Homemade French Croissants

Yield: 6 croissants

Original recipe: https://www.theflavorbender.com/homemade-french-croissants-step-by-step-recipe/

Ideas for improvement

Technique:

• Making dough:
• Cross slash before rise, makes it more square
• Add butter to dough while cold after initial mix, hard to do by hand
• Making detrempe/tourage
• Fold parchment into square, roll butter in square from one block
• Rolling out
• Hit down when rolling. Then roll out without pushing down, just roll along smoothly
• Pop air pockets, but don't mess up layers
• Tug on ends to sharpen
• Use a tiny amount of flour while rolling out
• Making
• Pull base wide, point longer
• Bop afterwards to seal
• Rise
• Steam pan in oven to proof
• Fridge before brushing to firm the croissants up a bit
• Only coat smooth sides, not edges with egg wash, to stop edges fusing

Equipment:

• Softer brush
• Baking ruler
• Pizza slicer

Ingredients:

• Investigate the right flour
• Better butter

Instructions:

Détrempe

1. Dissolve 5g honey in 145g milk in a mixing bowl, and then whisk in 7g yeast. Set aside for the yeast to activate for about 10 - 20 minutes.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients (25g butter melted and cooled, 20g white sugar, 100g plain white flour, 150g white bread flour, and 4g salt) into the bowl in the order listed in the ingredients list. Stir with a spatula or spoon to mix it into a scraggly dough.
3. Using your hand, knead for about 5 minutes. You shouldn’t have to put too much effort into kneading here because it isn’t a very stiff dough. Place the dough back in the mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
4. Keep the bowl in a warm place, and proof until at least doubled in size (this can take about 1 hour).

Tourrage (butter block)

1. Measure 140g of cold butter and slice it into thin slices.
2. Arrange them on the 1st parchment paper, within the 5 x 6.5 inch marked rectangle (see picture in the post). Fold the parchment paper over to enclose the butter.
3. Using a rolling pin, firmly hit the butter to make it more pliable. Then, using the rolling pin, roll out/spread the butter inside the parchment paper.
4. Make sure to roll the butter out into the corners, but also keep the butter evenly thick.
5. Transfer this butter block into the fridge until completely hardened (or overnight).

Shaping the Detrempe

1. After the first proof, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and flatten it to knock out the air. Transfer the dough onto the second parchment paper and shape it into a rectangle. Fold the other half of the parchment paper over the dough, forming a 7 x 10.5 inch case. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to fit the 7 x 10 inch square. (It doesn’t have to fill the 7 x 10 inch square perfectly, just as closely as possible).
2. 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. DO NOT place it in the fridge as the dough will keep proofing in the fridge and the yeast will remain active.

Enclosing the butter

1. IMPORTANT - when laminating the butter and dough, it’s REALLY crucial that they both have similar pliability and are cold. If my dough is frozen solid, I keep it at room temp. for about 30 minutes to let it soften slightly, before starting the lamination process.
2. The butter block is removed from the fridge just before lamination, but made pliable by knocking a rolling pin against it repeatedly. It should remain cold.
3. Remove the parchment paper from the dough and place it on an un-floured (or very lightly floured) work surface. If it’s not quite a 7 x 10 inch rectangle, roll it out to the correct size, making sure it’s still evenly thick.
4. Unwrap the parchment paper from the butter block, but keep the butter still attached to the parchment paper.
5. Place the butter block on one half of the dough. There should be a very small border around the butter block and it should still have the parchment paper on top. Once the butter is correctly in place, pat it onto the dough to let it “bind” to the dough. Carefully peel off the parchment paper.
6. Fold the dough over the butter, end to end, completely enclosing the butter. Press the edges to seal the butter inside the dough. Pat the dough again to help the butter “bind” to the dough.
7. The dough should still be very cold. If it isn’t, wrap it and put it back in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

First lamination - double fold

1. Generously flour your work surface and dough. Place the dough on the work surface and using the rolling pin, gently press, along the length of the dough, to make sure the butter is pliable.
2. While maintaining the 5 inch (12.7 cm) width (short end), roll out the dough to a length of approximately 16 inches (40 cm).
3. Use flour as needed to make sure the dough doesn’t stick to the counter, and use your hands to keep the width even and straight. (You can also gently lift the dough as you roll to make sure it isn’t sticking to the countertop)
4. Work quickly to keep the dough and butter cold. If the butter softens too much, return the dough to the fridge or freezer.
5. Brush off excess flour on the work surface using a large pastry brush. Trim just a little piece of dough along the edges, to make the width straight.
6. Fold in about 1/8th of the dough towards the middle (about 2 - 3 inches). Bring the other end to meet the folded end. Make sure the two ends are as close together as possible with no gaps.
7. Using a paring knife, make small cuts at the four corners of the folds to release the tension (4 cuts; please see pictures in the post).
1. When you fold the dough over, the gluten at the folded corners develop more tension. Then when you roll it out, these corners resist stretching (resulting in more rounded corners). So the cuts help maintain the rectangle shape when you roll out the dough.
8. Brush off excess flour on the surface of the dough. Now, fold the dough in half. Firmly tap the dough to keep the shape. Again, make cuts at the corners of the fold (2 cuts).
9. Wrap the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (60 minutes is even better).

Second lamination - single fold

1. Generously flour the work surface and place the dough on it. Gently press into the dough with a rolling pin along the length of it to make sure the butter inside is pliable.
2. Keeping the short end as the width (4 inches / 10 cm), roll out the dough to 15 inches (38 cm). As you roll out the dough, make sure the final width is kept to about 5 inches. Also make sure the dough isn’t sticking to the work surface, and the width is straight and even.
3. Brush off excess flour from the surface of the dough using a pastry brush.
4. Fold in ⅓ of the dough towards the center (about 5 inches / 12.7 cm). As before, cut the corners of the fold with a paring knife to release tension.
5. Brush off excess flour again, and fold the other edge of the dough OVER the first fold. Cut the folded corners with a paring knife to release tension.
6. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for another 30 minutes (preferably 60 minutes).

Sheeting the dough (1st roll)

1. Place the dough on a well-floured surface - the edge where you can see all the folds should be facing you.
2. Gently press the dough with a rolling pin along the length of it to make the dough and butter pliable.
3. Roll out the dough to about a 1 cm thickness (with an 8 - 9 inch width at the edge facing you).
4. Wrap the dough and refrigerate for about 30 - 45 minutes to allow the gluten to rest.

Sheeting the dough (2nd roll)

1. Roll out the rested dough to about a 4 - 5 mm thickness. Use flour to make sure the dough doesn’t stick to the surface.
2. I like to keep a width of about 9.5 - 10 inches (23 - 24 cm) and roll it out to a 4 - 5 mm thickness.
3. Before trimming or cutting the rolled out dough, gently pick it up to loosen it from the kitchen counter top/work surface, and put it back on the counter again. This allows the dough to return to its normal size, preventing distortion when cutting it.
4. 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.

Cutting the dough

1. Cut a very thin strip along the long edges of the dough to have a width of 9 inches / 23 cm. Make sure the edges are straight and even. Use a pizza cutter or a sharp knife. Avoid dragging the knife along the dough as you cut it, as this can distort the dough. Simply press the knife or pizza cutter straight down to cut.
2. Along one of the long edges, make 3.5 inch / 9 cm markings. Then make 9 cm markings on the opposite edge as well, BUT these markings will be halfway between the markings along the first edge.
3. Use the ruler and a small sharp knife to connect the markings on the two sides with straight lines.
4. 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.

Rolling up the croissant + proofing

1. Brush off excess flour from both sides of the dough triangle and keep it on the work surface.
2. Make a 1 cm cut at the mid point along the base of the triangle. Roll up the base, while gently pulling at the two corners to make the base slightly wider. (The cut that was made along the middle of the base helps with this.)
3. Once you have rolled up the base once, then you can roll up the croissant the rest of the way more easily. Make sure the tip of the triangle is properly centered the whole way.
4. Also make sure not to roll out the croissant too tightly or too loosely.
5. Place the rolled up croissant dough on the lined half sheet baking pan (6 on a tray), while making sure the tip of the croissant triangle is placed under the croissant. Gently press on the croissant to seal the tip at the bottom into the dough (take care not to squash the croissant!).
6. Cover with plastic wrap, and another half sheet pan on top. Make sure there's plenty of space within the baking pans so that proofed croissants don’t stick to the half sheet pan on top.
7. Proof the croissants (somewhere that is about 25°C / 77°F) until doubled in size. The time can vary depending on the weather. I proof mine inside an oven with just the light turned on, and it still takes me between 2 - 3 hours.
8. The croissants have proofed if they have doubled in size, look very pillowy, and will jiggle a little when you give the sheet pan a shake.
9. Preheat the oven to 375°F /190°C, at least 30 minutes before baking the croissants.

Baking the croissants

1. Make the egg wash (mix 1 egg yolk with 20g milk until very smooth).
2. Brush with an egg wash (use a soft, small pastry brush, because the croissants are very delicate at this stage). Bake at 375°F / 190°C (conventional oven) for about 20 - 30 minutes until golden brown. Turn the tray once halfway through the baking time, if needed.
3. 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).

Tips & Tricks

• If the dough gets too soft at any point, wrap it and put it back in the fridge to chill.
• If the dough resists when you're rolling it out, wrap it and put it back in the fridge to rest.
• If you're doubling the recipe, simply make TWO portions of this recipe. This is far more manageable than doubling everything and making dough and butter blocks that are twice as big.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT MAKING CLASSIC CROISSANTS

Why don’t they have any layers?

The butter either melted into the dough during the croissant making process, or the butter wasn’t evenly rolled out (likely because it broke) inside the dough, ruining the lamination.

Why is my butter coming through the croissant dough?

If the butter block was too cold when rolling out the dough, the butter can be too brittle and break through the surface of the dough. This can ruin the lamination of the croissants. Use butter with a higher butterfat content, and make sure it’s cold but pliable.

Why does my croissant not have a honey comb structure inside?

This can happen if the butter was brittle and broke inside the dough. It can also happen if the butter was too soft and got absorbed by the dough. Another reason would be if the croissants were under-proofed.

Why does the inside of my croissant look like bread?

The same reasons as above.

Why is there a pool of butter under my croissants?

If there’s a pool of butter AFTER proofing the croissants, that’s because they were proofed in an environment that was too warm. This causes the butter between the layers to melt.

If there’s a pool of butter AFTER the croissants were baked, then this is usually because the croissants were under-proofed before baking.

Can I use bread flour?

I have used both, and have gotten good result with both. Some recipes note that AP flour is the best, while others say bread flour is the best. Honestly, I feel like they both work just as well. You can even use 50% AP Flour and 50% Bread flour too.

My croissant dough isn’t rolling out well. It keeps shrinking when I try to roll it out.

Stop. Right away. Do not force your dough to roll out, if it doesn’t want to. This can cause the butter to be pushed into the dough and result in bread-like croissants.

If this happens, wrap the dough and put it back in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to let the gluten relax. Then go back to rolling it out again. It should be easier now.