If your adventurous and love to bake then you will want to try your hand at this classic French croissant recipe!
This croissant recipe from scratch is basically the dough from the bouchon bakery book with minor alterations that I’ve made. I’ve used other croissant recipes, one of which I have posted years ago but didn’t like as much. The key to great croissants is time, good butter, patience, and the ability to work quickly and have a delicate touch. If you love croissants try the chocolate croissant receipe here
Another tip for making a good laminated dough is having the butter and flour cold, but not so cold where the butter breaks, that won’t help you achieve the perfect layers. The proofing stage is also key. If you are impatient and don’t allow the croissants to proof enough, they won’t rise properly during the baking stage. This is definitely one of those baked items where you need patience or it will take a few times of practicing to get it done right. Here is the French croissant recipe from scratch, I hope you enjoy it!
Croissants
Poolish
- 100 g flour
- 100 g warm water
- pinch yeast
- 3 stick good butter (Kerrygold, president or plugra)
Dough
- 500 g all purpose flour
- 75 g sugar
- 10 g yeast
- 200 g warm water
- 100 g butter (at room temp)
- 15 g salt
- 1 egg (for wash)
For the Poolish
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Mix the flour and yeast in a bowl. Pour in the warm water and mix well. Cover with plastic wrap and let it ferment for 12-15 hours.
For the Butter Block
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Take a 1 gallon zip lock bag and unwrap the 3 sticks of butter. Place them in the bag. Using a rolling pin, pound and roll the butter into a nice square/rectangular shape.
Try to use the bottom half of the plastic bag. Make the thickness about 1/8 - 3/16 thick approximately 6 1/2 by 7 1/2 rectangle. Place in the refrigerator to keep cold
For the Croissant Dough
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Add warm water to the poolish to help release it from the bowl. Using a spatula or scraper pour the poolish and water into a stand mixer bowl. Combine the flour, sugar, and yeast in a bowl. Then pour the mixture into the stand mixer bowl. Add the butter and with a dough hook mix well until the dough is formed about 2 minutes. Then add the salt and continue to mix about 10-15 minutes.
Once the dough is made, place on the your countertop ( try to resist from dusting with flour your counter top or cutting board) Roll the dough out with a rolling pin to a perfect rectangle that is the same height as the butter block.
Take out your butter and remove from the plastic back by cutting with scissors down each side of the bag ( now it is key to have your butter cold, but I think it helps the dough by having it cold but not too cold) I took mine out a few minutes before I locked in the butter. Place the butter block in the middle of your rectangular dough.
Fold the left side of the dough over the butter and then ends should come just the edge of the butter. Then fold the right side like a book over the left side so it should look like a folded book. You want to pinch the seams so that no butter can escape the dough.
Then turn the dough 90 degrees and roll the dough again out into a rectangle. The fold the dough like a book again and place in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes until cold.
Then repeat this process 2 more times. Once you have turned and chilled the dough 3 times this is when your dough is ready. Now you can make croissants and it will roughly make 12-16 depending on how big you want to make them.
For the Croissants
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Then take your dough and roll out into a rectangle about 1/8 inch thick. Divide the dough lengthwise to make two strips. Make a mark ever 4 1/2 inches on the dough on the top and the bottom.
Using a ruler and a knife cut triangles out of the dough. Then take the triangles and roll the croissants starting at the base up to the tip, you can hold the tip to help you roll a tight croissant.
Place the tip on the bottom of the croissant. Place on a sheet pan lined with parchment. Continue the process until you have all the croissants rolled. Then proof the croissants covered for about two hours. If the croissants don't proof enough butter will leak out when baking.
At this point the croissants can be frozen if baking for another time. When ready to bake preheat oven to 350 degrees. Then brush the croissants with egg wash. Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown. Let them cool completely. Serve and enjoy!
