Rachel
- Sep 7, 2019
- 4 min read

Croissants

Updated: Feb 18, 2020

Delicious, buttery, rich, and addictive. I love this recipe because it's the perfect balance of sweet and savory and only takes ~16 hours (some croissant recipes take 3 days!)

I've attempted croissants once per year for the past 3 years, and I screw them up every time! Luckily they still taste great even if you mess up! In 2019 I FINALLY got the butter lamination perfect....but then I underproved the croissants before baking, so a lot of butter came out in the oven and they did not turn out right. Oh well, hopefully next time they will be perfect!

The recipe is from this youtube channel, which has a nice demonstration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGHmecm7_iU&t=70s

The recipe is here, and pictures of the process are below:

Ingredients:

Dough:

2 g (1/2 tsp.) dry active yeast
155 g room temperature water
330 g unbleached all-purpose flour or bread flour
30 g sugar
4 g salt
20 g room temperature unsalted butter

Butter block:

180 g unsalted butter (80% fat content/normal butter) - I like unsalted cultured butter

Egg wash:

1 egg yolk
2 tsp. water

Directions:

Day 1:

In a small bowl mix together the water and yeast.
In a medium bowl mix together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add in the softened butter and yeast mixture and mix together until a shaggy dough forms.
Knead for about 10 minutes until it's almost smooth. Cover and rest 20 minutes. Then knead about 2 minutes until smooth. Cover and let rise in a warm place 3-4 hours.
After rising, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Day 2:

Take butter out of the refrigerator, and slice off 180g with slabs from it. Shape into a 18x18 cm square between parchment paper. Return to refrigerator 10-15 minutes if it gets too warm.
Roll the chilled dough into a square large enough to house the butter slab. Place butter slab inside at a 45° angle and incase it inside, making sure no air bubbles are trapped inside. Press down the length with a rolling pin to seal.
Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate ~20 minutes.
Then roll out into an 8x20 inch (or so) rectangle. Fold in thirds like a letter. Then press down again down the length with rolling pin to seal.
Wrap dough and chill 20-30 minutes.
Note: Work with the dough as fast as you can. Otherwise if it gets too warm the butter may melt, ruining the lamination.
Roll out again into a 8x20 inch rectangle (or so), by first pressing down the length of the dough and then rolling out. If there are any gas bubbles, pop them with a knife or toothpick and continue rolling.
Then fold the two short edges up to meet the middle (with 1/2 inch space between), and then fold fold the two short edges up to meet the middle (with 1 inch space between), and then fold in half, like a book (see picture below).
Press down again, wrap, and refrigerate 30 minutes.
Then roll out (the final roll) into a 25x40 cm (10x 16 inch) rectangle (about 4mm thick). Use flour if necessary. Cut out 7-8 isosceles triangles with a pizza cutter.
Note: This final roll out is tricky, because the dough is less elastic. If at any point it gets too warm refrigerate it 10-15 minutes before continuing. And if any butter pokes through also dust the area with flour.
Roll into croissants, place tip side down onto a lined thick light colored baking tray (or two baking trays stacked on top of each other if possible so the bottoms don't burn).
If the croissants seems too warm/butter is too soft, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 20-30 minutes.
Gently brush croissants with a light layer of egg wash, wrap with plastic wrap and let rise 2-3 hours at room temperature (or until puffy). DO NOT undeprove them! I did this and the butter melted and pooled around the croissants during baking (see pictures below). They still taste good but it's tragic....
Preheat oven to 425°F. Brush with egg wash again. Bake 10 minutes, then reduce to 375°F and bake 12-14 minutes.
Cool on a wire rack. Best eaten after they've cooled at least 30 minutes. Best eaten the day they're baked!
Note: You can freeze the rolled out dough and cut out croissants, and thaw out, let rise, and bake.

Alright, we're in for a ride...but these aren't as tricky as they look if you have bread experience. It's all about patience and precision. Trust me!

Day 1:

Mix together the water and yeast.

Combine the salt, sugar, and flour in a bowl.

Add the yeast mixture and softened butter.

Mix until a shaggy dough forms and then start kneading.

After kneading 10 minutes.

Then cover and rest the dough for 20 minutes before lightly kneading once more.

After resting 20 minutes and kneading 2 minutes. It's much smoother now! Then you cover and let it rise about 3-4 hours.

After rising 3-4 hours it will double in size. then cover and refrigerate overnight.

Day 2:

The next day your chilled dough will look pretty much the same. Before rolling it out we have to make the butter block.

Now for preparing the butter block. First I fold the paper into the right size square for reference, and then I fold the edges up and start rolling it flat, gently.