They turned out to be the best buttery, flaky croissants that we get in the bakeries. So crisp and crunchy the croissants turned out to be that I might actually ignore the quantity of butter that went into these french croissants and start enjoying them for breakfast every day.
| Classic French Croissants / Pain Au Chocolat |  |
Adapted from Fine Cooking
Ingredients:
- All purpose flour – 4 cups + more for dusting
- Water – 1/2 cup
- Milk – 1/2 cup (I used skimmed milk)
- White sugar – 1/4 cup
- Unsalted butter – 50 gms
- Active Dry yeast – 1 tbsp + 1/2 tsp
- Ice cubes – 5
- Salt – 2 tsp
For the butter layer:
- Unsalted butter – 250 gms
- Cold milk / cream – 4 tbsp – to brush the top
- (OR) 1 egg – for egg wash
Instructions:
3. Lightly dust a 10-inch pan or a dinner plate with flour. Place the ball into the pan and press the dough down gently. Lightly dust the top also with flour to prevent the dough from drying out. I placed the pan into a plastic cover and covered it with the lid. Fold the extra protruding sheet below the pan and refrigerate it overnight.
Day 2:Making the butter layer
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6. Take the dough out of the pan and meanwhile, prepare your work area by dusting with flour. Roll it out to a 10-1/2-inch square approx., and brush off any excess flour.
7. Take the butter out from the refrigerator and check if it cold. But it should be pliable also. If its not then refrigerate it again. This is to ensure that the the butter does not melt when we roll out the dough. If the butter is soft, it will melt, if it hard, it will break.
8. Peel the cover off the butter and place it in the middle of the rolled out dough so that it forms a diamond shape. (Shown above).
9. We are going to make an envelope of the dough by folding the edges around over the butter. (Shown above). Gently press the edges together so that the butter is completely sealed inside the dough. This is to make sure that the butter does not leak out on rolling later.
10. Dust the work area lightly with flour. Using a rolling pin roll the dough and while elongating it slightly roll out further forming a rectangle of 8″x 24″. While rolling keep patting the sides with your palm to maintain the rectangle shape.
11. Make a mark, dividing the length of the dough by 3 along its length. Bring one corner of the dough end to the middle part and the other end to the middle overlapping the first fold. (Shown above).
12. Place the folded into a plastic cover and freeze for 15 to 20 minutes. Take out the dough and repeat the steps 10 and 11. Cover once again with plastic cover and freeze for another 15 to 20 minutes. Once again repeat steps 10 and 11.
13. By now we would have rolled, folded and refrigerated 3 times leaving a time gap of 15-20 minutes in between every repeat. Now place the folded dough into a plastic cover and closing its mouth firmly to prevent drying out and refrigerate overnight.
Day 3:Working with the Croissant dough
14. The next day, take the dough out of the cover. Dust the work area with flour. Cut the dough along the longer side into 2 halves. Place one half into the plastic cover and refrigerate it while we work with the other half.
15. Using a rolling pin, gently but firmly press along the dough’s length once again making a rectangle of 8 x 22 inches. Use more flour for dusting if the dough is sticky. Trim the edges to make a perfect rectangle with straight sides.
16. With the help of a sharp knife or a pizza cutter, make marks at 5-inch intervals along the length of the dough.
17. Make diagonal cuts as you would do for making crescents thereby forming a triangle (Shown above).
How to shape Croissants:
18. Roll the rolling pin over one piece thereby elongating it. Using a sharp knife, make a 1/2″ – 3/4″ length notch at the base of each triangle.
Notes:
1. At all steps make sure that you are firm, yet gentle with the dough.
2. Take care not to knead the dough tightly and hard.
3. You can also fill the croissants with either Nutella or chocolate before proofing them.
Looks absolutely perfect and tempting.. thanks for sharing 🙂
I have always wanted to try making croissants too. Yours look perfect! I think you had given me the courage to try making them!
super delish croissants 🙂
You have explained the process so well…looks great
http://www.divalikes.com
They are classic….so perfectly baked….cant wait to have them with egg salad 🙂
Awesome!Croissants looks so perfect and flaky..lovely presentation.wonderful post!!
great effort…looks yummy and perfect…
Wonderfully made croissants.
today’s post:
http://sanolisrecipies.blogspot.in/2013/03/hyderabadi-vegetable-dum-biryani.html
o my;it’s on my wishlist too.. good one radhika 🙂
perfectly flaky and delicious…
Perfect Croissants for a perfect breakfast.
Deepa
The Croissants look devine.
Perfectly made croissant
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