This children’s picture book was written at the latest in the 70s. I believe it is set in a European village, probably French, and a cream puff bakery figures prominently (the baker may have been name pierre or a similar french name). the protagonist, a little boy, loves cream puffs and somehow either witnesses the bad guys (soldier/government agents/thieves?), and has to escape from them through a coal chute. I think the bad guys get stuck in the coal chute and the little boy escapes through a hole into a snowy place. It may be set in WWI or earlier. The style of drawings may be maurice sendak-ish.