Croissants & pains au chocolat

For me a croissant is one of the greatest pastries to eat. I love those wafer-thin flakes that shatter when you bite into it to reveal a honeycombed interior…. Not to mention its deliciously buttery flavour!

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Sections in this post

• Introduction
• About the recipe
• Notes on the ingredients
• The importance of both dough and butter texture
• Lamination: the different turns for creating the layers
• Don’t waste the trimmings!
• RECIPE FOR CROISSANT DOUGH
• How to shape the dough for pains au chocolat
• Top tips
• Rough timescales for making croissants
• Variations
• Sourdough croissants
• Quicker croissants

  

Introduction

I have been fascinated by making croissants and pains au chocolat since I was a boy and making a batch is right up there as one of my top baking joys.

Croissants are certainly one of the more challenging bakes; I would rate them up there with macarons in terms of difficulty, but they are so rewarding to make.

Realistically, it takes a few goes at the recipe to be more comfortable with the process but I really recommend reading the whole of this post before starting a batch to get a feel for the method involved and the pitfalls.

The photos in this tutorial are of different batches I have made. I do not claim that these are perfect – and I am learning all the time – but I am very happy with these in terms of flavour, flakiness and lightness.

They are not the quickest things to make BUT the time is mostly the dough chilling or proving and the results are worth it.

When I make croissants, I normally do these over a weekend. I typically start them off on a Friday evening and then bake them either later on Saturday or in Sunday morning. I have given a loose timescale for making croissants towards the bottom of the post.

There is no urgency with the timings and you can get on with other things while the dough rests in the fridge during the various stages.

About the recipe

I have tried scores of croissant recipes over the decades in my quest to make what for me gives a consistently good croissant or pains au chocolat. The recipe below takes ideas from the many approaches I have worked through and gives me the best results overall.

As I mentioned above, croissant dough is challenging and I really encourage a full read of this post and the stages of the recipe before starting your croissant journey. Try to resist the temptation to tinker too much with the recipe or the method until you have a real feel for the entire process and you are getting good croissants.

While I like to make slight changes from time to time, the recipe below is always the most up-to-date version and will give great croissants if followed carefully.

Notes on the ingredients

The flour

I find a strong plain flour (or standard bread flour) is best as you need the higher level of gluten (protein) in there to give a firm enough structure to the croissants: 12-13% protein content is ideal – any higher than that, even with a well rested dough, the dough can be hard to roll out towards the end.

Many years ago I used standard plain flour. Being lower in protein – and therefore less gluten – it gave a dough that was easier to roll out without resisting – a great way to make decent croissants with less stress! The down-side of standard plain flour is that it gives a weaker structure, so the croissants can be prone to collapsing when they bake, resulting in a less open and slightly dense interior.

The butter

A good quality butter with a high fat content (82% or so) is best. Most of the butter gets incorporated into the maoin dough before beiong rolled out and folded for the turn. This process – the lamination – results in very thin layers of butter and dough which in turn results in flakyness. I get best results using butter such as Lurpak and President.

The liquid

You can use all water if you wish but I go for a mixture of water and milk.  Milk adds flavour and colour, as well as giving a dough that is slightly easier to roll out.

The yeast

I rarely use fresh yeast, opting instead for dried “instant” yeast: the type that is simply added to the flour without activating in water first. It works well and I’ve not found any noticeable difference in flavour of the baked croissants using this compared to fresh yeast.

The sugar

I usually use caster sugar but it doesn’t have to be. I sometimes like to use a brown sugar (such as muscovado) which gives a different depth of flavour, and occasionally I use a mixture of sugars.

The salt

I use fine sea salt so that it dissolves easily into the dough. As well as adding flavour, the salt is essential for helping to strengthen the gluten – needed for maintaining the structure of the dough. Don’t be tempted to add too much more salt (or indeed sugar) as too much can hinder getting the open structure of the baked croissants.

The importance of both dough and butter texture

The texture of both the dough and the butter is crucial: the closer to each other they are in terms of texture, the better the lamination will be: this results in more well-defined layers and a more open interior.

The butter shouldn’t be too soft: otherwise it simply starts to melt and you feel it squishing when you roll out the dough. The result is a doughy, dense bread that is more brioche than a light, flaky croissant.

The butter shouldn’t be too hard: otherwise it shatters into tiny hard fragments as you roll, ruining some of the layers.

The ideal butter texture is pliable rather than solid (and still cold): remove it from the fridge for about 5-10 minutes and check after 5 minutes if it’s at the right texture by bending over a corner of the butter: if it bends easily without breaking or snapping it is pliable enough and ready to use. If it breaks up or snaps, leave it at room temperature a bit longer to soften just enough to be pliable.

In order to get the dough and butter at a very similar texture: have the dough VERY cold initially (a 30-minute or so blast in the freezer is ideal) – and remove the flattened butter from the fridge just before taking the dough out of the freezer until it just becomes pliable.

Thereafter, resting the dough on the work surface for a few minutes or so after chilling or freezing before rolling out will help the butter soften enough to match the texture of the dough.

Lamination: the different turns for creating the layers

The turns or folds are where the real magic happens: rolling out and folding the dough a few times to create those beautiful layers.

The chilled dough gets trimmed, rolled out and is then ready to have an envelope turn or a book turn (and combinations of these). I now go for one book turn followed by an envelope turn.

Book turn: folded in 4

• Roll out the dough to a long, thin rectangle.
• Trim just the two shorts edges to expose the butter inside
• Fold the bottom edge of the dough over part way, keeping the edges as straight as possible
• Fold the top edge of the dough over to meet the other edge
• Fold the dough in half
• Wrap and chill for an hour or so to relax the gluten
• Once chilled, rotate the dough 90° before rolling out again

Envelope turn: folded in 3

• Roll out the dough to a long, thin rectangle.
• Trim just the edge closest to you to expose the butter inside
• Fold the bottom third of the dough up, keeping the edges as straight as possible.
• Now bring the top third of the dough over this, keeping the edges as straight as possible.
• Wrap and chill for an hour or so to relax the gluten
• Once chilled, rotate the dough 90° before rolling out again

Trimming the edges ensures there are no closed dough bits inside. This helps achieve a more open interior in the baked croissants.

You can give different numbers and combinations of these turns depending on what your croissant preference is. The two I vary between are 3 envelope turns OR 1 book turn followed by 1 envelope turn:

Three envelope turns: gives a suitably flaky exterior with a nice open structure. As in the photo below:

One book turn and one envelope turn: I now mostly go for this combination, which gives a more open interior ie) larger holes – as in the photos below:

Don’t do too many turns, though: if you try to fit in more, there’s a greater risk of compressing the layers which will result in a denser interior, as in the photo below which was for a batch with 4 envelope turns:

Regardless of whichever turn I have done, I cut through the rounded edges formed when the dough has been folded: this releases the dough tension and helps with effective rolling out at the next stage. The two photos below show this cutting after doing a book turn.

Don’t waste the trimmings!

Whenever you trim the dough when doing the turns, don’t throw the trimmings away. You can wrap them up in cling film and freeze them to be added to a later batch of bread or croissant dough.

You then simply defrost the dough overnight at room temperature and then mix in with the flour. I typically add about 40g defrosted trimmings per 350g flour. The trimmings will have already fermented and will really boost the flavour of the dough as well as help its ability to roll out. Don’t be tempted to add a lot more of the trimmings to a dough as it can weaken its structure.

Recipe for croissant dough: makes 7-8 large croissants or about 12 smaller ones

Initial dough:

• 350g strong white plain flour
• 8g “instant” dried yeast
• 5g fine salt
• 40g caster sugar
• 30ml skimmed or semi-skimmed milk
• 140ml cold water
• 20g soft, unsalted butter

To laminate the dough:

• 180g unsalted butter

To glaze:

• 1 egg, beaten, or cold milk (milk gives a matt finish rather than a shiny glaze)

You also need baking trays lined with a double layer of parchment

Make the initial dough:

(1) Mix the initial dough ingredients together in the bowl of a food mixer fixed with a dough hook to give a firm dough, adding a little extra water (no more than a tablespoon or so) only if needed. Knead on a fairly low setting for about 15 minutes: this will give a fairly smooth dough with just a little elasticity.

NB 1: it will seem quite dry and crumbly initially and feels as though you’ll never form a dough. However, the dough really needs to be firm rather than too soft. I find squeezing the dough firmly will help it come together initially: it will actually soften up and become pliable when it rests.

NB2: The kneading is important to develop the gluten here so that the shaped dough holds its shape during proofing and baking. 

(2) Place in a bowl and cover. Leave it at room temperature for about a hour to allow the yeast to start to activate and for the dough to expand a little: it doesn’t need to get to twice the volume as you would with a standard bread dough.

NB: this light fermentation is important for flavour development.

(3) Deflate the dough and then roll out to a rough rectangle just larger than 32cm by 16cm. Wrap in clingfilm and put onto a baking tray. Freeze for about 30 minutes and then place in the fridge for at least 4 hours or ideally overnight.

NB 1: this short burst of freezing won’t kill the yeast: it just makes it dormant so that when it is chilled overnight the dough won’t over-ferment (which would hinder a good rise later with the shaped dough).

NB 2: by shaping it to a rough rectangle now, there is no rolling out to do when it comes to encasing the butter slab. That way, the gluten will be relaxed enough so that the dough rolls out easily later on.

Make the butter slab:

(4) While the dough is in the fridge, shape the butter into a thin square that is about 16cm by 16cm by bashing it lightly with a rolling pin between two sheets of baking parchment. Chill the butter until you are ready to encase it in the dough.

(5) Put the dough into the freezer for 10-15 minutes and towards the end of this time remove the butter from the fridge for a few minutes: just long enough for it to be flexible and not at all brittle. To test the butter is at the right texture, bend a corner over: if it snaps, it is too firm, in which case leave it at room temperature a bit longer until it can just bend easily without snapping.

NB: the dough and the butter should be as similar in texture as possible so freezing the dough helps. As does removing the butter from the fridge to very slightly soften it up. If the butter is too hard compared to the dough then it will break apart and cut into the layers you form. If the butter is too soft, it will simply squish around in the dough and not create good layers.

Encase the butter in the dough:

(6) Turn the chilled dough onto a lightly floured work surface. It should be just wider than the butter square and just over twice as long ie) just over 32cm by 16cm.

(7) Rotate the dough so long edge is closest to you and place the butter in the centre. Bring the rest of the dough over the butter, sealing gently and trying not to trap air bubbles.

The run a sharp knife along the two folded edges (on the left and right of the third photo above) to expose the butter: this cutting helps minimise surface tension of the dough and will also be done prior to subsequent rollings out.

Roll out dough ready to start the turns:

(8) Use the rolling pin to lightly press down on the dough along the length a few times, giving small ridges to begin with. This helps elongate the dough without using much pressure, and helps the butter spread just enough to roll out easily within the dough.

(9) Lightly roll out to give a rectangle just over 16cm wide and 50cm long – don’t worry about precise dimensions, but the key thing is the dough should be about 5mm thick. Brush off any excess flour again: you don’t want this trapped inside the dough as this hinders the open structure later.

NB: the trick is to gently press the rolling pin onto the dough a few times along its length to start to flatten it and then gently roll it out. 

Perform the turns (creating the layers)

(10) Now perform a book turn (folding in 4 like a book):

(11) Wrap the dough in clingfilm, freeze it for about 15 minutes and then put it in the fridge for about 45 minutes to an hour in order for the dough to rest and let the gluten relax. Make a cut all along the three curved edges where the dough was folded to release the dough tension (see next photos).

NB: It really makes a difference to your croissants if you rest the dough properly. I have occasionally skipped some of the resting trying to speed up the process but this is at the expense of good croissants: without resting, the gluten will not be relaxed so the dough is too elastic and you end up putting more force into the rolling out, which sadly ruins some of the layers.  As before, the use of both freezer and fridge is important for controlling the dough temperature and the fermentation at this stage, making the subsquent rollings out easier.

(12) Unwrap the dough and leave on the counter for 5-10 minutes so the butter softens up just enough to allow you to bend the dough gently without the butter breaking. Give the dough a 90° turn and roll it out to about 16cm by 50cm again, but this time give it an envelope turn (folding in three – as in photos below).

(13) Wrap up the dough and freeze for about 30 minutes. Then transfer to the fridge for at least 4-5 hours or ideally overnight.

NB 1: as previously, this freezing will render the yeast dormant for a while so that when the dough goes into the fridge, they wake up slowly and the fermentation that will be going on overnight will be very slow. The dough won’t rise much at this stage, but the flavour will still be developing.

NB 2: and that’s it for the turns/folds. While it takes long time to get to this stage there is not much hands-on time: merely the waiting! You can freeze the dough at this stage (wrapped up well), and simply defrost it in the fridge the night before you want to shape it.

Shaping

(14) Remove the dough from the fridge and cutting into the two curved edges to release the dough tension. Leave the dough on the lightly floured work surface for about 5-10 minutes. This time roll out the dough to a rectangle that is just over 32cm long by 24cm wide and around 4-5mm thick. Leave the rolled out dough for about 10 minutes before trimming and cutting to minimise shrinkage (if it is a warm kitchen, wrap it and pop it in the freezer for 10 minutes or so, gently folding it over if need be).

(15) Trim the edges with a sharp knife and cut into isosceles triangles with bases about 8cm and height about 24cm: as is my diagram below. You will get 7 main triangles and two smaller ones: you can lightly press the two end triangles together to give a larger one or shape these two smaller ones into two mini croissants.

NB 1: alternatively, cut the trimmed dough into four rectangles around 8cm by 24cm and then cut each diagonally to give 8 triangles. You can lightly stretch them to make them isosceles before rolling up.

NB 2: for smaller croissants, I roll out the dough to around 50cm by 16cm, before trimming and cutting triangles with base about 6cm. This gives 15 smaller croissants..

(16) Lightly place the triangles onto a baking tray and chill for around 30 minutes to rest. This helps relax the dough and prevent too much tension when shaping.

(17) Take a triangle and stretch apart the base by tugging gently at the corners to widen it by a centimetre or so. Using your fingertips gently stretch out the triangle’s tip to elongate it just a few more centimetres: this will give the croissant more ridges.  Roll it up from the base but not too tightly and have the tip of the triangle underneath.
NB 1: if you stretch too much, you risk the dough tearing and you can get less of a honeycombed interior

NB 2: if you roll up too tightly you increase the surface tension too much which gives a risk of the dough tearing while it proofs

(18) Place on the greaseproof-lined baking tray, patting down lightly to hold it in place. Repeat with the other triangles, placing them apart so when they rise they won’t collide into each other.

Proving and baking

(19) Pop the trays in large bin liners with a tall jar or tin to keep the plastic from touching the dough. Either leave at room temperature until puffy and well risen or pop in a dough proofer set to between 25°C and 27°C. If you give the tray a gentle shake, the croissants should wobble like jellies. Be patient as this proving can take upwards of 6 hours if the room is cool. I find in the dough proofer it takes between around 3-4 hours.

Important: don’t overproof. If the dough overproofs you will see signs of the dough tearing on top and the croissants will be prone to collapsing, so after a couple of hours periodically check what’s happening.

NB: if the room is too warm (higher than 28°C) the butter can start to melt and you end up with greasy, dense croissants. However, if the room is on the colder side, the shaped dough will still rise but it will take longer.

(20) When the dough has proofed enough, preheat the oven to 170°C (fan). Brush the egg or milk lightly all over the risen dough. Don’t worry about getting egg over the cut parts of the dough, as  it doesn’t affect the expansion significantly.

NB: using an egg glaze gives more of a shine and a deeper golden colour than milk – I vary between these depending on my mood at the time!

(21) Place the egg-washed dough into the oven and bake for about 15-20 minutes, rotating the pan after about 10 minutes: when they are ready they should be a golden-brown colour and feel light when you lift one up.

NB: you can cook them longer to get a darker brown colour – it’s purely a personal taste.

Shaping the dough for pains au chocolat

Roll out the rested dough as in Step 14 of the recipe above but just over 32cm by 28cm – a little larger and slightly thinner than for croissants. Trim the edges.

Shaping pains au chocolat (makes 8)

Cut the rolled out and trimmed dough into rectangles about 8cm by 14cm, as in the photos below:

• Place onto a baking tray to chill for about 30 minutes and then shape in any of the two ways given in the photos below:

Shaping method 1:

Shaping method 2:

• Place the shaped dough on greaseproof-lined baking trays with the seam face down and gently pat down each one before leaving to proof until well risen and puffy. Bake them as for croissants.

Top tips for croissant dough

It really takes a few goes at making croissants or pains au chocolat to get a feel for the processes involved, but these particular tips – which are referred to in the recipe steps above – should help achieve excellent results:

Ensure the dough is firm and very cold before encasing the butter

This helps bring the dough to a similar texture to the butter which in turn makes the rolling out easier and starts off the lamination process effectively.

The trick is to put the chilled dough into the freezer for about 15 minutes before you want the butter block to be encased inside the dough. During this freezing, remove the butter from the fridge until it just becomes pliable and you can bend over a corner easily without it snapping. When encased in the very cold dough, the dough will help keep the butter at the ideal texture.

Freeze and chill often to control the temperature and texture of the dough as well as the yeast’s fermentation

Freezing the dough (wrapped up) for 15-30 minutes at any stage of the process, followed by chilling for up to an hour will firm up the butter enough and help relax the gluten so the subsequent rollings out are much easier to do. The freezing/chilling also controls the yeast’s fermentation as without it, the yeast will ferment too quickly and too much: you don’t want it to be particularly active when trying to roll out the dough as it will resist, so you end up putting more pressure into the rolling out and ruin the lamination.

Try to avoid making a laminated dough in a warm kitchen

A warm kitchen makes croissant making even more of a challenge, so expect to have more frequent freezing (10-15 minute blasts at a time) followed by around 30 minutes to an hour of refrigerating to prevent the butter softening too much. This more frequent freezing/chilling might feel a bit of a pain but it really helps give great results.

If my kitchen is very warm, I sometimes pop bags of frozen veg on the worktop before I roll out so that the worktop is very cold for the dough: just dry the work surface fully before rolling the dough on it!

Trim the edges and cut the folded dough

At each rolling out stage, cut the short edges to reveal the butter inside. This ensures there is no “trapped dough” inside which would hinder good lamination.

Once a turn have been performed, such as a book turn or envelope turn, cut the length of the dough where it is folded. This opens up the dough to reveal the butter inside and also releases the surface tension of the dough to make the subsequent rolling out easier.

Brush any excess flour off the surface of the dough

Too much flour trapped between the layers will affect the lamination and give a heavier, doughier interior rather than a light, open structure. Use a pastry brush or clean paint brush to brush away the surplus flour each time you have rolled out and as you fold up the dough for the turns.

Don’t rush the proofing of the shaped dough

Leave the shaped dough at room temperature to proof. You want the shaped dough to be puffy and with a slight wobble, and you should be able to see the layers of butter in there more clearly: this is always an exciting thing to see.

It will proof in a cool room (albeit slowly) or perhaps 3-4 hours if the room is fairly warm. However, don’t be tempted to pop the dough into the airing cupboard as it will be too warm and the butter might melt.

Check the progress of dough after a couple of hours and thereafter every half hour or so: you want to avoid any over-proofing which will be the case of the dough starts to tear on top, so be ready with the oven.

Line the baking trays well

I always go for a double thickness of greaseproof paper to prevent the croissants getting too dark on their bases.

Rough timescales for making croissants:

Making croissants is more a weekend affair for me, and I often stick to one of the timescales below, depending on when I want to start making the croissants. These timings are very loose guidelines, but they work well for me!

Timescale one (an evening start) :

• Day one – evening: make up the initial dough, let it proof for around an hour or so, roll it out a bit, freeze for about an hour wrapped in clingfilm and then refrigerate overnight. Make the butter block and also refrigerate it overnight
• Day two – morning: encase the butter block in the dough, roll out and do the turns to get the dough laminated.
• Day two – late morning: chill the laminated dough to allow it to rest (or freeze it at this stage to use another time)
• Day two – mid-afternoon: roll out the dough, shape and leave to proof/rise for a few hours or until well risen, puffy and jiggly
• Day two – evening: bake

Timescale two (a morning start):

• Day one – morning: make up the initial dough, let it proof a bit, roll it out a bit, freeze (wrapped in clingfilm) for about an hour and then refrigerate until early evening. Make the butter block and also refrigerate it until the evening.
• Day one – early evening: encase the butter block in the dough, roll out and do the turns to get the dough laminated.
• Day one – later evening: freeze the laminated dough for about an hour to chill rapidly and then pop in the fridge until at least the morning
• Day two – morning: roll out, shape and leave to proof
• Day two – afternoon: bake

Variations

Below is a selection of some of my favourite variations. You can scale the ingredients down as I’ve done with the main recipe above if you want to work with a smaller amount of dough.

One of my favourite sweet variations is bitter orange pains au chocolat incredibly indulgent and divine to eat slightly warm.

But I am quite partial to chocolate and ginger pains au chocolat

Mind you, spreading salted caramel over the dough before adding the chocolate and shaping gives wonderful salted caramel pains au chocolat:

My favourite savoury variations include:

• croissant-based “pizza” (topped with slow-roasted onions, anchovies and olives) – my croissant dough version of the classic pissaladière:

• croissage rolls (essentially sausage rolls made using croissant dough rather than puff pastry)

• bacon and goats’ cheese “cruffins”: strips of croissant dough rolled up and shaped in muffin tins before getting filled

Sourdough croissants:

A sourdough croissant has an even crisper exterior and has even more depth of flavour that a croissant made with commercial yeast.

My recipe for sourdough croissants is here.

Quicker croissants:

You can incorporate the butter grated from a frozen block of butter, which gives a dough that takes about 20 minutes to make up (before it needs to rest, get shaped and proof).

This is certainly an easier method and it is much quicker to get the dough laminated, taking no more than half an hour. While the dough still benefits from overnight resting prior to shaping, it works very well with just a few hours rest in the fridge before shaping.

The result is a flaky croissant with a nice structure, although it does not have quite the same level of honeycombed interior as you get with the traditional method. But it does give a pretty decent croissant!

My recipe for these quicker croissants is here.