HOMEMADE FRENCH

CROISSANTS (SMALL BATCH)

COURSE: BREAD, BREAKFAST, BRUNCH, PASTRY
CUISINE: EUROPEAN, FRENCH
PREP TIME: 1 HOUR 10 MINUTES COOK TIME: 25 MINUTES
PROOFING TIME + OVERNIGHT CHILL TIME: 21 HOURS
TOTAL TIME: 7 HOURS 35 MINUTES SERVINGS: 6 CROISSANTS
CALORIES: 376KCAL AUTHOR: DINI K.
How to make homemade French croissants, with detailed, step by step
instructions. Buttery, crisp, flaky croissants, and how to perfect them!
ADVANCED - This recipe is great for advanced bakers, or even intermediate and
beginner-level bakers who are looking for a new challenge. The active time for
this recipe is about 90 minutes, inactive time is about 5 hours. Additionally, there
are 2 nights of resting which stretches the whole recipe to 3 days.
The total recipe time indicated below does not include overnight resting. I prefer
to make these croissants over 3 days to make sure the butter stays solid.
Use of gram measurements for accurate, consistent results is highly
recommended. US based cup, teaspoon, tablespoon measurements are
also provided, but may yield inconsistent results. Common Measurement
Conversions.

EQUIPMENT INSTRUCTIONS
1 large parchment DÉTREMPE
paper, enough to
cover a 5 x 6.5 inch 1. Dissolve the honey in the milk in a mixing bowl,
and then whisk in the yeast. Set aside for the
block (1st parchment yeast to activate for about 10 - 20 minutes.
paper for the butter 85 g milk (⅓ cup), 5 g honey (1 tsp),
block) 6 g active dry yeast (about 2 tsp)
1 large parchment
paper, about 14 x 10 2. Add the rest of the ingredients into the bowl in
inches, folded in half the order listed in the ingredients list. Stir with a
 to form a 7 x 10 inch spatula or spoon to mix it into a scraggly dough.
paper (2nd parchment 60 g water (¼ cup), 25 g butter (1 ½ tbsp),
paper for the dough) 20 g white sugar (generous 1 ½ tbsp),
Plastic wrap 250 g AP flour (2 cups, spoon and leveled),
Heavy rolling pin 5 g salt (about 1 tsp)
1 quarter sheet pan
1 half sheet pan 3. Using your hand, knead the dough for about 1 - 2
A ruler with cm and minutes until a scraggly dough is formed.
inch markings. I like to 4. Take the dough out of the bowl and knead it on a
use a heavy steel ruler work surface until smooth - about 4 minutes. You
with clean, precise shouldn’t have to put too much effort into
edges. kneading here because it isn’t a very stiff dough.
A sharp paring knife Place the dough back in the mixing bowl and
A sharp knife or pizza cover with plastic wrap.
cutter 5. Keep the bowl in a warm place, and proof until at
Pastry brush least doubled in size (this can take about 1 hour).
(preferably one large, 6. After the first proof, turn the dough out onto a
one small) lightly floured surface and flatten it to knock out
the air. Transfer the dough onto the second
INGREDIENTS (larger) parchment paper and shape it into a
DÉTREMPE rectangle. Fold the other half of the parchment
85 g milk (⅓ cup) paper over the dough, forming a 7 x 10 inch case.
lukewarm Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to fit the 7 x
60 g water (¼ cup) 10 inch rectangle. (It doesn’t have to fill the 7 x
lukewarm 10 inch rectangle perfectly, just as closely as
6 g active dry yeast possible).
(about 2 tsp) 7. Cover the parchment paper encased dough well
5 g honey (1 tsp) malt in plastic wrap, and place it in a quarter sheet
syrup, OR use sugar if pan. Freeze for at least a few hours, or overnight.
you have neither TOURRAGE (BUTTER BLOCK)
25 g butter (1 ½ tbsp) 1. Slice the cold butter into thin slices.
melted and cooled 140 g butter (10 tbsp)
20 g white sugar
(generous 1 ½ tbsp) 2. Arrange them on the 1st parchment paper (the
250 g AP flour (2 smaller one), within the 5 x 6.5 inch marked
cups, spoon and rectangle (see picture in the post). Fold the
leveled) parchment paper over to enclose the butter.
 5 g salt (about 1 tsp) 3. Using a rolling pin, firmly hit the butter to make it
TOURRAGE more pliable. Then, using the rolling pin, roll
140 g butter (10 tbsp) out/spread the butter inside the parchment
paper.
EGG WASH - WHISK 4. Make sure to roll the butter out into the corners,
THESE INGREDIENTS but also keep the butter evenly thick.
UNTIL VERY SMOOTH
1 egg yolk 5. Transfer this butter block into the fridge until
2 tbsp milk and/or completely hardened (or overnight).
cream ENCLOSING THE BUTTER (CLICK HERE TO SEE
THE IMAGE)
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 (CLICK HERE
TO SEE IMAGE)
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.
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).
 7. 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).
8. Wrap the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate
for at least 30 minutes (60 minutes is even
better).
SECOND LAMINATION - SINGLE FOLD (CLICK
HERE TO SEE THE IMAGE)
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 (CLICK HERE TO SEE THE
IMAGE)
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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
Again, make sure the dough isn’t sticking to the
work surface BEFORE you starting cutting the
dough in the next step.
7. 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 (CLICK HERE TO SEE THE
IMAGE)
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. Mix the egg yolk and milk together to form the
egg wash.
1 egg yolk, 2 tbsp milk and/or cream
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).
NOTES
There will be some leftover scraps after cutting the croissants. I like to make
an additional "misshapen" croissant, OR add a few pieces of chocolate inside
and make a pain au chocolat. You can also cut and freeze the leftover scraps
for later and use that to make monkey bread.
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.
NUTRITION
Serving: 1croissant | Calories: 376kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 23g |
Saturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 61mg | Sodium: 527mg | Potassium: 73mg | Fiber:
1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 710IU | Calcium: 28mg | Iron: 2mg
 Recipe from The Flavor Bender by Dini Kodippili
Homemade French Croissants (small batch) https://www.theflavorbender.com/homemade-french-
croissants-step-by-step-recipe/