French · Baking · Hard
Croissant
Flaky, buttery, shattering croissants with a honeycomb interior, made over three days of lamination. The ultimate baking project, and the smell alone is worth it.
The whole recipe in 60 seconds
Croissant, in 5 ideas
- Keep everything cold between folds, if the butter melts into the dough you lose the flaky layers.
- European style butter has more fat and less water, which makes noticeably flakier layers.
- Do not rush the proof, under proofed croissants are dense and the layers fuse together.
- Deep golden brown is done, pale croissants taste raw and buttery in the wrong way.
- The dough rests are non negotiable, they relax the gluten so the dough rolls out without fighting you.
What you need
Ingredients
- 4 cups bread flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp instant yeast
- 1 1/4 cups cold whole milk
- 1 1/4 cups European style butter, cold (for the butter block)
- 1 large egg, beaten with 1 tbsp water (for egg wash)
How to make it
Directions
- Mix the flour, sugar, salt, yeast, and milk into a rough dough, knead 5 minutes, then refrigerate overnight.
- Flatten the butter into a 6 inch square between parchment and chill until firm but pliable.
- Enclose the butter in the dough, then roll out and fold in thirds. Refrigerate 1 hour. Repeat the roll and fold 2 more times, resting 1 hour between each.
- Roll the laminated dough to 1/4 inch thick, cut into long triangles, and roll each into a crescent.
- Proof the shaped croissants 2 to 3 hours at room temperature until puffy and jiggly.
- Brush with egg wash and bake at 400F for 18 to 20 minutes until deep golden brown. Cool on a rack.
Freeze the shaped, unproofed croissants, then thaw and proof overnight in the fridge for fresh baked croissants on a weekend morning.