Move over cupcakes, the cronut has arrived.  The cronut is a treat that is a cross between and croissant and a donut and was developed by Chef Dominique Ansel of Dominique Ansel Bakery in NYC.  Ever since it’s launch in May 2013, even the very impatient people of NYC have been known to wait on line for hours (!!!) just to get a taste of one of these $5 treats.

All photos: ccho/Flickr

If you’re like me and you love food but you’re NOT willing to wait an endless amount of time for your gustatory pleasure, here are 8 delicious alternatives to the elusive Cronut.  

Do you want Creamy, Savory, Croissant/Donut or Dieitian’s Choice – see below:

Creamy Cronut Alternatives:

 1.  Salted Crack Caramel Ice Cream from Ample Hills Creamery, Brooklyn:

You read that right – Salted Crack Caramel Ice Cream.  I’m a chocolate person to the core and it shocks me that I must have this flavor every time I go into this ice cream parlor!  Salted butter caramel ice cream with “crack” cookies made from saltines, butter, sugar and chocolate.  Ample Hills is a unique place that makes all of their wares by hand from fresh ingredients (right down to the sprinkles available).  If you’re in NYC and haven’t been to Prospect Heights, Brooklyn this place is worth the trip (and there’s tons of other great food and fun in the ‘hood – this is my neighborhood).

Image: fantabandfrugal

2.  Chocolate Chip Flirt Rice Pudding from Rice To Riches, NYC

I have a weakness for rice pudding and this place makes it so well – vanilla rice pudding with chocolate chips is a wonderfully creamy treat.  Located in Nolita, across the street from Lombardi’s (the oldest pizza place in America), I take every visitor to NYC to both of these places.  Bonus: RTR has modern space ship type containers that you can take home (we use the them to pack Wild Boy’s entrees for lunch at school or camp).  The website is a little sparse but you can have rice pudding shipped to you if you don’t live near NYC (the fee is hefty but there’s no waiting on line).

Savory Cronut Alternatives:

3.  Jamaican Patty from Christie’s Jamaican Patties, Brooklyn.

If you’re in the mood for an inexpensive ($3) taste of Caribbean culture, Christie’s Jamaican Patties is where you want to go.  Available in beef, vegetable, chicken and sometimes shrimp (I believe) are portable, delicious and worth it.

I have found myself craving the spicy chicken patty since moving to LA.  Full entrees and a variety of well-known Jamaican drinks (like Sorrel) are available if you want more than just a patty to go.  Website is primitive but the food is worth an in person trip.

Image: Scott Beal/Laughing Squid

4.  Knish from Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery, NYC

No, you don’t have to be Jewish to eat one of these Eastern European treats!  Yonah Schimmel’s, located on the Lower East Side, has 8 varieties of this delicious street treat of yesteryear – potato, kasha (buckwheat), red cabbage, spinach, mushroom, sweet potato, vegetable and broccoli.  YS has been around since 1910 with good reason!

I’m a fan of the potato and the kasha knishes and wish I could have one now!  I wish these traveled as well as bagels do in a suitcase.

 Croissant or Donut Cronut Alternatives:

5.  Pretzel Croissant from City Bakery, NYC

Image: Chiara Ogan

I love bread but croissants are only meh for me.  However, the pretzel croissant from City Bakery in NYC is a little piece of decadence that I appreciate.  I could eat soft pretzels from street carts all day long (I love my carbs) and this treat helps me with my restraint.  Just the word croissant all of adds a sense of sophistication to the eating experience.

There are plenty of other choices available at City Bakery if the pretzel croissant doesn’t do it for you.

6.  Fresh Strawberry Donut from The Donut Man, LA (or a special donut from Doughnut Plant in NYC or Voodoo Doughnut in Portland).

Image: Space Pirate Queen

If you really just want a donut (or doughnut as many seem to spell it), it’s likely that there are unique offerings available.  I’m featuring the Fresh Strawberry Donut from the Donut Man LA because the strawberries are gorgeous.  They do a peach in season as well.  They’re a bit overwhelming for me but a bite or two will do it.

Doughnut Plant in NYC offers fruit and nut, yeast, cake and filled square options.  Sadly, I didn’t make it to Voodoo when I was in Portland, but I love their whimsy in naming their wares (there’s a love for rap music and one relatively pornographic option).

Dietitian’s Healthy Cronut Alternatives:

 7.  Mango On A Stick from Street Vendors, Brooklyn (and various other places)

Image: roboppy/Flickr

Sometimes you just want a healthy snack.  A mango on a stick with chili powder and lime can do it for me on a hot day.  Trust me though, I eat plenty of things that are not so healthy but when someone else is going to peel a mango, make it pretty and give me a tropical vacation on a stick, I’m in.

While I’ve found this traditionally at the boardwalk on Coney Island, I’m certain that it’s available in other locations in NYC and likely warm destination travel spots.  If you know, let me know!

I couldn’t have styled it better.

8.  Yogurt with Mix-Ins from Chobani Soho, NY (or your own home)

I love when someone can prepare food for me (I’ve been very open about saying that even salads taste better when someone else makes them) and when I went to Chobani Soho last week, it struck me how amazing it was for NYC to have this unique store.  Cronut-frustrated New Yorkers who are can walk here for this simple healthy treat.  I may need to alter my policy and start making similar treats for myself when I’m not so close to NYC.

There you have it – 8 Cronut Alternatives!  There’s no doubt that I love food (it’s the reason I went back to school at 30 to become a dietitian) but there isn’t a chance in hell that I’d wait on a line for hours that didn’t have the chance to meet Simon Le Bon at the end of it!

–>BTW it is Duran Duran Appreciation Day on Sat. Aug. 10th!  There will be a post!<–

 Let me know if you’ve had a cronut.  Worth it?  If not, what’s your idea of a great treat?