Buttery homemade croissants are what dreams are made of. An explosion of flaky crispy bits as you bite down on pillowy soft layers. If your end goal is that classic honeycomb crumb then this post is for you my friend.
This is almost as near to a classic French croissant recipe that I’ll ever achieve. You know, without being taught by a French pastry instructor.
During all my croissant research, I discovered that they haven’t taught the art of croissant baking in French baking programs for over 40 years.
It’s true. I found an online article interviewing the creator of the best croissants in Paris admitting same.
Like how is that even possible?
Anyone who has ever dreamt of traveling to Paris to perfect the art of French croissant baking can toss their dream right off the proverbial Parisian VRBO verandah!
C’est la vie.
While it may be a lost art lying in a raggedy pile of broken dreams, all is not ruined. You can still learn how to make almost-damn-near-perfect French croissants.
It seems intimidating at first and I recommend you read as many blogs and cookbooks as you can. And watch some YouTube videos to get a feel for the technicalities of baking croissants.
Or you can just roll up your sleeves and go all in like I did!
It’s not for the faint of heart that’s for sure, so if that’s you, you should probably X on out and move on to baking something a bit easier like banana bread.
Every year at Easter, time permitted of course, I make homemade croissants. It’s a two day process, but the actual labor involved isn’t all that difficult.
It’s the waiting in between that makes it more time consuming than laborious. And yes, it involves a lot of trial and error. You’re probably not going to get perfect results on your very first try.
I sure didn’t and if you do, you’re either some freak of nature who the pastry gods have blessed…or I wrote onehellova croissant instructional recipe post. I doubt it’s the latter.
Practice. Practice. Practice.
That is the key to making a great buttery homemade croissant. You have to be in it for the long haul.
If it is just a passing fancy, again, this post isn’t for you.
That end payoff as you bite down into a flaky buttery croissant is well worth all the waiting and work.
When you cut into the center and have a honeycomb crumb staring back at you…well you have achieved the holy grail of croissant baking. The feeling is indescribable.
I’m not touting I’m some expert level croissant baker by any stretch of the imagination. Hell, I’m an at home self taught internet/cookbook baker and cook.
But I learned…and so can you.
It is my emotional connection and relationship with food that has kept me so involved in this blog all these years. Since 2010 to be exact.
Food makes me want to be a better cook and baker. I enjoy preparing food and sharing it with others. I also love eating food.
My father was a self-taught restaurant chef.
I wish when I was younger, I would have appreciated & acknowledged how hard he worked to support a family of 8 on a meager chef’s salary.
I’m only too sorry he didn’t live long enough to see how I took on a passion for food. I guess it’s in the blood. But I digress.
I’ve been baking croissants on and off now for seven years. I’ve definitely had my share of disasters and disappointments from skipped butter in the dough to butter leaking out of the croissants on to the baking sheet and nearly deep frying them in the oven.
That’s why I’m going to share some tips and techniques with you to help improve and expedite your buttery homemade croissant skills. Knowledge is power.
I know this is a long post, so while I will apologize for that, keep in mind you only have to read it.
I had to write, edit, and produce all the content for this, so stop complaining and let’s get on with it.
This isn’t really one of those posts where you can hit the “Jump to the recipe” button. So grab yourself of glass of Pinot Noir or Grigio… or your favorite beverage and let’s dive into the recipe.
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Tips for making Buttery Homemade Croissants:
- I recommend the following kitchen supplies and appliances to make your baking a bit more smoother. Of course it is not necessary, merely suggestions.
- Stand mixer to mix and knead the dough. You can mix and knead by hand but you’ll have to work a bit harder.
- Rolling pin. I used two types while baking these, but I prefer just a regular heavy duty wooden rolling pin as I found it to roll more evenly than a French rolling pin.
- Good quality baking sheet pan. I prefer David Burke baking sheets as the beveled bottom makes for an even bake on the bottom. Also non stick and easy clean up.
- You’ll want a pastry brush to brush off the excess flour each time you chill the dough.
- Good quality sharp chef’s knife to cut your croissants. You can also use a pizza cutter or pastry/pasta cutter.
- Use a combination of whole milk and water to get the best results for buttery homemade croissants. Milk has a higher fat content and adds less water to the dough which can make the dough harder to work with because water develops gluten. It also adds flavor to the croissant. Using 1/4 cup water to activate the yeast gives the dough a nice balance of milk and water.
- Use a combination of equal parts all purpose flour and 00 flour. 00 flour is often used to make homemade pasta and pastry. 00 flour is finely milled and has a soft texture. It has a lower protein/gluten content. You can usually find it in Italian markets but you can always order it online. I find mixing the two flours gives a nice balance of gluten and elasticity which make the dough easier to work with in my experience.
- You need a good quality European butter with a high fat content for correctly laminating the dough. Professional bakers use a special butter with an 84% fat content which is normally only available to them. You can usually find European butter at the market and Plugra and President have around 82% fat content. Using a butter lower in fat content means more water is going into the dough making it harder to work with and putting the laminated layers at risk. If using a butter lower than 82% in fat content (Kerrygold) you can add 2 tablespoons of flour to the butter which I’ve talked about in more detail below.
- It’s very important that you keep the dough and butter chilled but pliable during the lamination process. The best surface to use for rolling out the dough is granite or marble as it tends to have a cooler temperature. Handle the dough as little as possible. On the other side of the coin. You don’t want to roll the dough if the butter is too cold and “skipping” in the dough. I’ve talked about this more in the recipe instructions.
- The butter block and dough should be roughly the same thickness as well. You want them to work in unison with each other. The butter should be pliable enough to roll but cold enough so it’s not melting into the dough.
- Make sure to give the croissants a 2 1/2 hour proof after you’ve rolled them. If you don’t give them proper time to proof you risk your butter leaking into a pool on the baking sheet. Also proof them in a room where the temperature is between 72Ā°-78Ā° F. Keep them away from the hot oven while proofing.
- Give your croissant dough a little stretch before you roll it. Begin by rolling it tight then decrease the tension as you get closer to the end. You also want the croissant end tucked under the croissant so it doesn’t pop up while baking.
Flaky Buttery Homemade Croissants
Notes
BUTTER
If you don’t have access to high fat content butter in your area or have some good Irish butter like Kerrygold you can add 2 tablespoons of all purpose flour to the butter while you’re making your beurrage. Let your butter come to almost room temperature and use a hand mixer or stand mixer and add the flour into the butter and mix just until the flour is incorporated. Don’t over whip as this will add too much air into your butter.
Ingredients
- FOR THE DĆTREMPE (DOUGH)
- 1 + 1/2 cup All purpose flour
- 1 + 1/2 cup 00 flour
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon dry active yeast
- 2 Tablespoons Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons salted butter
- 1/4 cup warm water (to activate yeast)
- 1 cup whole milk (may not need entire amount)
- FOR THE BEURAGGE (BUTTER FOR THE DOUGH LAMINATION)
- 1 cup European unsalted butter with 82 % Butter fat (Recommend Plugra, or President Butter) *** See butter note above
- FOR THE EGG WASH
- 1 large egg
- 2 Tablespoons milk (or water)
Instructions
- MAKING THE DĆTREMPE (DOUGH)
- Begin by activating your yeast.
- In a small dish add the yeast, 1 Tablespoon of sugar, and 1/4 cup warm water. (No hotter than 115 degrees F) Stir and let sit for 5 minutes
- In a stand mixer bowl add your all purpose and 00 flour, salt, and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Whisk with a fork.
- When the yeast has activated pour in the yeast and add about 1/2 cup of the 1 cup room temperature whole milk.
- Add the hook attachment and turn on low speed until the flour is incorporated and beginning to get hydrated. Keep slowly adding milk until all the flour is hydrated and dough begins to pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl. You may not need all of the milk.
- Increase speed a bit and continue to knead for no more than 8 minutes
- Dough should be nice and smooth and pliable. Not sticky or tacky or dry.
- Turn dough out to lightly floured surface so it doesn’t stick and shape into as close as a square as you can get by hand.
- Brush any remaining flour off the dough with a pastry brush and wrap the dough in plastic wrap and then a ziplock bag and place in refrigerator for 30 minutes to cool.
- MAKING THE BEURAGGE
- Take your 1 cup butter and place into a small ziplock bag. Lightly pound the butter down with a rolling pin and shape the butter to the size of the ziplock bag with the rolling pin, carefully letting air out as you go. Seal the bag when shaped.
- *** If adding flour to a higher moisture butter see Butter Note in the Notes section.
- Place butter square (beurrage) in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
- BEGIN LAMINATION OF THE DOUGH
- Remove dough from the fridge (making sure enough time has passed for your butter to cool,) unwrap and place and on a lightly floured surface.
- Lightly dust the top of the dough and rolling pin with flour.
- Starting from the about the middle of the dough roll out each corner of the dough.
- The second corner will give you a set of bunny ears
- Make sure all your corners are relatively uniform and your square DĆ©trempe dough is slightly bigger than your butter block (beurrage.)
- Remove the butter block from the refrigerator and place it in the center of the dough like a diamond shape opposite the corner flaps. So when you fold over the dough the longest portion of the dough covers the butter. In other words, don’t place the butter the same way as the dough square. Make sure they are opposite directions.
- The butter and dough should both be roughly the same thickness.
- Begin folding over the dough flaps being sure to cover and stretch the flap over at least 3/4 of the surface area of the butter.
- Continue folding the second flap over.
- Now fold the third flap over making sure to cover the entire surface area of the dough/butter bringing it all the way to the edge.
- Fold the final flap over repeating the same process making sure the edges are folded over and neat on all sides.
- LAMINATION OF THE DOUGH:
- FIRST TURN (or FOLD) of the DOUGH:
- The butter should be cold and pliable when you begin rolling. If it is too cold it may break apart and “skip” in areas of the dough.
- Roll the dough out to a 16 inch x 8 inch rectangle. Roll it very gently. Pressing firmly may rip the dough or break the butter apart causing “skipping” in the dough. Everything should work in unison. You shouldn’t have to fight the dough. Be patient. Be gentle. If the dough springs back on itself don’t force it. It’s not ready. Brush off the extra flour, wrap and return to fridge to rest 5-10 more minutes. Then try again.
- When you have your dough rolled into a 16 inch x 8 inch rectangle, fold the long end of the dough in thirds like a letter.
- Brush the extra flour off the dough, wrap in plastic wrap snugly, then ziplock bag and place in refrigerator for a hour to chill.
- When an hour has passed take the dough out and repeat the fold process for your second turn.
- It’s very important that when you begin your second turn/fold that you turn the dough a quarter turn from how you last rolled it.
- In other words, the dough folds should be facing you and that is the direction you will begin rolling your next 16 inch x 8 inch rectangle.
- Fold into thirds again just like before.
- Brush off extra flour, wrap and return to refrigerator for another hour.
- Repeat this turn/fold process 2 more times for a total of 4 turns/folds making sure to chill for an hour in between.
- After your last fold, wrap snugly in plastic wrap and ziplock and return to the refrigerator for an overnight cold ferment.
- THE NEXT DAY SHAPING AND PROOFING
- Give yourself at least 3 hours to roll, shape and proof the dough before baking.
- Remove your dough from the refrigerator.
- Since it is only me and the mister, I like to cut my dough in half and freeze the other half for a later time. This is also the perfect time to inspect your layers. You should see alternating layers of dough and butter. Roughly uniform throughout. Don’t panic if you see more butter in one area than another unless it is all through out. Things happen. A spot here or there won’t hurt it. Take a deep breath and continue.
- Lightly flour your surface, top of your dough and rolling pin
- You want to aim for about 1/4 inch thickness with your croissants when rolling them out.
- Since I cut my dough in half, I’m going to roll mine out to about a 20 inch by 10 inch rectangle. Keeping things as evenly as possible. I recommend a heavy thick wooden rolling pin for this. Go easy.
- The dough is going to want to spring back on you. Don’t let it win. Continue to gently roll the dough and it will give in and relax. Make sure to keep the bottom of the dough floured. I prefer my dough to slide around rather than stick to the counter. This is when it can rip and butter will seep out. You can always brush the flour off before you shape the croissant.
- When I acquire my desired thickness & dimensions, I cut off any uneven sides of the rectangle using a sharp large chef’s knife. Don’t throw those away. I roll them up and use them as testers when I’m baking to check for doneness.
- You can get really technical here and measure your croissants evenly but I just eyeball it by slicing down the middle then the middle of each end. Then slice each of the 4 pieces in half down the middle. Refer to the GIF above.
- Gently stretch each croissant out before I roll it to elongate it.
- Then begin rolling each one tightly then begin to let up pressure when you reach the end. You can refer to the gif above as this recipe app doesn’t let me insert GIFs.
- Make sure to keep your ends tucked under the croissant so they don’t come apart from the croissant as its baking.
- Place your croissants on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Give them room to expand.
- Mix your egg with 2 Tablespoons of milk and brush each one carefully trying not to touch the sides of the croissant where the layers of butter are. I learned this prevents the layers from separating as they bake.
- Cover them with plastic wrap and proof them for at least 2 1/2 hours away from the oven. Your kitchen or room you proof them in should be between 72Ā°-78Ā° F. This puts the butter at risk of melting into your layers if the room is too warm.
- If they are not proofed the whole 2.5 hours you risk the butter leaking out into puddles on your sheet pan.
- One half hour before your proofing time is up preheat your oven to 425Ā° F. Bake them on the middle to lower racks if possible.
- When the 2.5 hours of proofing time is up check them to see if they have doubled in size. They should jiggle a bit when you gently shake the tray.
- Give them one more egg wash coating before baking. This helps to get that really deep golden brown color.
- Place the baking sheet in oven and close the door quickly. Bake at 425Ā° F for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes turn the oven down to 350Ā° F without opening the oven and checking on them.
- After a total of 25 minutes has passed from the time you placed them in the oven, you can open the oven and check them. I usually take a small tester croissant and check the middle. If it’s not done on the inside I let them bake 5-10 minutes more.
- They will sound hollow when you tap the top middle of the croissant.
- When golden brown and finished baking remove them from the oven.
- Admire your work. And enjoy warm. If you’re wanting to check the inside for that honeycomb crumb, set one aside to completely cool before slicing into it.
I really hope you bake some buttery homemade croissants at least once in your lifetime. I’ll admit, it’s not for everyone.
If you’re truly interested you would be right where you are meant to be at this very moment. Right here reading the end of this post.
Please leave any comments, questions, or feedback that you have. I still continue to learn something new every time I bake them. I have a feeling you will too.
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