Freshly baked croissants. These are not difficult to make at home at all! Give this recipe a try and enjoy freshly baked croissants!
We just need three words to describe this traditional French pastry: crunchy, crispy and buttery.
Recipe
How much time do you need?
Preparation time: 2 hours
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Resting time: ~2 days
Proving time: 2 hours
Total time: 2 to 3 days
Material:
Rolling pin
Spatula
Baking paper
Clinging wrap
Bowls and cutlery
Baking tray
Ingredients (6 croissants):
250g bread flour type '00'
130g water at 30°C
7g active dry yeast
30g sugar
5g fine salt
23g melted unsalted butter
1 egg yolk
138g unsalted butter
Extra flour for dusting
Method:
Tip: this is not the kind of recipe you would like to try on a 35 degrees C summer day. You will be working with a high percentage butter dough so it’s better to be working on a kitchen where room temperature is below 25 degrees C.
This is a 2 or 3 day recipe. On day 2, you’ll have to decide if you want to make your croissants in 2 or 3 days. 99% of people will make it in 2 days the first time! Impatience, impatience… :-D
Day 1: Make the dough and prepare it for its overnight rest. Dissolve yeast in the warm water. Let activate for 15min. Once it started bubbling, mix it with the rest of the ingredients. Knead for 10-15 minutes until you obtain a smooth dough ball (slap and fold to develop gluten). Cover the dough with plastic wrap, place it in a bowl and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Take it out of the fridge and make the first stretch and fold: Pinch one side of the dough, stretch and fold it to the centre until you complete 2 rounds. Cover the bowl and place in the fridge again and repeat the same stretch and fold after 30 mins. Let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes. And take it out and let it rest at room temperature for 20 min so it’s easy to roll out later.
It’s important that you always cover the dough with plastic wrap when placing it in the fridge so it does not dry out. If you put it in the fridge just wrapped in baking paper, a hard and thick layer will form in the outside ruining the nice texture of any pastry.
Once the 2 stretch and folds are complete, it’s time to start shaping the pastry sheet. Baking paper and a rolling pin will be our best friends for this recipe. It’s simple. Cut a ~40cm baking paper sheet and draw a 18cm square in the middle of it. Now place the dough (at room temperature ~25 C) in the centre, encase it by folding the baking paper and roll the dough on every angle so it spreads across the square filling all corners. Be gently, otherwise the dough can burst through the baking paper and you’ll have to start over with a new baking paper sheet. Once you have formed the square, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight. Just checking, do you have three layers there? 1) dough, 2) baking paper, 3) plastic wrap? Ok. Then you’re good 😊
Day 2: Prepare the beurrage (the butter block):
For better results use a high fat percentage butter (European style butter, it will make the difference) Yes, you are making croissants. Diet/Light croissants do not exist. Make every calorie count! The key is not eating this too frequently and that’s it! Life is short guys! If you are doubtful at this step, abort the croissant mission and grab an... apple 😊
I thought so! Now let’s go back to business then. Shape a 12cm side square x 0.5 cm thick (approx.) with the butter. You can use baking paper again to do this. Cut a 30cm baking paper sheet, draw the 12cm square in the middle, place the butter and fit it in the square, fold the paper to encapsulate the butter. Now using a rolling pin, spread the butter across the square figure so it slowly fills the corners of the square. Be gentle. Rest the block in the fridge for 15-20 min.
Encase the butter:
While the butter rests in the fridge, take the dough out of the fridge. Let it reach room temp for about 20min. Work on a slightly flour surface. Unwrap it and using a rolling pin stretch the square starting from the middle and rolling in the direction of every corner to form an approx. 25cm square. Now encase butter in dough, place it in the middle of the dough (rotated 90 degrees like it’s shown in the picture), fold every corner on top of the butter and rest for 20 mins at room temperature.
First fold: Using the rolling pin, you are going to press down several times across the dough so it starts enlarging. Don’t roll back and forth at this time, it will make the butter to spread unevenly. Dust some extra flour every time you need. Once the dough has started becoming more malleable, you can roll it a bit but always being gentle and consistent to help the butter spread evenly. Roll a rectangle of up to 28cm x 12cm and fold it over across 3/4 of the dough and make the ends come together. Then fold in half making a rectangle of around 7cmx12cm. It’s important to maintain the rectangle shape, adjust with little taps on the sides as you go, if needed. Place in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for 1 hour.
Second fold.:Take the dough out of the fridge and let it rest 40 minutes at room temperature (~25C). Roll the dough in the long direction and shape a rectangle of around 45cm length. Always maintaining the rectangle shape. Fold one end over 1/3 (like an envelope shape) and fold the other end on top of it obtaining a square of about 15cmx15cm. Wrap it in plastic and place in the fridge. You can let it rest overnight or just one hour. Up to you. I think waiting till the 3rd day delivers better results. But if you can’t wait, at least 1 hour in the fridge is fine.
Day 3 (or 2): Make the croissants
Take the dough out of the fridge and let it rest 30 minutes. Roll dough out to a square of about 25cm sides and 0.5 cm thick. Be gentle, at the beginning just apply pressure and slightly tap all the way down back and forth. Let it rest for 5 minutes, or so, if it resists the rolling.
Once you have obtained a 25cm square dough it’s time to start cutting and shaping the croissants. I recommend you use a ruler to make even cuts. Cut triangles of about 10 cm base. Check the highlights on my Instagram.
You may want to perfectly cut your croissants which will leave you with some uneven strips on the sides of the big square dough. Don’t waste them. Form a roll, dust some cinnamon and sugar on top, and you’ll have mini cinnamon rolls 😊
Once you have your 6 triangles, roll them starting from the shorter side of the triangle up to the tip and stick the tip to the bottom of the croissant. The croissant should be placed in a baking tray with the tip of triangle down so the weight of the croissant holds it there. It will help the croissant maintain their form while proofing and baking. Check some pics and step-by-step on my highlights on Instagram. Leave a few cm in between of each croissant as they will expand while proofing. Slightly brush egg wash on top, cover with another baking try (but leave enough space so they can expand) and let them proof at 25°C for 2 hours or until they double in size.
Pre-heat the oven until it reaches 200°C (fan forced) or 180C standard oven. Bake for 6 min. Decreases temperature to 165C fan forced and bake for 10-15 min till golden (150°C standard oven).
Take them out of the oven and let them cool in a cooling rack for 15 minutes.
You can store them in an airtight contained for up to 2 days. Frozen for up to 6 months. Reheat in a grill or a toaster if needed. Never heat up a croissant in a microwave! You can use the grill setting in a microwave, of course, but never use the standard microwave setting; it will kill the crispiness and will make the croissant soggy and very unpleasant to eat... well, inedible, to put it blunt.
Make some coffee or tea and enjoy them with jam, more butter or just on its own! 😊
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