Delicious, buttery, and flaky croissants, the perfect recipe for a beginner!

Today, we’re making homemade croissants, but with the hope of making them a bit easier, so you feel more confident baking them if it’s your first time. I initially tested a proper croissant recipe for my cookbook, but we decided to omit it from the table of contents as it might have seemed intimidating to readers. However, since it’s no longer part of the cookbook lineup, I’ve adapted my original recipe to make it more beginner-friendly and am excited to share it on the blog! Instead of the three-day process I initially tried, I’ve condensed it to two days. Day one involves all the prep work, and on day two, all you need to do is shape, proof, and bake!

For this recipe, we’re not going to obsess over perfect measurements, and we won’t chill the dough as much as you would for classic croissants. I felt that these two factors often steered people away from attempting homemade croissants, so I’ve made adjustments to show that you can still achieve a beautiful result, even if your first attempt isn’t perfectly calculated in every regard. Once you’ve mastered this recipe, I’ll share a more traditional and detailed version, which should hopefully seem far less intimidating after successfully making your first beginner-friendly batch.

Here’s a video to guide you along the process:

Few tips:

• Use high-quality ingredients, especially for the butter. Good quality butter contributes significantly to the flavor and texture of the croissants.
• Try to maintain consistent temperatures throughout the process. Cold ingredients are important for achieving flaky layers, so we’re going to try our best to our butter and dough as cold as possible, especially during the folding process. Working fast throughout the folding process is going to be your best friend.
• It’s okay if your butter splits inside your dough. that is usually something all croissant recipes warn against – but if this is your first time making croissants, don’t think too much about it. You can still achieve a beautiful result if your butter splits.
• I know it can seem a bit tedious, but make sure to refrigerate your layered dough overnight for at-least 12-24 hours – resting allows the gluten to relax and the flavors to develop, while chilling prevents the butter from melting and ensures proper layer formation.
• Handle the dough gently, especially during the folding process. Avoid overworking the dough, as this can lead to tough and dense croissants.
• Create a warm, draft-free environment for proofing the croissants. Proof your croissants in your closed oven (off) – you can also add a cup of boiling water to the bottom of your oven while your croissants are resting.
• Yeast thrives in warm and moist conditions. Adding boiling water to the bottom of your oven, you will create a warm and humid environment that encourages yeast activation.
• When you’re applying your egg wash, be careful to avoid brushing it onto the exposed butter layers. This prevents the layers from sticking and baking together. We want all of our hard work into creating those layers to be noticeable.
• Allow the croissants to rest for at least 10 minutes after baking before cutting into them.

Process:

Beginner Friendly Croissants

Today, we’re making homemade croissants, but with the hope of making them a bit easier, so you feel more confident if it’s your first time baking them!

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Prep Time 14 hrs 30 mins

Cook Time 25 mins

Cuisine French

Servings 8

Equipment

• Food Scale! for best results, please measure ingredients with a food scale

Ingredients

  

• 250 grams All-Purpose flour 2 cups
• 250 grams Bread Flour 2 cups
• 11 grams Instant yeast 1 tbsp
• 140 grams Whole milk 0.59 cups
• 140 grams Cold water 0.59 cups
• 50 grams Sugar 1/4 cup
• 10 grams Fine sea salt 1 1/2 tsp
• 55 grams High quality unsalted butter, cold and chopped into cubes 1/4 cup

Butter Block

• 226 grams High quality butter 2 sticks, or 16 tbsp

Instructions

 

Prepare dough:

• Prepare the dough by adding all the dough ingredients (except the 55g of butter) to a stand mixer. Knead until the dough comes together. Then cover it with plastic wrap and let it rest for 10 minutes.
• After 10 minutes, add the 55g of butter and continue kneading for 10-15 minutes until the dough is soft and supple. Score the top of the dough to help it rise evenly when it doubles in size in the fridge.
• Cover the mixer bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 1 1/2 hours at room temperature. Then, refrigerate it for 3 hours.

Prepare Butterblock:

• While the dough is resting, prepare the butter block. Chop the cold butter and roll it out into a rough 8×8 inch slab between parchment paper. Set it in the fridge until ready to use.

Begin layering your dough and butter-block:

• After your dough has rested in the fridge for 3 hours, transfer it to a lightly floured surface and roll it out to double the size of your butter block. Add your butter-block to the center of your rolled out dough; Fold the ends of the dough into the center so that they meet without overlapping. (make sure your butter isn't too cold where it will snap, if too cold let sit at room temp for 8 min) Lightly beat and roll out the dough lengthwise to about 18-22 inches, working quickly to keep the butter and dough cold. Trim the uneven edges from the top and bottom of the rolled-out dough.
• Take both ends of the dough and fold them towards the center so they meet in the middle. Then, fold the dough vertically along the seam to create a "book" shape, ensuring you have 4 layers. Lightly roll it out, cover it with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• After 1 hour, lightly beat and roll out the dough again. Since both the butter and dough are cold, you may need a bit more effort to roll it out evenly. Now for your last fold, we are going to create a letter fold. To perform a letter fold, start with a rectangle-shaped piece of dough. Take one end of the dough and fold it towards the center, then fold the opposite end over the first fold, similar to folding a letter to fit into an envelope. This creates multiple layers of dough. Shape it into a rough square and refrigerate overnight wrapped in plastic wrap.
• The next morning, roll out the dough to a 13×16-inch slab. If the dough feels too warm at any point, refrigerate it for at least 20 minutes before continuing to roll it out. we don't want to be working with warm dough.

Shape your croissants:

• Once rolled out, cut the dough into 4-inch rectangles, then diagonally down the middle to create triangles. Stretch out the tail and top of each triangle slightly before rolling up the croissants. Make a small slit at the top of each triangle before rolling to aid in shaping.

Proof and bake:

• Arrange the rolled croissants, tail down, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Loosely cover them with plastic wrap to allow room for rising. Let them proof inside your oven (turned off) for 2 1/2 hours.
• After 2 1/2 hours, brush the croissants with egg wash, avoiding the exposed butter layers to prevent them from sticking shut. Bake at 375°F for 20-30 minutes until golden brown. Allow them to rest for 10 minutes before cutting into them.

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