You have to try these amazing chocolate croissants or pain au chocolate, you won't be disappointed!
chocolate croissants, I have to admit that this is one of my least favorite viennoiserie because chocolate is not one of my favorite sweets. I would much rather have a almond filled croissant or with custard, jam, or pistachio rather than chocolate. Normally I cook what I like to eat but this time this is for all those chocolate croissant lovers.
This is basically the croissant dough from the bouchon bakery book that I posted a few posts ago. The main difference in these are the chocolate batons and the fact that instead of cutting the croissant dough into triangles, you cut these pain au chocolate into squares. Takes a little time and patience, but they are worth every bit of extra labor and love. Here is the chocolate croissants recipe I hope you enjoy it!
Chocolate Croissants (Pain Au Chocolat)
Poolish
- 100 g flour
- 100 g warm water
- pinch yeast
- 3 sticks good butter (Kerrygold or 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 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.
Then take your dough and roll out into a rectangle about 1/8 inch thick. Divide the dough lengthwise to make two strips. Cut a square about ever 4 by 4 inches ( or the length of the chocolate baton) Then take the square dough and place one baton at the bottom of the square.
Roll the bottom of the dough up over the chocolate baton until it just covers the chocolate. Then place another chocolate baton where the crease of the first roll is. Then continue to roll all the way up. So you should end up with two chocolate batons rolled up inside the square pain au chocolate. Place on a sheet pan lined with parchment.
Continue the process until you have all the pain au chocolates 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!
