightly less structured result)
- 7g (1 sachet / 2¼ tsp) fast-action dried yeast (instant yeast)
- 50g (¼ cup) caster sugar
- 1 tsp fine salt
- 240ml (1 cup) warm oat milk or soy milk (approximately 38°C / 100°F — warm enough to activate the yeast but not hot enough to kill it; if it feels comfortably warm on the inside of your wrist, it is the right temperature)
- 2 tbsp aquafaba — contributes binding proteins and emulsifying properties in place of egg; adds richness and helps the dough hold together during lamination
- 30g (2 tbsp) vegan block butter, melted — incorporated into the dough itself (in addition to the butter block for lamination)
For the Butter Block (Lamination)
- 200g (¾ cup + 2 tbsp) vegan block butter — cold from the refrigerator; must be a firm, block-style vegan butter (such as vegan block butter specifically formulated for pastry, or a firm vegan margarine block); tub-style spread contains too much water and will leak out of the dough during lamination rather than forming solid layers; Naturli Vegan Block, Violife Plant Butter Block, or similar are ideal
For the Peach Pie Filling
- 400g (14oz) fresh peaches, peeled and diced into 1cm pieces — or 400g of tinned peach slices in juice (not syrup), well-drained and diced; fresh peaches at peak ripeness produce the best flavor; out of season, tinned peaches in juice are an excellent substitute
- 60g (⅓ cup) light brown sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1½ tbsp cornstarch (cornflour) + 2 tbsp cold water — mixed to a slurry; thickens the filling to a spreadable, jammy consistency that does not run out of the cruffin during rolling or baking
- A pinch of fine salt
For the Cinnamon Sugar Coating
- 80g (⅓ cup + 1 tbsp) caster sugar
- 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
- Mixed together in a shallow bowl wide enough to roll the warm cruffins
For the Vanilla Icing Drizzle
- 100g (¾ cup) icing sugar (powdered sugar), sifted
- 2–3 tbsp plant milk — added gradually until a thick, drizzleable icing consistency is reached
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the Dough (Day Before or Morning Of)
- Make the dough. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. In a jug, combine the warm oat milk, aquafaba, and melted vegan block butter. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix with a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8–10 minutes until smooth, elastic, and slightly tacky but not sticky. Shape into a rectangle (approximately 20×15cm), wrap in cling film, and refrigerate for 1 hour — Rest 1.
- Make the peach filling. While the dough rests, combine the diced peaches, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, lemon juice, and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5–7 minutes until the peaches have softened and released their juices. Stir the cornstarch slurry briefly and pour into the pan, stirring constantly. Cook for 1–2 minutes until the filling is thick, glossy, and jammy — it should mound on a spoon and not run. Transfer to a bowl to cool completely. The filling must be completely cool before it is spread on the dough; warm filling softens the butter layers.
- Prepare the butter block. Remove the cold vegan block butter from the refrigerator. Place between two sheets of baking parchment and beat with a rolling pin to flatten into a 15×15cm (6×6 inch) square, approximately 1cm thick. The butter should be pliable but still cold — it should bend without cracking but not feel soft or warm. If it cracks when beaten, it is too cold; leave at room temperature for 5 minutes and try again. If it feels soft and oily, return to the refrigerator for 10 minutes.
- Enclose the butter in the dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll the rested dough into a rectangle approximately 30×20cm (12×8 inch). Place the butter block in the center of the dough, oriented as a diamond (rotated 45 degrees relative to the dough rectangle). Fold the four dough flaps over the butter like an envelope, pinching the edges firmly to seal. You now have a butter-enclosed dough package. Refrigerate for 20 minutes — Rest 2.
- First fold: the double turn. On a lightly floured surface, roll the rested dough package into a rectangle approximately 60×20cm (24×8 inch), rolling away from you with even, firm pressure. Fold the top third down, then fold the bottom third up over it (a letter fold / single turn). Rotate 90 degrees, roll out again to 60×20cm, and repeat the letter fold. You have now completed a double turn (two folds). Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes — Rest 3.
- Final fold. Remove from the refrigerator. Roll out to 60×20cm one more time and perform one final letter fold. The dough now has approximately 27 distinct layers of butter and dough. Wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
Shape and Proof
- Shape the cruffins. Roll the laminated dough on a lightly floured surface to a large rectangle approximately 40×50cm (16×20 inch) and 3–4mm thick. Spread the completely cooled peach filling evenly over the entire surface of the dough, leaving a 1cm border at the far long edge. Roll the dough tightly into a log from the near long edge toward the far edge, pressing gently as you roll to keep it tight. Pinch the seam firmly to seal. Using a sharp knife, cut the log into 12 equal rounds, each approximately 4cm (1½ inch) thick.
- Place in muffin tin. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin generously. Stand each cruffin round upright on its cut edge in a muffin cup, so the spiral is visible from above and the layers are visible from the side. Cover loosely with lightly oiled cling film. Leave to proof at room temperature for 60–90 minutes — Rest 4 — until the cruffins have puffed noticeably and look airy. Do not over-proof (the layers will separate and collapse); the cruffins should look risen but still hold their spiral shape.
- Bake. Preheat the oven to 190°C fan / 200°C conventional (375°F / 390°F). Bake for 20–22 minutes until the exposed dough edges are deeply golden-brown and caramelized, and the peach filling is bubbling. The cruffins should feel set and firm when lightly pressed. Allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes only — remove while still warm.
Finish
- Cinnamon sugar coating. While the cruffins are still warm (but not hot enough to burn your hands), roll each one in the cinnamon sugar mixture, pressing gently to coat the sides and top. The residual warmth causes the sugar to adhere directly to the pastry surface.
- Icing drizzle. Whisk the sifted icing sugar with the vanilla extract and plant milk until smooth and thick. The icing should flow from a spoon in a slow, thick ribbon. Transfer to a small piping bag or a spoon and drizzle over the cinnamon-sugared cruffins in irregular lines. Allow the icing to set for 10 minutes before serving.
Pro Tips
- Temperature is everything in laminated dough — if at any point during the rolling and folding process the butter feels soft, greasy, or begins to break through the dough surface, stop immediately, wrap the dough, and refrigerate for 20 minutes before continuing. Working in a cool kitchen (below 20°C / 68°F) is a significant advantage for laminated pastry work; if your kitchen is warm, work quickly and chill more frequently.
- Roll evenly and with consistent pressure — uneven rolling creates thick and thin sections of dough with uneven butter distribution; in those sections, the lamination will be inconsistent and some cruffins will have fewer or thicker layers than others. Keep the rolling pin parallel to the surface and apply even downward pressure across the whole width of the dough.
- The peach filling must be completely cool before spreading — warm filling melts the butter layers on contact, destroying the lamination. If in a hurry, spread the filling in a shallow tray and refrigerate for 15 minutes to cool rapidly.
- These cruffins are best eaten the day they are made — laminated pastry loses its flakiness quickly as the layers absorb moisture from the environment; within 24 hours a cruffin that was shattering-flaky will become noticeably softer and chewier. Bake and eat on the same day for the full experience.
The Cruffin: A Twenty-First Century Pastry Hybrid and the Viral Bakery Phenomenon
The cruffin is one of the very few genuinely new pastry formats to emerge in the 21st century — a category that also includes the cronut (Dominique Ansel, New York, 2013) and a handful of other hybrid creations that arrived in the era of food social media — and its origin is precisely documented and commercially significant. The cruffin was created by Kate Reid, founder of Mr. Holmes Bakehouse in San Francisco, California, who introduced the pastry to her menu in 2014. The concept — laminated croissant dough baked in a muffin tin and filled with cream, curd, or flavored pastry cream — was immediately, dramatically viral: within weeks of its introduction, queues formed outside Mr. Holmes Bakehouse before opening time, the cruffin was featured in major food publications, and the format spread across artisan bakeries in the United States, Australia (where Kate Reid subsequently opened a second location in Melbourne), and eventually globally. The cruffin’s viral success was driven by two factors that align perfectly with food social media: it is visually spectacular in cross-section, with its swirled layers and filling clearly visible from the side — ideal for the kind of dramatic cut-open food photography that performs well on Instagram and later TikTok — and it delivers a genuinely novel eating experience, combining the flaky, buttery satisfaction of a croissant with the portioned convenience and casual approachability of a muffin. The word “cruffin” is a portmanteau of “croissant” and “muffin,” and Kate Reid holds trademark rights to the name in several jurisdictions, though the format itself cannot be trademarked and has been widely reproduced by bakeries worldwide under various names. The peach pie filling in this recipe is a home adaptation that applies the cruffin format to a summer fruit pie flavor — a natural pairing of laminated pastry with spiced fruit filling that echoes both the Danish pastry and the hand pie traditions.
Flavor Variations
- Apple and Cardamom Cruffins: Replace the peach filling with an apple pie filling: 3 medium apples (peeled, cored, diced), 60g brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp cardamom, ½ tsp nutmeg, 1 tbsp lemon juice, and a cornstarch slurry. Cook as directed until thick and jammy. The apple and cardamom filling has a more aromatic, warming character than the peach version and is particularly well-suited to autumn baking. Finish with a salted caramel drizzle instead of vanilla icing: 3 tablespoons of vegan caramel sauce thinned with 1 teaspoon of plant milk.
- Raspberry and Almond Cruffins: Replace the peach filling with a raspberry compote (300g fresh or frozen raspberries, 50g sugar, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, cornstarch slurry) cooked until thick. Add 2 tablespoons of almond butter to the filling off the heat and stir to combine. Finish with a drizzle of icing and a scatter of flaked toasted almonds. The raspberry and almond combination is one of the great classic flavor pairings of European pastry.
- Chocolate and Hazelnut Cruffins: Omit the peach filling entirely. Spread the rolled dough with a thin layer of vegan chocolate-hazelnut spread (such as Nutiva or Justin’s Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Butter) before rolling. Roll and shape as directed. The chocolate-hazelnut filling melts into the dough layers during baking, producing a pain au chocolat-like swirl through the cruffin’s interior. Finish with a dusting of icing sugar and a sprinkle of finely chopped toasted hazelnuts rather than cinnamon sugar.
Nutritional Highlights (Per Cruffin — Based on 12 Cruffins)
| Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fiber | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ~380 kcal | 6g | 52g | 2g | 17g |
Storage
- Best eaten on the day of baking — laminated pastry is at its flakiest within hours of coming out of the oven. By the following day, the layers have absorbed ambient moisture and the pastry is noticeably softer and less shatteringly flaky, though still delicious. If you must store overnight, keep in an airtight container at room temperature and warm in a 180°C oven for 4–5 minutes to restore some crispness.
- Do not refrigerate — refrigeration accelerates staling in enriched pastry doughs; the cruffins will become stale and tough faster in the refrigerator than at room temperature.
- Freeze before finishing: uniced, uncoated cruffins freeze well immediately after baking and cooling, for up to 1 month. Wrap individually in cling film. Thaw at room temperature for 2 hours, then warm in a 180°C oven for 5 minutes. Apply the cinnamon sugar and icing after warming.
- The shaped, unbaked cruffins (after Rest 4 proofing) can be refrigerated overnight and baked the following morning: cover tightly with oiled cling film after the room temperature proof, refrigerate, and bake directly from the refrigerator adding 3–5 minutes to the baking time.
Frequently Asked Questions
The butter broke through the dough during rolling. What should I do?
Butter breaking through indicates the dough has warmed too much and the butter is too soft to hold its layers. Stop immediately, dust any leaked butter with a little flour, wrap the dough, and refrigerate for 20–30 minutes until both the dough and butter are cold again. Resume rolling. Do not try to push butter back in — the flour dusting stabilizes it enough to continue. Butter breakage is the most common lamination problem and is always solved by cold and patience.
My cruffins didn’t puff up much during the proof. Are they under-proofed?
A small, controlled puff is correct for cruffins — unlike bread or standard muffins, laminated doughs should not be fully doubled in size during proofing, as over-proofing destroys the fat layer structure. The cruffins should look slightly puffier and airier than when they were placed in the tin, but the spiral should still be clearly defined. If they have not puffed at all after 90 minutes, the kitchen may be too cold; move them to a slightly warmer spot (near the oven as it preheats works well) for an additional 20–30 minutes.
Can I use store-bought puff pastry to make these faster?
Yes — store-bought vegan puff pastry (most standard ready-roll puff pastry is accidentally vegan; check the label) can be substituted for the laminated cruffin dough for a significantly faster preparation. Roll the puff pastry to approximately 3–4mm thickness, spread with the peach filling, roll and cut as directed, and bake at 200°C for 18–20 minutes. The result will not have the yeast-risen airiness of a true cruffin but will be flaky and delicious — a fine shortcut when time is limited.
Can I make the dough the night before and bake in the morning?
Yes — this is the recommended approach. Complete all the lamination folds and shape the cruffins as directed. After the cruffins are placed in the muffin tin, cover tightly with oiled cling film and refrigerate overnight instead of proofing at room temperature. In the morning, remove from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature and proof for 45–60 minutes before baking. This overnight cold proof (called “retarding”) develops a slightly more complex flavor in the dough and makes the baking-morning preparation minimal.
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