Croissants Recipe

Ratna Roy

3 years ago

Croissants Recipe: A croissant is a buttery, flaky, French viennoiserie pastry inspired by the shape of the Austrian kipferl but using the French yeast-leavened laminated dough.

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Croissants Recipe

The butter:

1 tsp. lemon juice
5 sticks of unsalted butter, slightly chilled
1⁄4 cup bread flour work the lemon juice, butter, and flour by kneading it against the table or in a bowl (with your hand) until smooth. Shape the butter into a 6 to 8‐inch square. Place the butter on a sheet of parchment paper and set it aside. If the room is warm, place it in the refrigerator, but do not let it get
too firm. (If this happens, rework and reshape the butter back to the original consistency.)

The dough:

1 lb. 8 oz. bread flour
6 3⁄4 tsp. (or 3 1⁄4‐oz. packages) active dry yeast
2 cups whole milk, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. honey
4 tsp. salt
2 eggs, for egg wash, dissolve the yeast in 1⁄2 cup milk in the bowl of the mixer and
let rest for 5 minutes.
Add the sugar, honey, and salt to the yeast mixture. Attach the dough hook, set the mixer to the lowest speed; begin to add the flour. Mix in enough flour to make a dough that is slightly firm but not rubbery.
Mix at the lowest speed for 1 to 2 minutes. If the dough is too dry, add more milk, 1 Tbsp. at a time. You want all of the flour on the bottom of the bowl to be picked up by the dough hooStop the mixer and look at the bottom of the bowl – if there is still flour, add a few more drops of milk. When the dough is smooth, elastic, no longer sticky, and close to the consistency of soft butter (no longer than 4 minutes), remove the dough and a table that h been dusted lightly with flour.
Roll dough to about a 12‐inch square.
Check the butter to be sure that it is smooth and of the same consistency as the dough; adjust if necessary. Place the butter square on the dough diagonally so that there are 4 triangles on the sides, fold in the sides, and seal in the butter.
Give the dough 3 turns, then refrigerate for at least two hours.

Instructions for making a single turn:

Roll the dough into a rectangle 1⁄2‐inch thick, as carefully and evenly as possible, with a long side facing you.
Divide the rectangle crosswise into thirds by sight or by marking the dough lightly with the edge of your hand.

Fold one‐third of the dough over the middle section, then fold the remaining one‐third over both of them, brush‐
ing away the excess flour from the inside as you fold.

The dough now has one single turn. Refrigerate, covered, for 30 minutes. Position the dough so that the long sides run horizontally, roll the dough to the same size rectangle as before, and make the second single turn.

Chill the dough, covered, for 30 minutes, then make the last single turn. To make the croissants:

Roll the dough into a rectangle slightly thinner than 1⁄4‐inch and as even as possible. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes so that it will not shrink when you cut it, then cut it length‐wise into 3 equal strips.
On the bottom edge of the strip closest to you, start at the left corner, measure4 1⁄2‐inches, and make a mark in the dough. Continue making marks every4 1⁄2‐inches from that point. Do the same on the top edge of the top strip.
Cut from the lower-left corner up to the first mark on the top strip and cut the dough, using a knife or pastry wheel.
Then cut from the first mark on the bottom strip to the second mark on the top strip. Repeat, cutting every 4 1⁄2‐ inches for the length of the dough.

Beginning at the opposite end, follow the same pattern and cut from right to left. Form 2 or 3 croissants from the end
scraps.

Make a 1⁄2‐inch cut in the center of the short side on each croissant. Pull the cuts apart a little, then form the cross‐
sent by rolling the triangles toward you. Roll them up tightly, but do not stretch the dough too much.

For each croissant into a crescent shape as you place it on a sheet pan lined with baking paper. The tip of the cross‐
sant should be inside the center curve and tucked underneath so that it does not until.

Do not crowd on the pan;
allow room for rising. Let the croissants rise until slightly less than doubled in volume.
Brush the croissants with egg wash.

Bake at 425oF until golden and baked through, about 25 minutes.

Tips for working with laminated dough

Laminated dough is a baking term for the process of alternating layers of dough and butter when making pastry.

The dough is wrapped around butter (so that the butter is completely enclosed in dough and cannot slip out), the “package” is rolled out, folded over to double the number of layers, and then the whole thing is repeated. Each time the dough is folded, it is called a“turn.”

The more turns your laminated dough has, the flakier your finished pastry will be. When heated, the water in the butter turns to steam.

The thin layers of butter in laminated dough cause the dough to puff up and rise during baking, giving croissants and puff pastry their layered and crispy look, and the milk solids in the butter cause the pastry to brown – and, of course,
taste delicious.

Don’t overwork the dough block.
When folding the dough, brush off any flour left on the surface so it doesn’t become incorporated. Extra flour can dry and toughen the dough and prevent the layers from adhering to one another.
Keep the butter chilled at all times. The butter needs to be cold but malleable ‐ this is far better than working with a rock‐solid slab. And it must be of good quality. The cheaper butter, often with a high proportion of water in them, tend to ooze out during the baking
Wrap the dough completely in plastic wrap.
When folding the dough, take care to line up the edges precisely and square off the corners by gently pulling or stretching them as you fold them into the center. This attention to detail results in perfectly even layers, which create a high rise and flaky texture when the dough is baked.
When you begin a turn, arrange the dough with its long fold‐ed side toward you. This helps to ensure consistent layering and a finer end product.
The laminated dough freezes well for up to one month. Althawingthaw overnight (still wrapped) in the refrigerator before shaping and rising.

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