Starbucks Croissants & Danishes Menu USA

Every pastry here is made from the same butter-laminated dough, which is why the calorie counts sit so close together. The Sweet Cream Cheese Icing is a dip cup sold alongside, not a pastry.

Butter Croissant

The Butter Croissant is the plain one, 250 calories, 14 g of fat, 4 g of sugar, $4.35. It is the lightest pastry on this shelf and the one to warm.

• Best for: a coffee pairing that does not fight the coffee.

Chocolate Croissant

The Chocolate Croissant wraps two batons of dark chocolate in the same dough for 300 calories and 11 g of sugar at $4.75. It is the biggest seller on the shelf.

• Best for: a sweet breakfast that is still under 300 calories.

Ham & Swiss Croissant

The Ham & Swiss Croissant is the savory option, hickory ham and Swiss baked into a croissant and served warm, 330 calories with 14 g of protein, the most on the shelf. It carries no pickup price at the reference store.

• Best for: a breakfast sandwich substitute with a flakier bread.

Cheese Danish

The Cheese Danish is croissant dough with a sweet cheese center, 290 calories, 7 g of protein, $4.35.

• Best for: warmed, with a black coffee; the cheese softens.

Cinnamon Pull-Apart

The Cinnamon Pull-Apart is croissant pieces tossed in cinnamon sugar and baked together under streusel, 300 calories, $4.35. It is built to be shared or dipped.

• Best for: the icing cup; the two are sold as a pair.

Cookie Croissant Swirl

The Cookie Croissant Swirl is a croissant swirled with cocoa and topped with chocolate cookie crumble, 270 calories, 13 g of sugar, $4.75, the newest item on the shelf.

• Best for: a dessert pastry for the afternoon.

Fifty calories separate the butter from the chocolate; the ham and Swiss adds protein rather than sugar. If the croissant is breakfast, the ham and Swiss holds you longest. If it is with a latte, the butter croissant keeps the order under 500 calories.

The croissant shelf sits between the sweet bakes and the bagels on the panel. A Butter Croissant at 250 calories is the same count as a Plain Bagel at 250 but carries 14 g of fat to the bagel's 1 g, because the dough is layered with butter. A Blueberry Streusel Muffin at 370 calories is heavier than any plain croissant and sweeter than the chocolate one.

So: bagel for the leanest bread, croissant for the richest, muffin for the sweetest. The ham and Swiss is the exception, since it carries enough protein to count as a breakfast rather than a pastry.

• Butter croissant: a Caffè Americano or a Cappuccino; the pastry's butter wants something plain.
• Chocolate croissant: a Caffè Latte, or a flat white for a stronger cup.
• Ham and Swiss: brewed coffee or an iced coffee, the way you would take a breakfast sandwich.
• Cheese danish: a chai latte, whose spice cuts the sweetness.
• Cinnamon pull-apart: cold brew; the pastry is sweet enough for both.
• Cookie croissant swirl: a hot chocolate for a child, or an iced coffee for an adult who wants the contrast.
• Any croissant, warmed, with a brewed coffee refill is the cheapest way to sit in a Starbucks for an hour.

Every pastry can be warmed in the oven on request, and the butter croissant and cheese danish are far better warm. The Sweet Cream Cheese Icing is a 140 calorie dip cup at $1.45, made for the pull-apart but used on anything; it adds 11 g of sugar. Pastries are baked off in the morning and the chocolate croissant is usually the first to sell out.

Every croissant and the danish declare wheat, milk and egg; the chocolate croissant and the swirl add soy. The shelf is shared with nut pastries and everything is handled with the same tongs, so the allergen guide is the place to check for a serious allergy.