French Croissant Baking Class with a Pastry Chef Paris
- Duration2.5 hours
- Daily
- Group
Some images are AI-generated for illustration. While we confirm your booking, just ask and we will send you the original photos.
- Fair, honest prices
- Real people, not bots
- Confirm, then pay
- Secure payment
Overview
This croissant baking class in Paris is a hands-on pastry workshop of two and a half hours in a small studio in the Latin Quarter, on the Left Bank a few minutes from Notre-Dame. A professional pastry chef teaches you, in English, how to build the laminated butter dough, roll and fold it, cut and shape plain croissants, chocolate croissants and chocolate snails, and bake them until golden. You work at your own station with ingredients, apron and equipment provided, and leave with the pastries you baked. It is a shared small-group class that suits couples, families with children, friends and solo travellers, with no baking experience needed. A private workshop with exclusive use of the studio is also available. There is no hotel pickup.
Highlights
- Hands-on croissant workshop of two and a half hours with a professional pastry chef
- Learn lamination: the butter block, the folds and the resting that make the layers
- Bake plain croissants, chocolate croissants and chocolate snails yourself
- All ingredients, aprons and equipment provided; no experience needed
- The story of how the croissant became a Paris breakfast habit
- Take your warm pastries away with you at the end
- Pastry studio in the Latin Quarter, a short walk from Notre-Dame and the Panthéon
- Three start times a day, with a private workshop available for groups
Full Description
The pastry studio in the Latin Quarter
The class takes place in a pastry studio on Rue des Trois Portes, a short street in the 5th arrondissement beside Place Maubert, in the heart of the Latin Quarter on the Left Bank of the Seine. The studio is fitted like a professional pastry kitchen but with the warm feel of a Parisian apartment: long marble-topped work benches, a rolling station for each participant, proofing cabinets and ovens at the back. Groups are small, so every person has their own space and the chef can correct each fold by hand.
Getting there is easy: Maubert-Mutualité metro station on line 10 is a two-minute walk, Saint-Michel and Cluny-La Sorbonne are under ten minutes on foot, and Notre-Dame is just across the river. Sessions start in the morning, early afternoon and late afternoon, so the pastry class fits around a day of sightseeing in central Paris.
The croissant, from Vienna to the Paris bakery
The croissant has a longer story than most people expect. Its ancestor was the kipferl, a crescent-shaped bread from Vienna, which arrived in Paris in the 1830s when a Viennese bakery opened near the Opéra. French bakers then replaced the plain dough with laminated puff pastry built on butter, and by the early 20th century the modern croissant was published in recipe books and sold in bakeries across the city. Today it is judged on its layers, its shine and the way it shatters when you tear it.
Your chef tells this story while the dough rests, and explains what separates a true butter croissant from the industrial version: the quality of the butter, the number of folds and the slow fermentation. Knowing this is the best souvenir of a croissant making class in Paris, because it changes how you choose a bakery for the rest of your trip.
What you bake: lamination, shaping and the oven
The workshop follows the real sequence of a bakery morning, compressed into two and a half hours. You start by learning how the dough and the butter block are brought together, then roll and fold the pastry in a series of turns that create the hundreds of thin layers. The chef shows the correct thickness, the resting times and the little tricks that stop the butter from melting into the dough. You then cut triangles for plain croissants, wrap chocolate sticks for pains au chocolat and roll a sheet of dough with chocolate for the spiral chocolate snails.
While the shaped pastries proof and bake, the chef answers questions and shares techniques for reproducing everything in an ordinary kitchen oven. At the end you take your own croissants away, still warm, and the recipe stays with you. Vegetarian and other dietary needs can be accommodated if you tell us when booking.
Place Maubert and the Latin Quarter around the studio
The studio sits in one of the oldest corners of Paris. Place Maubert has held a street market since the Middle Ages and still does on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings, with cheese, fruit and bread stalls that are worth a look before a morning class. The surrounding lanes of the Latin Quarter, named for the Latin spoken by the students of the medieval university, lead in a few minutes to the Sorbonne, the Panthéon on its hill and the medieval Cluny museum of the Middle Ages.
Across the Seine stand Notre-Dame and the Île de la Cité, and the riverside booksellers' stalls begin just below the square. If you are planning what to do in the Latin Quarter after the workshop, walk down Rue Mouffetard for its food shops or up to the Panthéon for the view, both within fifteen minutes on foot. The area is also well served by buses and the RER at Saint-Michel.
Itinerary
- Arrival at the pastry studioFind the studio on Rue des Trois Portes near Place Maubert, put on your apron and meet your chef and the group at your work bench.
- The dough and the butter blockLearn how laminated dough is built: enclosing the butter, rolling and folding in turns, with resting between each step; about 45 minutes.
- Shaping plain croissants, chocolate croissants and chocolate snailsCut, roll and shape each type of pastry under the chef's eye; about 40 minutes.
- Proofing and bakingThe pastries rise and go into the oven while the chef tells the history of the croissant and answers your questions; about 45 minutes.
- Take your pastries awayBox up your warm croissants and leave with the recipe and the techniques; the class ends at the studio after about two and a half hours.
What's included
- 2.5-hour hands-on croissant workshop
- Professional pastry chef instructor in English
- All ingredients, aprons and cooking equipment
- Plain croissants, chocolate croissants and chocolate snails you bake yourself
- Your baked pastries to take away
- Vegetarian and other dietary needs accommodated on request
Not included
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Meals and drinks beyond the pastries you bake
- Tips (optional)
Is this right for you?
Great for
- Families with children — a child price for ages 3–11
- Groups who want privacy — a private option is available
- A half-day plan — about 2.5 hours
- Travellers who want a proven choice — rated 4.9/5 by past travellers
Meeting point
The class is held at the pastry studio at 3 Rue des Trois Portes, 75005 Paris, in the Latin Quarter on the Left Bank, beside Place Maubert. The nearest metro station is Maubert-Mutualité on line 10, about two minutes on foot; Saint-Michel (RER B and C, line 4) is under ten minutes away. Please arrive five to ten minutes before your start time so you can put on your apron and begin with the group. There is no hotel pickup, and the class ends at the same address.
Important information
- The class is taught in English; the chef also speaks French and Spanish
- Wear closed shoes and clothes you do not mind getting floury; aprons are provided
- Tie back long hair and remove rings and bracelets before working with the dough
- The studio uses wheat flour, butter, eggs and chocolate; tell us about allergies or vegetarian and other dietary needs when booking
- Children are welcome and work at their own station; an adult should accompany young children
- Meals and drinks beyond the pastries you bake are not included
- Bring a bag for your pastries if you plan to carry them around the city afterwards
- Hotel pickup is not included; the studio is a short walk from Maubert-Mutualité metro
Good to know
Frequently Asked Questions
Straight answers to what travellers ask us most, before they book.
Is this a shared or a private experience?
The standard class is a shared small-group workshop with other travellers, each at their own work station. A private workshop with exclusive use of the studio can also be booked for families, friends or small celebrations.
How long does the croissant class take?
About two and a half hours, from putting on your apron to boxing up your warm pastries.
Is hotel pickup included?
No. The studio is in the Latin Quarter, two minutes on foot from Maubert-Mutualité metro station and a short walk from Notre-Dame and Saint-Michel.
What is included?
The hands-on workshop with a professional pastry chef in English, all ingredients, aprons and equipment, the plain croissants, chocolate croissants and chocolate snails you bake, and your pastries to take away.
Is the price per person or per group?
The shared class is booked per person; the private workshop is booked for the whole group. The booking panel on this page shows the current price of each option.
Do I need any baking experience?
No. The chef explains every step from the first fold, and the small group means you get corrected as you go. Complete beginners bake perfectly good croissants.
Is it suitable for children?
Yes, it is one of the best family activities in Paris on a rainy day. Children get their own station and love shaping the chocolate croissants; young children should come with an adult.
Is it suitable for people with reduced mobility?
The studio is accessible and the work is done standing or seated at a bench, so most people with reduced mobility can take part. Tell us your needs when booking and we will check the details for you.
What should I bring?
Nothing but closed shoes and clothes that can take a little flour. Aprons, ingredients and tools are provided, and you leave with a box of pastries, so a tote bag is useful.
Can vegetarians or people with allergies take part?
Vegetarian and other dietary needs are accommodated on request. The recipes use wheat, butter and chocolate, so please tell us about any allergy when you book so the chef can advise.
What is the best time to book the class?
The morning session works well before a day in the Latin Quarter, and Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings let you see the Place Maubert market first. The late-afternoon session suits travellers arriving in Paris that day.
How do I book and confirm?
Choose your date and start time on this page and complete the booking. Our team confirms it on WhatsApp within minutes and sends the address and directions to the studio.
More in Paris
Popular across France
-
-
-
-
-
-