Moroccan Desserts Breakfast Breads Pastries
Basic Homemade
Croissant Pastry
Dough
By Christine Benlafquih
Updated on 07/19/21
twomeows/Moment Open/Getty Images
20 RATINGS
Prep: 60 mins
Cook: 20 mins
Rising and Chilling Time: 7 hrs
Total: 8 hrs 20 mins
Servings: 16 servings
Add a comment
SAVE RECIPE
Yes, you can make excellent croissants at
home. The key to making these delicious, flaky,
buttery, French pastries is in the dough, which
is handled differently than regular leavened
dough. Croissant dough (pâte à croissants or
pâte levée feuilletée) is made by repeatedly
rolling and folding a leavened puff pastry
dough that contains lots of chilled butter. The
process, called laminating, isn't difficult, but it
takes time because the dough must be chilled
in between folding sessions to ensure that the
butter remains firm.
Ingredients
For the Starter Ba+er (Détrempe):
■ 2 envelopes (4 1/2 teaspoons) dry yeast
■ 3/4 cup water
■ 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
■ 1/2 cup milk
■ 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
For the Laminated Dough:
■ 3 cups (390 grams) all-purpose flour, plus
more for rolling out the dough
■ 2 teaspoons salt
■ 12 ounces (340 grams) unsalted butter
■ 1 large egg
■ 1 tablespoon water
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
278 18g 25g 4g
Calories Fat Carbs Protein
Show Full Nutrition Label
(Nutrition information is calculated using an
ingredient database and should be considered an
estimate.)
Steps to Make It
Make the Starter (Détrempe)
01 Gather the ingredients.
02 Mix the yeast into the warm water,
stirring until well dissolved.
03 Whisk in the 3/4 cup flour, the warm
milk, and the sugar to make a smooth
batter.
04 Cover the bowl with plastic and leave the
batter to mature in a warm, draft-free
place for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. You'll notice
that the mixture rises and becomes
bubbly during this time.
Prep the Flour and Bu+er
01 While the batter is maturing, combine the
flour and salt in a large bowl.
02 Add the cut-up butter (make sure it's
firm and cold) and stir gently to coat the
butter with flour.
03 Use your fingers to press and flatten the
cubes of butter, but don't try to
incorporate them into the flour.
04 Chill the flour and butter mixture until
the starter batter has finished maturing.
Make the Croissant Dough
01 Add the détrempe batter to the chilled
flour and butter, mixing with a rubber
spatula just enough to moisten the flour
and make a crumbly dough. The butter
pieces should still be firm.
02 You're now ready to move on to
laminating, or folding, the dough. It must
be done a minimum of 4 times. The first
folding is a little tricky because the
dough is crumbly and the butter is
chunky.
03 After the first folding, the process
becomes easier.
Laminate the Dough for the First
Time
01 Turn the crumbly dough out onto a large,
well-floured surface. If the top of the
dough is wet or sticky, sprinkle it with
flour.
02 Press the dough with your hands or tap it
with a rolling pin to form a large
elongated rectangle about 12-inch x 18-
inch (30 cm x 45 cm). Use a dough
scraper or your hands to help shape the
edges.
03 Sprinkle any exposed butter with flour,
and then fold the dough into thirds like a
letter. You may find it a bit difficult to lift
the edges of the rough dough to fold it—
we use 2 dough scrapers to do this—but
don't worry about appearances at this
point. The dough will smooth out, and
the flour will be better incorporated after
the subsequent folding.
04 If the butter is still firm, continue to the
second folding. If the butter has softened
and is starting to run, cover the dough in
plastic and chill it in the freezer for 15
minutes (or in the fridge for one hour)
before rolling out the second time.
Roll and Fold the Dough for the
Second, Third and Fourth Times
01 Scrape your work surface to clean it,
then dust it with more flour. Position the
folded dough so that a short, open edge
faces you.
02 Roll out the dough into another 12 x 18-
inch (30 x 45-centimeter) rectangle.
Sprinkle flour on any exposed butter,
brush off the excess flour, and fold the
dough into thirds again. It completes the
second folding.
03 Wrap the dough in plastic and chill in the
freezer for 15 minutes, or in the fridge for
an hour.
04 Repeat the rolling and folding 2 to 4
more times, chilling the dough as
necessary between sessions to keep the
butter firm. After the final folding, wrap
the dough in plastic and leave to rest in
the fridge for at least 2 hours, or up to 24
hours.
Shape and Bake the Croissants
01 With a long, sharp knife, cut the prepared
croissant dough in half. (If your kitchen is
warm, return half to the fridge so that it
remains chilled.)
02 On a floured surface, roll out one portion
of the dough into a large rectangle about
1/4-inch (6-millimeter) thick. Use a knife
or pizza cutter to trim straight edges on
the rectangle, and then cut out 8
elongated triangles.
03 Roll up the triangles from the base to the
tip, and transfer the croissants, tip side
down, to ungreased rimmed baking
sheets. (Use parchment paper for easier
cleanup.) Leave ample room between the
croissants for expansion.
04 Cover the croissants loosely with plastic
and leave to rise for 1 to 2 hours, until
the dough is quite puffy. (Or immediately
freeze the shaped croissants; see Tip
below.)
05 Preheat your oven to 400 F/200 C.
06 Make the egg wash by beating together 1
egg with one tablespoon water. Brush the
egg wash gently over the croissants, then
bake 1 pan at a time in the middle of the
preheated oven until rich golden brown,
15 to 20 minutes.
07 Transfer the croissants to a rack to cool
for 10 minutes or longer before serving.
08 Completely cooled croissants may be
frozen until needed. Reheat directly from
the freezer in a 375 F/190 C oven for
about 10 minutes.
To Freeze Shaped Croissants for
Later Baking
01 Once shaped, the croissants may be
frozen for later baking. Do not allow the
croissants to proof; instead, cover the
shaped dough with plastic and place the
pan in the freezer for a few hours until
the croissants are solid.
02 Transfer the frozen unbaked croissants
to a freezer bag or plastic storage
container and store in the freezer for up
to two months.
03 When ready to bake, place the unbaked
croissants on a parchment-paper-lined
tray, cover loosely with plastic, and leave
to proof at room temperature overnight
or 12 hours
04 Brush with the egg wash and bake as
directed above.
05 Enjoy.
Tips
■ While laminating often calls for folding
a chilled slab of butter within the
dough—you can see this method in
the puff pastry dough tutorial—the
following recipe uses small cubes of
butter instead, as shown in the
tutorial, How to Make
Croissants. Adapted many years ago
from a Bon Appetit recipe, we use it to
make basic homemade croissants or
other pastries calling for croissant
dough.
■ The dough may be made for the same
day or next day baking, or the
croissants may be shaped and then
frozen for later proohng and baking.
Recipe Tags:
Pastry Breakfast
French Party
Rate This Recipe
I N T E R N AT I O N A L I N G … E A S T E R N E U R O P E A N…
Homemade Puff Fast Puff Pastry
Pastry Dough Recipe
(Pate Feuilletee) 3 HRS
2 HRS
FOOD F R E N C H B R E A D & PA…
The 10 Best French Butter
Frozen Croissants Croissants Recipe
in 2022 3 HRS
F R E N C H B R E A D & PA… POLISH DESSERTS
Sourdough Kolachky Recipe
Croissants 35 MINS
80 MINS
D E S S E R T TA R T S PAST R I E S
Buttery Flaky Pie Sweet Short
Crust Dough Pastry
15 MINS Recipe
15 MINS
F R E N C H B R E A D & PA… EXPLORING MOROCC…
Easy French Pain Moroccan Meloui
au Chocolat Recipe - Round
3 HRS Moroccan
Pancake (Rghaif)
85 MINS
CARIBBEAN APPETIZ… SOUTHERN DINNER …
Jamaican Beef Basic Homemade
Patties Pizza Dough
80 MINS 110 MINS
Get easy-to-follow, delicious recipes delivered
right to your inbox.
SUBSCRIBE
Follow us:
Recipes About Us
Advertise
Cocktails
Terms of Use
By Region Careers
Anti-Racism Pledge
Ingredients
Editorial Guidelines
Occasions
Privacy Policy
How-Tos Cookies
Contact
What To Buy
Newsletter
California Privacy Notice
TRUSTe
The Spruce Eats is part of the Dotdash Meredith
publishing family.
