Home Made Croissants

Home Made CroissantsCroissant Crazy
Over the years, my sister and I have taken a lot of cooking classes. So many, in fact, that there isn’t a whole lot out there that we haven’t taken. By no means have we mastered the art of cooking. Far from it! But, you do reach a point that, unless it is something very specific, you can pick up any recipe and produce a better than average result. There was one thing that both of us were fairly intent on learning—and that is how to make croissants. Or, to be more specific, the laminated dough used to make croissants and other flaky goodness.

I’ve always been a fan of a really good croissant. I mean what’s not to love? You just can’t go wrong with flakey buttery pastry, with or without filling, fresh from the oven. Am I right?

This particular drive to learn the art of croissant was born out of an obsession with the orange morning buns that are produced by our favorite bakery in Tahoe City, CA. I can’t even with these morning buns. No trip to the lake is complete without these for breakfast at least once but they’re up there and we’re down here. We had to figure out a way to recreate them but to do that we needed to learn the basics.

This was how we found ourselves spending a lovely Sunday afternoon a few weeks ago learning to make croissants. It was great. It was challenging. And I have found that having an industrial grade sheeter would make the folding process so much easier but, alas, that is not an option.

To be frank, croissants are not a thing you make on a whim. They are a project that requires hours. It is something you do as much for the process as for the end result. It is a great way to spend a Saturday or Sunday when you have absolutely nothing going on.

This weekend for me is one of those rare weekends where we will not be running around shuttling kids here and there and my plan is to make a batch of croissants just to make sure I can do it without the instructor there. Should be interesting…

For those adventurous spirits out there below is a great recipe for those who are willing to give it a shot. For the rest, there is definitely something to be said for letting someone else do the work and grabbing a dozen or so from your favorite bakery.

Home Made Croissants
Adapted from King Arthur Flour
Yields about 2 dozen

Ingredients
For the dough

2 large eggs + enough warm water to make 2 cups of liquid
1/4 cup sugar, divided
5 1/2 to 6 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (We use King Arthur.)
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup nonfat dry milk
1 scant tablespoon salt

For the butter layer
1 7/8 cups unsalted butter, cool to the touch
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

For the egg wash
1 large egg

Directions
Prepare the dough
Put the eggs and water in a large mixing bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of the sugar, 3 cups of the flour, and the yeast. Mix until well blended; set aside to let the sponge work.

Prepare the butter
Cut the butter into 1˝ chunks and combine with the salt and flour at low speed in a stand mixer just until smooth (there should not be any lumps). Be careful not to beat too much so that you don’t incorporate any air.

Spread the butter on a piece of plastic wrap and shape into an 8˝ square. Wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Finish the dough
Add the melted butter to the sponge. Whisk together the remaining sugar, 2 1/2 cups of the flour, the dry milk, and salt and add to the sponge. Mix until the dough forms. Then knead for 5 minutes.

Touch the dough lightly with your finger. If it’s still sticky, add the remaining flour 2 tablespoons at a time until the dough no longer sticks to your fingers. Once the dough is smooth and elastic, pat it into a 9˝ square. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 30 minutes.

Some notes on rolling the dough
In general, when rolling the dough, be sure the dough and butter are at the same consistency. This will make rolling smoother and the layers more even.

As you work, keep the dough, the work surface, and your rolling pin well dusted with flour. Turn over the dough from time to time. As you roll, you tend to expand the top layers more than the bottom. And, before folding the dough over on itself, use your pastry brush to sweep off excess flour. This will help the dough stick to itself after folding, so the layers don’t slide around.

Laminate the dough
Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator and gently roll it to a 12″ square.

Unwrap the butter square and place it in the center of the dough at a 45° angle, so it looks like a diamond in a square. Pull the corners of the dough into the center of the butter diamond. Moisten the edges with a little water and pinch the seams together well to enclose the butter. Dust the top with flour and turn the dough/butter packet over.

Tap the dough all over with a rolling pin, softening it and encouraging it into a rectangular shape. Once it’s pliable, roll it to a 20˝ x 10˝ rectangle, picking it up and dusting lightly with flour as needed.

When you’ve reached the proper size, use a dry brush to sweep off any excess flour and fold the dough in thirds, like a business letter. (Take care to keep the edges straight and line them up directly over each other. If the dough slides around, use a little water at the corners to tack them in place.) This is your first turn.

Rotate the dough out so it looks like a book about to be opened. Roll the dough out once more to 20˝ x 10˝ and fold it as before. This is the second turn.

Wrap the dough and refrigerate it for 30 minutes to allow the gluten in the dough to relax.

Give the dough two more turns after its rest, then wrap the dough well and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight before using. You can also freeze the dough at this point.

Shape the croissants
Cut the packet of dough in half. Wrap and refrigerate or freeze one half.

Roll the other half to a 13˝ x 18˝ rectangle. Trim the edges about 1/4˝ all the way around with a ruler and pizza cutter. This removes the folded edges that would inhibit the dough’s rise.

Cut the dough in thirds lengthwise and in half down the center. This will give you six 4˝ x 9˝ pieces.

Cut these pieces in half diagonally and arrange them so the points are facing away from you. Stretch them gently to make them a little longer, then cut a 1˝ notch in the center of the base of each triangle.

Take the two inside corners of the notch and roll them up toward you, building a curved shape as you roll the base of the dough toward the tip. Make sure the tip ends up under the bottom of the croissant. Place the shaped pastry on a parchment-lined baking sheet, curving the ends toward each other.

And, to help you visualize this, here’s a video of professional pastry chef shaping perfect croissants.

Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.

Bake the croissants
Take the croissants out of the refrigerator, and let them warm and rise for 60 to 90 minutes at room temperature. They should expand noticeably, and when you gently press one with your finger, the indentation should remain.

Towards the end of the rise time, preheat the oven to 425°F. Brush each croissant with an egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water.

Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven’s temperature to 350°F and bake until deep golden brown and no raw dough is visible where the layers overlap (about 10 to 15 more).

Remove the croissants from the oven and let cool on the pan on a rack for 20 minutes before serving.

Croissants are best served barely warm. However, they reheat very well, so any that are not eaten right away can be reheated within a day or two in a 350°F oven for about 10 minutes. They can also be wrapped in plastic or aluminum foil and frozen for a month or more. Frozen croissants can be thawed overnight prior to reheating or taken from the freezer directly to the oven, in which case they will need a few minutes more to reheat.

Chocolate Croissants
Chop some good-quality bittersweet chocolate and distribute it along the length of the notched end of the dough triangle after you’ve stretched it. Use about 1/2 ounce or 1-1/2 tablespoons for each one. Roll it up just like a plain croissant but without stretching out or bending the legs. Proof and bake the same as a plain croissant.

Ham and Cheese Croissants
After stretching but before rolling up each croissant, put a thin layer of sliced ham on the dough at the notched end. Tuck it in so it doesn’t lie more than a little outside the surface of the dough. Put a layer of thinly sliced or grated cheese (good Cheddar or Gruyère is best) on top of the ham. Without stretching or bending the legs, roll the dough tightly. Proof and bake the same as a plain croissant.

Comments are closed.