If you’ve never had a proper French Cruller donut, it doesn’t taste like what you’d expect a donut to taste like. And that’s exactly the point.
Unlike every other donut on our menu, the French Cruller isn’t made from a yeast or cake dough; it’s made from pâte à choux, the same egg-rich pastry dough used for éclairs and cream puffs. That distinction matters. When pâte à choux hits hot oil, the eggs create steam from the inside, puffing the dough into a light, hollow ring with a crisp, ridged exterior and an interior closer to custard than crumb. It’s simultaneously airy and rich, delicate and satisfying, a texture no other donut format can replicate.
At Pan Bagels, our French Cruller is made from scratch every morning at our Rancho Cordova bakery. The dough is piped into rings, fried to a golden, deeply ridged finish, then glazed while warm so the coating settles into every groove and sets with a thin, sheer sweetness that complements rather than competes with the egg-forward flavor of the choux.
The result is the lightest donut we make, and one of the most sophisticated. It’s the one that donut people get quietly excited about when they see it in the case, and the one that tends to surprise people who’ve only ever had the standard variety.
At $2.99, the French Cruller is exceptional value for a pastry that takes genuine technique to get right. Pair it with a hot latte or Americano at Pan Bagels, 4022 Sunrise Blvd Suite 110, Rancho Cordova, CA, or order ahead on DoorDash before they sell out. Fresh daily, limited quantity.
