Croissant Dough
Laminated yeasted dough — for croissants and pains au chocolat
Puff pastry with yeast in it, which means it rises twice — once from steam between the layers and once from fermentation. Three turns only, because more layers in a yeasted dough go stodgy rather than flaky.
Spread over two days: dough and lamination on the first, shaping and baking on the second.
Ingredients
Dough
- 4 cups bread flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
- 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/4 cups cold whole milk
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Butter block
- 10 ounces (2 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
To finish
- 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon milk
Instructions
Dough
- Mix the flour, sugar, yeast, salt, milk and softened butter until a smooth dough forms, about 5 minutes in a mixer. Do not overwork it — this dough gets plenty of gluten development from the rolling.
- Shape into a rectangle, wrap, and refrigerate overnight.
Butter block
- Beat the cold butter between two sheets of parchment into an even 7-inch square. Chill until firm but still pliable — it should bend without cracking.
Lamination
- Roll the dough to a 15 by 8 inch rectangle. Set the butter on one half and fold the other over, sealing the edges.
- Roll to about 20 by 8 inches and fold in three. Chill 45 minutes. Repeat twice more, for three turns in total.
- Chill overnight after the final turn.
Shaping
- Roll to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into long triangles, notch the base of each, and roll up from the base to the tip.
- Prove on lined trays at warm room temperature (not above 78°F, or the butter melts out) for 2 to 3 hours, until visibly puffy and wobbly.
- Brush with egg wash and bake at 400°F for 18 to 22 minutes, until deep golden.
Notes
- Proving too warm is the commonest failure — butter leaks out and they fry rather than rise.
- Shaped croissants freeze unproved; thaw and prove overnight in the fridge.