These classic French croissants and flakey, buttery, and everything you love about this beloved pastry. Don't be intimidated by this dessert-I will walk you through each step in my recipe below. You'll never purchase another croissant from a bakery again!
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If you'd like to make some croissants, be sure to set aside some time for yourself. These delicious morsels take some TLC to see through to completion.
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Why you'll love this recipe
There is little better than biting into a flaky and buttery croissant that is just fresh out of the oven. Although several pastries try to pass themselves off as croissants, few would be worthy of gracing the shelf of a French patisserie. This recipe is a true croissant recipe with no shortcuts!
Baking techniques
Croissant dough is layered with butter, rolled and folded several times in succession, then rolled into a sheet in a technique called laminating.
The process results in a layered, flaky texture, similar to a puff pastry. While making these is fairly time-consuming, the results are truly worth it. You'll never want another store-bought croissant again!
Main recipe steps
Making a croissant has many recipe steps. I often like to complete the recipe over several days. Below I outline the main steps to croissant success!
- Make the poolish
- Create the dough
- Form the butter block
- Enclose and fold the dough with butter
- Shape the croissants
- Bake the croissants
- Eat and ENJOY!
Heather's helpful hints
This is probably the most complex recipe that I've posted on Sweet Precision. I truly believe that the process is best learned through instruction, which is why I signed up for a baking class. I found a video on YouTube that does an excellent job of walking you through the process step by step. So before you break out your rolling pin, be sure to take a quick look here!
Recipe
Classic French Croissant
Equipment
- Rolling Pin
Ingredients
Poolish Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups whole milk room temperature
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
Dough Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 ¼ cups bread flour
Butter Block Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Egg Wash Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
To Make the Poolish
- In large mixing bowl, combine the milk, honey, yeast, and flour. Stir to dissolve. Add 1 ¼ cups flour and mix to combine. Beat until smooth. Cover with saran wrap and let rise for 1 hour. Mixture will double in size, therefore the container you use for the poolish should be 2 times as big as the amount of poolish. The poolish is ready after about one hour. You can then refrigerate if you want, but must use within 24 hours.
Creating the Dough
- To the poolish mixture, add the salt and remaining 2 ¼ cups flour and mix using a wooden spoon. Mix until incorporated. Be careful not to over mix. Press on the dough to force the moisture into it. Remove from bowl and fold over a couple of times. If you pull on the bread dough, it should rip. Form dough into a uniform square. Wrap in plastic wrap, refrigerate for at least 1 hour before enclosing the butter into the dough.
Forming the Butter Block
- Dice butter into 1 inch cubes and put in a bowl. Add the flour and salt to the butter and mix well until completely incorporated into butter. Add lemon juice to mixing bowl; beat with a wooden spoon until the butter is softened and the lemon juice is absorbed. Remove the butter from the bowl. Place on plastic wrap and form into a 6" x 6" square with a plastic scrape or spatula. Wrap and chill for 1 hour.
Enclosing and Folding Dough with Butter
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator; remove the plastic wrap and place it on a lightly floured surface. Cut a cross in the top of the dough and roll out the ball of dough in 4 places (left, right, up and down) so that it looks like a 4 "petal" flower. Need to leave a mound or lump in the center of dough. Note: Every time you roll out the dough, use a pastry brush to brush away the extra flour that has clung to the dough.
- Place the chilled butter square on the center of the dough. The butter and the dough should be at the same temperature. Fold the 4 "petals" over the butter, from left to right and from top to bottom, to enclose butter completely. Make sure the corners are pinched so that the butter does not ooze out.
- On a lightly floured surface, start the rolling process by tapping the center of the enclosed dough with the side of the rolling pin from the center out. Center to the right and then center to the left. Using the same technique, tap the dough from the center to top and center to bottom. This helps the butter move with the dough without tearing. Roll the dough into a rectangle about 8" by 20". Brush off the excess flour from the surface of the dough. Square up the corners of the dough as you roll. With the roughest side of dough up (this will help hide any imperfections), fold the dough into 4ths (book fold) and wrap in plastic, and chill for at least 30 minutes to relax the gluten in the dough.
- Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator and place it on a lightly floured surface. With a rolling pin, lightly tap the dough to start the rolling process. Roll the dough into a rectangle about 10" x 24". Brush off any excess flour on the dough. Fold the dough into thirds (letter fold) and wrap it in plastic, and chill. The dough will be ready to roll to the final thickness for the finished croissants.
Shaping the Croissants
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 10" by 24" rectangle ⅛ inch thick. Note: It is important to get the rectangle very thin. Lift the dough gently (or aerate it) to keep it from shrinking. Take care not to spoil the shape of the rectangle. Brush excess flour from the top and bottom of the dough. Trim the edges of the dough to square it.
- Starting 2 inches in from the left side on the bottom edge, with a ruler and a pastry wheel cutter, mark every 4 inches across the bottom of the dough for a total of 6 marks. You will have a scrap piece from each side. Using a pastry wheel cutter, cut into triangles, each with a 4-inch base. Cut a ½ inch slit in the center of each base (the wide end of the dough piece). Place the triangles in a single layer on a clean work surface.
- To shape croissants, place the dough triangle on the work surface with the long point nearest to you. Stretch the case of the triangle to enlarge the slit. At this point, you can add either small bars of chocolate up by the base end or a rounded teaspoon of almond filling.
- Fold the slit toward the outer sides of the triangle, covering the filling of your choice. Press down to seal. Roll the base of the triangle up and towards you, stretching the dough slightly as you roll. Tucking the center point underneath the croissant. Turn the two ends together to form a crescent.
Baking the Croissants
- Arrange the croissants on a parchment-lined baking sheet and brush lightly with the egg wash. Proof for up to 2 hours covered with plastic wrap. Croissants should have doubled in size. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes on a cooling rack.
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe?! First, let me say THANK YOU for giving it a try!
Please leave us a rating and feedback in the comments section at the bottom of this post. I always love to hear your thoughts and ideas on what went well - and didn't - with a recipe!
Happy Baking!
Heather
the winegetter says
I admire how you can make these....so much work with the folding in of butter etc. I bet the result was stellar, but phew, that does seem like a complicated affair...:)
Heather @ Sweet Precision says
Oh absolutely! I would consider making croissants only on one of those days when you're stuck in the house with not much to do and need an activity to pass the time. These could easily eat up the entire day :)
Marylin Warner says
Wonderful recipes, Heather!
Last week I made your iced pumpkin cookies to take to my mother and her caregivers, and you now have a HUGE fan club in southeast Kansas! My mother had hip surgery almost two months ago and is now learning to walk with assistance. Your cookies became her motivation to "try a few more steps"--she would smile and nod and try again.
Those are delicious cookies!
Heather (Sweet Precision) says
Hi Marylin, what a lovely note that you posted! This has to be one of the most heartwarming connections that I have made on my blog. Thank you so much for sharing your story! I'm so glad that these cookies turned out for you and your mom. I know that recovering from surgery can be a big hump for someone of any age, so I'm glad that these cookies could add a little extra motivation for your mom! I'm so glad that you stopped by to share your story. These are the types of connections that make blogging worthwhile, I think. Thank you!!
Just Add Attitude says
Well done Heather, your croissants look amazing - so worth the effort. I confess I have never made croissants but who knows maybe one day! ;)
Heather (Sweet Precision) says
Why thank you!! To be honest, I hadn't attempted croissants before my class either. The entire process seemed entirely too daunting. I'd say it's a fun project broken up over a couple of days!
Allison (Spontaneous Tomato) says
Wow! Those look soooo impressive & perfect!
Heather (Sweet Precision) says
Thanks Allison! It was definitely a learning adventure to finally figure out how to make them!
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Francesca says
What a great post, Heather!!! I love the fact that you keep challenging yourself to graduate to the next baking level. It is very important to make the effort to improve our skills ... no matter what!
Your baking class must have been very enjoyable and it certainly paid off!!! :-) The results are amazing!!! I would love to eat one of your croissants right now with my cup of coffee. They must be a taste of heaven! Your instructions are great and the video is very helpful! Who knows? Maybe I will venture into the croissant land! ;-)
Heather (Sweet Precision) says
Oh goodness, thank you Francesca! It's always fun to learn new techniques and how to bake something different. I'm a fan of quick and easy recipes but sometimes it feels good to invest some time on a creation. These croissants are one of the few times I would say that a 4 hour prep is actually worth it!! It's probably good for my waistline that you can't whip them up quickly ;)
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bakeaffairs says
I am really impresssed! The Croissants look so perfekt and delicious and I bet they tasted heavenly :-) Well done!
Heather (Sweet Precision) says
Oh goodness, thank you Bridget! I'm sure the croissants that you get at a bakery in Switzerland are 100 times better than what we have here. But still, nothing beats home made! :)
Stefano says
Wow, Heather: croissants! I am speechless and drooling! :-) Yours look fabulous and as always masterfully executed. Chapeau, I would say! ;-)
PS: I loved reading the quote in response to K. West, it made me laugh! I was not aware of the "incident". :-)
Heather (Sweet Precision) says
Thank you Stefano!! This was definitely one of the bigger goals that I tackled for my blog this year... and now I have a new found respect for croissants! And yes, I got a real kick out of the French response to Kanye... it goes to prove they take their pastries seriously!
Nancy says
I'm very impressed Heather -- you could actually open up a French Bakery right there in Ann Arbor!
Heather (Sweet Precision) says
Oh goodness, thank you Nancy! That certainly would be a welcome adventure!!
Sherri says
I've never made croissants - my hubby particularly loves them - so maybe now it's time to bite the bullet - parden the pun! These photos look amazing :-)
Heather (Sweet Precision) says
I felt exactly the same way Sherri! I'd never attempted anything like a croissant in the kitchen but I knew that I loved to eat them :) In the class they actually mentioned breaking the steps down into a couple of days so you're not stuck in the kitchen for four hours trying to bake them!
Sherri says
A big task but well worth it and that's good advice :-)
Tracy Lee Karner says
The most luscious croissants I ever ate in my life, were from Auberge Hatley in Quebec (they made them by hand, fresh, every day). That's when I realized--the labor is worth it!
And your instructions are impeccable.
Heather (Sweet Precision) says
I truly that believe that eating a well made croissant is a memory that will stick with you for years! I'm all about shortcuts in the kitchen, but I would agree that this is one instance when the time and labor makes the difference. I'm glad the instructions were coherent, it's hard walking the reader through so many steps!
Tracy Lee Karner says
Agreed--there is no shortcut for making great pastry.
justagirlfromaamchimumbai says
Heather you really need to stop torturing us. These Croissants look amazing, I have made them once before and found them too labor intensive but the flavor was really worth it. Feel like making them again after seeing your post and try and do a better job and click better pictures :)
Heather (Sweet Precision) says
Thank you!! I had the same thought after making them in the baking class... it's definitely alot of work! I sort of imagine making these for a special occasion in the future. That being said, I've eaten so many in the past couple days I might need a detox before I try eating any other pastries!!
justagirlfromaamchimumbai says
Lol I know what you mean, I didn't eat any croissants for a whole week after I made my first batch ;)