How to Make Croissants from Scratch

How to make croissants from scratch with tons of buttery layers tasting much better than any store bought version and YES you can very easily make them without losing your sanity!

Hope you guys are relaxing and enjoying a cozy Sunday.

Only few hours away from Monday and I am already not liking the idea. Transition from weekends to weekdays is always a tough one and it gets more unpleasant when the weather gets freezing cause all I want to do is sit on my bed all day with cups and cups of hot coffee and books. Ahh bliss.

Well enough of that and let’s get to working mode now. Do you guys like croissants?? I haven’t yet met anyone who hates croissants and with their tons of flaky buttery layers, they always seemed so NOT EASY. I always felt that I will fail badly if I try making them and in that fear I never even thought of giving them a try. But last month I made them THRICE in a month and everytime they came out just AMAZING. Flaky with tons and tons of buttery layers, so soft to touch and just melt in your mouth. Yes friends if you are still intimidated, DON’T BE cause these will be one of the best croissants you will ever make!

It takes around total of 20 hours to make these with total of 1-2 hours hands on time and the rest being resting period and baking.

Here I have included mostly all the steps which will make these super easy to make and you will feel more confident.

Lets start :

 In a bowl, add 1/4 cup warmed up milk and to it add yeast. Stir it together and wait 5-7 minutes until it foams up or in other words yeast gets activated. Then add the sugar and rest of the milk (which should be cold) and mix. Add 2 cups of flour and salt to it and stir. To it add remaining flour few tbsps at a time until the dough becomes soft and sticky. I ended up using 1/4-1/3 cup of the remaining flour.

Transfer it onto a floured surface and knead for a good 1-2 minutes until dough becomes soft and turns it into a ball that flattens slightly as it stands. Transfer it to a plate covered with flour.

Cut a deep cross into the dough and let it sit in the refrigerator for up to an hour to overnight.

Now lets move on to the most important ingredient for croissants. BUTTER! Make sure butter is only slightly softened. You still want it to be pretty hard so you can shape it. In a bowl, add the butter and beat it until it is smooth. I usually do it in kitchen aid mixer but you can easily do it by hand though it might take more time. To it add flour and beat until smooth. Transfer it to a large plastic wrap and fold the other half of wrap over it. Now using a rolling pin, roll it into a large around 10*4 inch rectangle. Chill it with the flour.

Now take out the dough and transfer it to a floured surface. Roll the dough making 4 wings (It’s best done using the heels of your hand). Basically roll each quadrant and you will end up into 4 giant wing shaped dough.

In the center place that chilled butter.

Fold the bottom wing onto the butter. Then the top one, then the one on the right and then the one on the left. Using a rolling pin, hit it a bit so butter gets evenly distributed between the layers. Roll it into a 17*9 inch rectangle.

Remember what we are trying to achieve here is have layers of dough and layers of butter one after other. We don’t want butter to go inside the dough as this will ruin the layers.

Cut few mm  of dough from the sides to see butter. If you don’t see butter, cut little more until you see butter. Make sure you don’t put the cut dough back into the main dough as this will ruin the lamination and you won’t get croissants with tons of flaky layers.

After that fold the left thirds of the dough towards the center and then the right thirds towards the center. You will end up with a rectangle around 6*9 inch high. Hit it again with a rolling pin and cover and chill in the refrigerator for half an hour.

Roll the dough again into an 17*9 inch rectangle and repeat the fold. Make sure after rolling, you cut away some dough from the sides to reveal butter. Chill for half an hour and repeat this process one more time. This time compress the layers a bit and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill the dough overnight. You will find the dough almost doubled up. Roll the dough to 9 inch high to as wide as possible.

Cut it into triangles using a pizza cutter or knife. I find pizza cutter to do the job in a very easy manner. Take one triangle at a time and starting from the base of triangle, gently roll it them up to the tip. Repeat with all the triangles.

 Transfer the rolled out croissants to a lined baking sheet and brush them with egg wash.

 Let them sit for few hours 2-4 hours until they double up. Repeat brushing with egg wash and bake in a 375F pre heated oven for 15-25 minutes or until they are golden brown.

Best croissants ever!! Just do it now!

How to Make Croissants from Scratch

 

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Homemade croissants that are totally doable and yes they taste way better than any store bought version.

Author: Naive Cook Cooks

Ingredients

For the dough

• 2½ teaspoons active dry yeast
• ¼ cup + ¾ cups milk
• ¼ cup sugar
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt

For butter

• 1 cup cold butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

For egg wash

• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon water

Instructions

1. In a bowl, add ¼ cup warmed up milk and to it add yeast. Stir it together and wait 5-7 minutes until it foams up or in other words yeast gets activated. Then add the sugar and rest of the milk (which should be cold) and mix. Add 2 cups of flour and salt to it and stir. To it remaining flour few tbsps at a time until the dough becomes soft and sticky. I ended up using ¼-1/3 cup of the remaining flour.
2. Transfer it onto a floured surface and knead for a good 1-2 minutes until dough becomes soft and turn it into a ball that flattens slightly as it stands. Transfer it to a plate covered with flour.
3. Cut a deep cross into the dough and let it sit in the refrigerator for upto an hour to overnight.
4. Now lets move on to the most important ingredient for croissants. BUTTER! Make sure butter is only slightly softened. You still want it to be pretty hard so you can shape it. In a bowl, add the butter and beat it until it is smooth. I usually do it in kitchen aid mixer but you can easily do it by hand though it might take more time. To it add flour and beat until smooth. Transfer it to a large plastic wrap and fold the other half of wrap over it. Now using a rolling pin, roll it into a large around 10*4 inch rectangle. Chill it with the flour.
5. Now take out the dough and transfer it to a floured surface. Roll the dough making 4 wings (It's best done using the heels of your hand). Basically roll each quadrant and you will end up into 4 giant wing shaped dough.
6. In the center place that chilled butter.
7. Fold the bottom wing onto the butter. Then the top one, then the one on the right and then the one on the left. Using a rolling pin, hit it a bit so butter gets evenly distributed between the layers. Roll it into a 17*9 inch rectangle.
8. Remember what we are trying to achieve here is have layers of dough and layers of butter one after other. We don't want butter to go inside the dough as this will ruin the layers.
9. Cut few mm of dough from the sides to see butter. If you don't see butter, cut little more until you see butter. Make sure you don't put the cut dough back into the main dough as this will ruin the lamination and you won't get croissants with tons of flaky layers.
10. After that fold the left thirds of the dough towards the centre and then the right thirds towards the centre. You will end up with a rectangle around 6*9 inch high. Hit it again with a rolling pin and cover and chill in the refrigerator for half an hour.
11. Roll the dough again into an 17*9 inch rectangle and repeat the fold. Make sure after rolling, you cut away some dough from the sides to reveal butter. Chill for half an hour and repeat this process one more time.
12. This time compress the layers a bit and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill the dough overnight. You will find the dough almost doubled up. Roll the dough to 9 inch high to as wide as possible.
13. Cut it into triangles using a pizza cutter or knife. I find pizza cutter to do the job in a very easy manner.
14. Take one triangle at a time and starting from the base of triangle, gently roll it them upto the tip. Repeat with all the triangles.
15. Transfer the rolled out croissants to a lined baking sheet and brush them with egg wash.
16. Let them sit for few hours 2-4 hours until they double up. Repeat brushing with egg wash and bake in a 375F pre heated oven for 15-25 minutes or until they are golden brown.
17. Let them cool a bit before serving.

Notes

These can be stored once fully cooled in an airtight ziplock bag. Just pop them in toaster oven before serving.

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