It’s no mere pain au chocolat.

At first glance it looks like an especially robust chocolate croissant. This burnished breakfast treat is no mere pain au chocolat though. For one thing, it’s not French at all. I found this glorious $3 beauty at Andre’s Hungarian Bakery a couple of weeks ago. The Forest Hills establishment is better known for apple strudel and rugelach than French breakfast items. I have never waited on line for a Cronut, and don’t plan to anytime soon. The chocolate croissant—or rugelssaint as I’ve taken to calling it— is worth waiting on line for though. Not that there’s ever a line at Andre’s.

A peek inside.

Like a croissant the rugelssaint’s exterior is flaky, but the bottom’s sort of crunchy. It’s the innards that send this Franco-Hungarian treat soaring into the sweets stratosphere though. There’s plenty of chocolate, but rather than being layered in between buttery sheets of French pastry dough it’s rolled between a rich, somewhat airy dough. It really does eat like a cross between a croissant and a chocolate rugelach.

It bears pointing out that Andre’s is located around the corner from my house. Thankfully, so is my gym.

Andre’s Hungarian Bakery,  100-28 Queens Blvd., Forest Hills, 718-830-0266