Croissant Recipe

This recipe is a detailed roadmap to making bakery-quality light, flaky croissants in your own kitchen. With a pastry as technical as croissants, some aspects of the process — gauging the butter temperature, learning how much pressure to apply to the dough while rolling — become easier with experience. If you stick to this script, buttery homemade croissants are squarely within your reach. (Make sure your first attempt at croissants is a successful one, with these tips, and Claire Saffitz’s step-by-step video on YouTube.)

Homemade French Croissants (small batch)

How to make homemade French croissants, with detailed, step by step instructions. Buttery, crisp, flaky croissants, and how to perfect them!ADVANCED – This recipe is great for advanced bakers, or even intermediate and beginner-level bakers who are looking for a new challenge. The active time for this recipe is about 90 minutes, inactive time is about 5 hours. Additionally, there are 2 nights of resting which stretches the whole recipe to 3 days. The total recipe time indicated below does not include overnight resting. I prefer to make these croissants over 3 days to make sure the butter stays solid. Use of gram measurements for accurate, consistent results is highly recommended. US based cup, teaspoon, tablespoon measurements are also provided, but may yield inconsistent results. Common Measurement Conversions.

Prep: 70min

Total: 455min

Yield: 6

Serving Size: 1 croissant

Nutrition Facts: servingSize 1 croissant, calories 376 kcal, Carbohydrate 37 g, Protein 5 g, Fat 23 g, Saturated Fat 14 g, Cholesterol 61 mg, Sodium 527 mg, Fiber 1 g, Sugar 5 g

Ingredients:

• 85 g milk (⅓ cup) (lukewarm )
• 60 g water (¼ cup) (lukewarm)
• 6 g active dry yeast (about 2 tsp)
• 5 g honey (1 tsp) (malt syrup, OR use sugar if you have neither)
• 25 g butter (1 ½ tbsp) (melted and cooled)
• 20 g white sugar (generous 1 ½ tbsp)
• 250 g AP flour (2 cups, spoon and leveled)
• 5 g salt (about 1 tsp)
• 140 g butter (10 tbsp)
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tbsp milk and/or cream

Instruction:

1. Cover the parchment paper encased dough well in plastic wrap, and place it in a quarter sheet pan. Freeze for at least a few hours, or overnight.
2. Transfer this butter block into the fridge until completely hardened (or overnight).
3. The dough should still be very cold. If it isn’t, wrap it and put it back in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
4. Wrap the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (60 minutes is even better).
5. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for another 30 minutes (preferably 60 minutes).
6. If, at any point, the dough becomes too soft or starts to shrink, wrap it and return it to the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
7. Using the marked lines as a guide, cut the dough with a pizza cutter or a sharp, long knife. You should end up with about 6 triangles, and a leftover piece.
8. Preheat the oven to 375°F /190°C, at least 30 minutes before baking the croissants.
9. Remove from the oven and let them cool for a few minutes before transferring the croissants onto a cooling wire rack. Then let them cool down further to allow the insides to set (otherwise the croissants will be too soft).

How to Make Croissants

Buttery, flaky, and perfect homemade croissants!

Prep: 12h45min

Total: 13h10min

Yield: 16

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons; 60g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 4 cups (500g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more for rolling/shaping
• 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 Tablespoon active dry or instant yeast
• 1 and 1/2 cups (360ml) cold whole milk
• 1 and 1/2 cups (3 sticks; 345g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 2 Tablespoons (16g) all-purpose flour
• 1 large egg
• 2 Tablespoons (30ml) whole milk

Instruction:

1. {‘@type’: ‘HowToStep’, ‘text’: ‘Watch the video below and use the step-by-step photos before you begin. Read the recipe before beginning. Make room in the refrigerator for a baking sheet. In step 6 and again in step 13, you will need room for 2 baking sheets.’, ‘name’: ‘Preliminary notes’, ‘url’: ‘https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/homemade-croissants/#instruction-step-1’}
2. {‘@type’: ‘HowToStep’, ‘text’: ‘Cut the butter in four 1-Tablespoon pieces and place in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment (or you can use a handheld mixer or no mixer, but a stand mixer is ideal). Add the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. Turn the mixer on low-medium speed to gently combine the ingredients for 1 minute. With the mixer running, slowly pour in the milk. Once all of the milk is added, turn the mixer up to medium speed and beat the dough for at least 5 full minutes. (If you don’t have a mixer, knead by hand for 5 minutes.) The dough will be soft. It will (mostly) pull away from the sides of the bowl and if you poke it with your finger, it will bounce back. If after 5 minutes the dough is too sticky, keep the mixer running until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl.’, ‘name’: ‘Make the dough’, ‘url’: ‘https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/homemade-croissants/#instruction-step-2’}
3. {‘@type’: ‘HowToStep’, ‘text’: ‘Remove dough from the bowl and, with floured hands, work it into a ball. Place the dough on a lightly floured silicone baking mat lined, lightly floured parchment paper lined, or lightly floured baking sheet. (I highly recommend a silicone baking mat because you can roll the dough out in the next step directly on top and it won’t slide all over the counter.) Gently flatten the dough out, as I do in the video below, and cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Place the entire baking sheet in the refrigerator and allow the covered dough to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.’, ‘url’: ‘https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/homemade-croissants/#instruction-step-3’}
4. {‘@type’: ‘HowToStep’, ‘text’: ‘Remove the dough from the refrigerator. I like to keep the dough on the silicone baking mat when I’m rolling it in this step because the mat is nonstick and it’s a handy guide for the exact measurement. Begin flattening out the dough with your hands. You’re rolling it out into a rectangle in this step, so shaping it with your hands first helps the stretchy dough. Roll it into a 14×10-inch rectangle. The dough isn’t extremely cold after only 30 minutes in the refrigerator, so it will feel more like soft play-doh. Be precise with the measurement. The dough will want to be oval shaped, but keep working the edges with your hands and rolling pin until you have the correct size rectangle.’, ‘name’: ‘Shape the dough’, ‘url’: ‘https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/homemade-croissants/#instruction-step-4’}
5. {‘@type’: ‘HowToStep’, ‘text’: ‘Place the rolled out dough back onto the baking sheet (this is why I prefer a silicone baking mat or parchment because you can easily transfer the dough). Cover the rolled out dough with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, place the entire baking sheet in the refrigerator and allow the covered dough to rest in the refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight.xa0(Up to 24 hours is ok.)’, ‘name’: ‘Long rest’, ‘url’: ‘https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/homemade-croissants/#instruction-step-5’}
6. {‘@type’: ‘HowToStep’, ‘text’: ‘In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter and flour together until smooth and combined. Transfer the mixture to a silicone baking mat lined or parchment paper lined baking sheet. (Silicone baking mat is preferred because you can easily peel the butter off in the next step.) Using a spoon or small spatula, smooth out into a 7×10-inch rectangle. Be as precise as you can with this measurement. Place the entire baking sheet in the refrigerator and chill the butter layer for 30 minutes. (No need to cover it for only 30 minutes.) You want the butter layer firm, but still pliable. If it gets too firm, let it sit out on the counter for a few minutes to gently soften. The more firm the butter layer is the more difficult it will be to laminate the dough in the next step.’, ‘name’: ‘Butter layer (begin this 35 minutes before the next step so the butter can chill for 30 minutes)’, ‘url’: ‘https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/homemade-croissants/#instruction-step-6’}
7. {‘@type’: ‘HowToStep’, ‘text’: ‘xa0In this next step, you will be rolling out the dough into a large rectangle. Do this on a lightly floured counter instead of rolling out on your silicone baking mat. The counter is typically a little cooler (great for keeping the dough cold) and the silicone baking mat is smaller than the measurement you need. Remove both the dough and butter layers from the refrigerator. Place the butter layer in the center of the dough and fold each end of the dough over it. If the butter wasn’t an exact 7×10-inch rectangle, use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to even out the edges. Seal the dough edges over the butter layer as best you can with your fingers. On a lightly floured counter, roll the dough into a 10×20-inch rectangle. It’s best to roll back and forth with the shorter end of the dough facing you, like I do in the video below. Use your fingers if you need to. The dough is very cold, so it will take a lot of arm muscle to roll. Again, the dough will want to be oval shaped, but keep working it with your hands and rolling pin until you have the correct size rectangle. Fold the dough lengthwise into thirds as if you were folding a letter. This was the 1st turn.’, ‘name’: ‘Laminate the dough’, ‘url’: ‘https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/homemade-croissants/#instruction-step-7’}
8. {‘@type’: ‘HowToStep’, ‘text’: ‘If the dough is now too warm to work with, place folded dough on the baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, and refrigerate for 30 minutes before the 2nd turn.xa0I usually don’t have to.’, ‘url’: ‘https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/homemade-croissants/#instruction-step-8’}
9. {‘@type’: ‘HowToStep’, ‘text’: ‘xa0Turn the dough so the short end is facing you. Roll the dough out once again into a 10×20-inch rectangle, then fold the dough lengthwise into thirds as if you were folding a letter. The dough must be refrigerated between the 2ndxa0and 3rd turn because it has been worked with a lot by this point. Place the folded dough on the baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, and refrigerate for 30 minutes before the 3rd turn.’, ‘name’: ‘2nd turn’, ‘url’: ‘https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/homemade-croissants/#instruction-step-9’}
10. {‘@type’: ‘HowToStep’, ‘text’: ‘Roll the dough out once again into a 10×20-inch rectangle. Fold the dough lengthwise into thirds as if you were folding a letter.’, ‘name’: ‘3rd turn’, ‘url’: ‘https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/homemade-croissants/#instruction-step-10’}
11. {‘@type’: ‘HowToStep’, ‘text’: ‘Place the folded dough on the lined baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.xa0(Up to 24 hours is ok.)’, ‘name’: ‘xa0Long rest’, ‘url’: ‘https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/homemade-croissants/#instruction-step-11’}
12. {‘@type’: ‘HowToStep’, ‘text’: ‘At the end of the next step, you’ll need 2 baking sheets lined with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. The dough is currently on a lined baking sheet in the refrigerator, so you already have 1 prepared!’, ‘url’: ‘https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/homemade-croissants/#instruction-step-12’}
13. {‘@type’: ‘HowToStep’, ‘text’: ‘Remove the dough from the refrigerator. On a lightly floured counter, roll the dough out into an 8×20-inch rectangle. Use your fingers if you need to. Once again, the dough is very cold, so it will take a lot of arm muscle to roll. The dough will want to be oval shaped, but keep working it with your hands and rolling pin until you have the correct size rectangle. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, slice the dough in half vertically. Each skinny rectangle will be 4-inches wide. Then cut 3 even slices horizontally, yielding 8 4×5-inch rectangles. See photo above for a visual. Cut each rectangle diagonally to make 2 triangles. You have 16 triangles now. Work with one triangle at a time. Using your fingers or a rolling pin, stretch the triangle to be about 8 inches long. Do this gently as you do not want to flatten the layers. Cut a small slit at the wide end of the triangle, then tightly roll up into a crescent shape making sure the tip is underneath. Slightly bend the ends in towards each other. Repeat with remaining dough, placing the shaped croissants on 2 lined baking sheets, 8 per sheet. Loosely cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and allow to rest at room temperature (no warmer– I suggest keeping on the counter) for 1 hour, then place in the refrigerator to rest for 1 hour or up to 12 hours. (Or freeze, see freezing instructions.) I prefer the shaped croissants to be cold going into the oven.’, ‘name’: ‘Shape the croissants’, ‘url’: ‘https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/homemade-croissants/#instruction-step-13’}
14. {‘@type’: ‘HowToStep’, ‘text’: ‘Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C).’, ‘url’: ‘https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/homemade-croissants/#instruction-step-14’}
15. {‘@type’: ‘HowToStep’, ‘text’: ‘Whisk the egg wash ingredients together.xa0Remove the croissants from the refrigerator. Brush each lightly with egg wash.’, ‘name’: ‘Egg wash’, ‘url’: ‘https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/homemade-croissants/#instruction-step-15’}
16. {‘@type’: ‘HowToSection’, ‘name’: ‘tep-16″>Bake the croissants’, ‘itemListElement’: [{‘@type’: ‘HowToStep’, ‘text’: ‘xa0Bake until croissants are golden brown, about 20 minutes. Rotate the pans halfway through baking. If croissants show signs of darkening too quickly, reduce the oven to 375°F (190°C).’, ‘name’: ‘Bake the croissants’, ‘url’: ‘https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/homemade-croissants/#instruction-step-16’}, {‘@type’: ‘HowToStep’, ‘text’: ‘Remove croissants from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for a few minutes before serving. They will slightly deflate as they cool.’, ‘url’: ‘https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/homemade-croissants/#instruction-step-17’}, {‘@type’: ‘HowToStep’, ‘text’: ‘Croissants taste best the same day they’re baked. Cover any leftover croissants and store at room temperature for a few days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. You can also freeze for up to 3 months, then thaw on the counter or overnight in the refrigerator. Warm up to your liking.’, ‘url’: ‘https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/homemade-croissants/#instruction-step-18’}]}

How To Make Proper Croissants Completely By Hand

FAQ

What is the trick to making a perfect croissant?

1. Levain Is the “DNA” of the Croissant. …
2. Practice Your Rolling Pin Technique. …
3. Buy Quality Ingredients. …
4. Keep a Close Eye on Dough Temperature. …
5. Use a Light Touch. …
6. Cool to Room Temperature. …
7. Take a Bite…and Look for the Honeycomb.

Is croissant dough just puff pastry?

Why do croissants taste different in France?

What flour to use for croissants?