Bake Along Croissant Workshop Videos
Day 1: Making The Dough
Day 2: Making the Envelope and Laminating the Dough
Day 3: Rolling, Cutting, Proofing, and Baking
What you’ll need:
We recommend that you watch each live session completely before you begin that day’s process.
It’s best to work with the best ingredients. The good news is there are only a few of them. Here are some resources for you:
- French Type 55 flour or King Arthur French Style flour. The recipe calls for 500 grams (roughly 3 cups) – you’ll want to buy enough to make several batches.
- High-fat “European-style” or Vermont (preferably 83 to 84 percent butterfat) unsalted butter (many grocery stores carry Plugra is the brand I use. The recipe calls for a total of 320 grams (roughly 3/4 pound) – you’ll want to buy enough to make several batches. Here are some other highly recommended and expensive brands. Here’s a great article on butter if you’d like to know more.
- Instant Dry Yeast (11 grams) – buy a fresh jar or bag to have on hand – store in your refrigerator door.
The other ingredients are granulated sugar, whole milk, Kosher salt, an egg, and water.
Equipment:
- Stand Mixer with a dough hook (you can mix by hand if you don’t have one).
- An accurate Kitchen Scale that weighs in grams
- Digital thermometer
- Rolling Pin (I use a straight pin and a French-style)
- Bench Knife
- A large work surface – marble or granite is perfect – but any smooth surface will work.
- A Pizza Cutter or a Long-Sharp Knife.
- A large and small pastry brush
- 3 baking sheets
- parchment paper
Croissants
Making croissants is a dance between the temperature of the butter and the temperature of the dough. The butter must roll out evenly between each layer, but never melt. The dough has to be warm enough to roll well, but cool enough to not melt the
butter.
Equipment
- sheet pans
- parchment paper
- Rolling Pin
- bench knife
- pizza cutter or sharp knife
- measuring tape or ruler in centimeters
- kitchen scale (grams)
Ingredients
- ===== Note: weigh the ingredients - volume measurements are approximate and for your reference
- 140 grams water -- between 110 and 115 degrees - roughly 2/3 cup
- 11 grams active dry yeast -- roughly 1 tablespoon
- =====DOUGH=====
- 500 grams French type 55 or 45 flour or King Arthur's French-Style Flour -- plus extra for dusting - roughly 3 cups
- 140 grams whole milk -- roughly 2/3 cup
- 55 grams sugar -- roughly 1/4 cup
- 40 grams unsalted butter -- softened at room temperature - roughly 4 tablespoons
- 15 grams Kosher salt -- roughly 4 teaspoons
- ======
- 280 grams unsalted butter -- softened at room temperature
- =====
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon whole milk
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- DAY 1: MAKING THE DOUGH
- Proof the yeast by whisking the yeast into the water and let stand until foam starts to develop on the top (about 5 minutes).
- Measure all of the other dough ingredients into the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add proofed yeast mixture and knead for 3 minutes at medium speed once dough begins to form. Do not overmix or the dough will become too challenging to work with. Shape the dough into a disk before you refrigerate it. Place the disk on a plate; cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
- DAY 1: THE BUTTER BLOCK
- Let the butter come to room temperature. It should be completely soft. Draw a 17 cm x 17 cm square on a piece of parchment paper. Flip the parchment over and put the butter in the center of the square. Place another piece of parchment on top. Using a bench knife, push and scrape the butter into the square within the lines. Wrap the butter in the paper maintaining that square shape; refrigerate the slab completely solid.
- Day 2: NOTE: USE JUST ENOUGH FLOUR ON YOUR WORK SURFACE TO PREVENT THE DOUGH FROM STICKING. KEEP A BENCH KNIFE HANDY TO SCRAPE OFF ANY DOUGH THAT STICKS. IF TOO MUCH FLOUR IS INCORPORATED BETWEEN THE LAYERS IT WILL CAUSE A SEPARATION OF LAYERS.
- DAY 2: LAMINATING THE DOUGH
- Take the slab of butter from the refrigerator, remove one piece of the parchment paper, and let the butter sit until you can easily bend the slab, 10 to 30 minutes - this will vary because of room temperature. Take the dough out of the refrigerator. With a rolling pin, roll the dough square into a 26 cm x 26 cm square. Try to get the square as perfect as possible with an even thickness. Place the slab of butter at a 45-degree angle on the dough. (It will look like a diamond in the center of the dough square. Fold a flap of the dough over the butter, so the dough's point reaches the center of the butter. Do the same with the three other flaps. The edges of the dough flaps should slightly overlap to enclose the butter fully. Pinch the dough with your fingertips and press the edges with the palm of your hand to seal the seams.
- DAY 2: FOLD 1:
- Using a lightly floured rolling pin on a lightly floured surface, press on the surface of the dough with your rolling pin to flatten it slightly. Do this on the entire peice of dough to make sure that the butter will move with the dough. Then, roll the dough into a 20 cm x 60 cm rectangle. Fold the dough letter-style in thirds, wrap in plastic wrap, and put on a sheet pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- NOTE: ALWAYS ROLL THE DOUGH FROM THE CENTER TO THE OPEN EDGES, AND NOT FROM ONE SIDE OF THE DOUGH ALL THE WAY TO THE OTHER SIDE. THIS IS TO PRESERVE THE LAYERS, KEEPING THE DOUGH AT AN EVEN THICKNESS. TRY TO KEEP THE DOUGH AT AN EVEN WIDTH KEEPING EDGES AS STRAIGHT AS POSSIBLE.
- NOTE: EACH LAMINATING STEP SHOULD NOT TAKE MORE THAN A FEW MINUTES. IF IT TAKES LONGER, FOLD THE DOUGH LETTER STYLE, COVER WITH PLASTIC WRAP AND REFRIGERATE FOR 20 MINUTES. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT THE BUTTER STAYS SOLID.
- DAY 2: FOLD 2:
- Position the dough with one open end facing you; roll the dough to a 20 cm x 60 cm rectangle. Fold the dough letter-style in thirds lengthwise; wrap in plastic wrap; put on a sheet pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- DAY 2: FOLD 3:
- Position the dough with one open end facing you; roll the dough to a 20 cm x 60 cm rectangle. Fold the dough letter-style in thirds lengthwise; wrap in plastic wrap; put on a sheet pan. Refrigerate overnight. (You will now have 27 layers of butter).
- Make a triangle form out of carboard or sturdy paper ó20 cm long. The bottom is 12.5 cm wide, and the point is at 6.25 cm in the middle. 20 cm high and 12.5 cm wide.
- DAY 3- ROLLING THE CROISSANTS
- Take the dough from the refrigerator. Lightly flour your rolling pin and work surface and roll the dough side to side (closed edge facing you) to a 20 cm x 75-80 cm strip. The length can vary slightly. IF THE DOUGH STARTS TO RESIST TOO MUCH OR SHRINK BACK DURING THE PROCESS, FOLD THE DOUGH IN THIRDS, COVER WITH PLASTIC WRAP, AND REST IT IN THE REFRIGERATOR FOR 10 TO 20 MINUTES.
- NOTE: MAKE SURE TO LIFT THE DOUGH AND FLOUR UNDERNEATH IT AS YOU ARE ROLLING IT. IT MUST HAVE A CHANCE TO SHRINK BACK AS YOU ROLLING IT SO THAT WHEN YOU FINALLY REACH THE 75 CM., IT WILL NOT SHRINK BACK WHEN YOU CUT IT. TRIM THE DOUGH TO STRAIGHTEN THE LONG EDGES.
- DAY 3: CUTTING AND SHAPING THE CROISSANTS: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a pizza wheel or a long sharp knife, lay the triangle form on the dough and cut the dough into side-by-side triangles. You will automatically get inverted triangles from the top-side of the dough. Stack the triangles on a baking sheet, 2 triangles in a stack. Refrigerate the triangles and any scraps of dough for 30 minutes. Remove them from the refrigerator. Cut up the scraps of dough into 1 x 11/2-inch pieces. Using a rolling pin, elongate each croissant triangle from the bottom to the point, about 25 cm. Alternatively, stretch the dough gently with your hands. Once the triangle has been formed, roll the dough from the base very tightly at the beginning using enough pressure to make the layers stick together without damaging them. As you are rolling the croissant, add in one or two dough scrap pieces as you go. Roll completely.
- Arrange the croissants on a parchment-covered baking sheet giving each enough room for rising. The tip of the croissant should rest on the tray. Put a second baking sheet under the pan to ensure they don't burn on the bottom when you bake them. (This is when you would freeze them - see note.) Cover the croissants lightly with plastic wrap to keep them from drying out.
- Proof the croissants in a draft-free environment at about 77 degrees. They should not be near any direct heat. This will take a minimum of 2 hours. They should be jiggly when you shake the pan and close to double in size.
- DAY 3: BAKING THE CROISSANTS
- Preheat an oven to 375∫F. Whisk an egg with one teaspoon of milk and salt and lightly brush the croissants with the egg wash. USING A SPRAY BOTTLE, SPRAY THE OVEN WITH WATER TO CREATE STEAM!!! Bake the croissants on their double pans for 6 minutes. Turn the pan and re-spray the oven. Avoid spraying the croissants. Bake the croissants for an additional 18 to 20 minutes. Adjust the baking time if necessary.
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Notes
NOTES : Freeze on parchment paper, uncovered, after forming. Once frozen completely, store stacked in layers separated by parchment in a sealed container. To bake: Arrange croissants on a parchment-lined baking sheet allowing enough room for rising. Rise overnight or 6 to 8 hours before baking until they wiggle when you shake the pan. Bake according to directions below. (Use frozen croissants within two months.)
Nutrition
Calories: 448kcalCarbohydrates: 44gProtein: 6gFat: 27gSaturated Fat: 17gCholesterol: 87mgSodium: 17mgPotassium: 85mgFiber: 1gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 846IUCalcium: 33mgIron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Almond Croissant
The most delicious pastry in the world!
Ingredients
- =====Filling=====
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 cup almond meal flour
- 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
- 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter -- diced
- 1/4 tsp. almond extract
- 2 large eggs
- =====Assembly=====
- 8 day-old croissants
- 1 cup sliced almonds
- confectioners sugar for dusting
Instructions
- 1.Combine the sugar, almond meal flour, and salt in the bowl of a food processor; pulse until finely ground. Add the butter, and mix again until well blended. Add in the eggs one by one, and process on high speed until creamy and fluffy.
- Preheat the oven to 350∞F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Slice each croissant horizontally sandwich-style. Spread roughly 2 tablespoons of filling on the bottom of the croissant. Replace the top and spread approximately 1 tablespoon of filling evenly over the top. Sprinkle with sliced almonds.
- Arrange the croissants on the baking sheet . Bake for 15 to 18 minutes until golden brown. Cool completely and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
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Notes
Copyright:
Chef Laura Bonicelli
Chef Laura Bonicelli
Nutrition
Calories: 647kcalCarbohydrates: 48gProtein: 15gFat: 46gSaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 110mgSodium: 403mgPotassium: 291mgFiber: 7gSugar: 21gVitamin A: 838IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 138mgIron: 3mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!