Go to the Recipe: The Secret to Mastering Croissants at Home
What is the dimensions for smaller
Croissants
I made some mistakes with the lamination so the layers are a bit thick but otherwise they turned out pretty good! I made morning buns with half the dough so I ended up doing mini-croissants.
I put it in my freezer overnight and it froze solid T-T
Hello Darren, from the pics it does appear to be a dough handling/lamination issue. You noted that you are pressing to hard and I agree. If the dough is too elastic upon rolling out, rest in the fridge, which you stated. Adding a relaxer like dry milk powder or malt powder will help with reducing elasticity. Croissants is all about a gentle force and letting the dough tell you when to rest. If you are close to the roll out dimensions and it springs back, just proceed. Do not try to get the measurements perfect when rolling out, close enough is better than pressing the dough butter layers together.
I was hoping to get some help. I tend to have a common problem with my layers (shown in the photos) and I can't seem to solve it. My first thought was letting it get too warm, but feel that was eliminated by placing in the refrigerator for an hour to two between folds. My current thought is I'm working the dough too much because I roll fairly hard because the dough continues to spring back, so I press harder. I have shifted to using a preferment, that has helped reduce the spring back, but not solved it. My next step is to add a dough relaxer, but I'm reluctant because it seems many are successful without. Thank you for any input!
Hello Rob, Cutting the edges will give you a cleaner block for sure, but not sure if the juice is worth the squeeze. The third day allows for full relaxation to assist when hand rolling. Time may be trimmed down considerably with a sheeter.
Two questions, I noticed in other recipes they have you cut the edges of the dough when laminating, does this serve a purpose? Some say it allows the dough to rise unimpeded while proofing, while others say it keeps the dough from tearing when folding. Is there any truth to these statements? Second, what is the purpose of the third day? Is it because of the third fold? I noticed in other recipes as well, they make the dough the first day, do a bulk fermentation (1st rise), then flatten and store in fridge. Then the second day the only do TWO folds and after a 40min - 60min rest in the fridge, they then do another fold (3-4-3 method). Then finally they rest another hour then roll out for final shaping.
For the first time, I'm pretty happy specially because I thought they will be a disaster after dough started tearing. Few notes:
1. I pressed the dough too hard which caused tearing but luckily I was able to cover it up with enough flour.. I think this is the main cause of some layers getting merged (I think I proofed it enough and there was no butter leaking during cook!) ? Next time will let it rest in fridge in between more.
2. I just couldn't roll it out to same dimensions so I did the best I could. The ones in the photo were good sized, the rest are much smaller but that's ok with me
3. Probably using diastasis malt powder or other dough conditioner would have helped.
4. I used American butter but didn't do the technique of mixing in flour in it ---- chef's, any reason why its' not done here (but done in the other recipes like kouigan...)?
5. Would be helpful to update the recipe based on answers given in the comments so everyone doesn't need to read all the comments - eg I really wanted to know rough target temp for cold butter and dough - read anywhere from 50-60ish F
6. Would be helpful to add ballpark proofing time if temp around 80-82F is maintained - about 2 hours.
Overall I'm pretty happy that these turned out good but wow... learning to deal with laminated dough was tough.. lot of lessons learnt and great experience!
Thank you for the recipe
Looks exciting ! A few questions from someone who has never made them before:
1. Would be cool if you could use infrared thermometer (or normal instant thermometer) and measure temp of dough and butter right before laminating since you said that's a very important part that they be the same temp and cold. Edit: I actually found some online recipes that have suggestions
2. I also read flour should be incorporated in american butter to absorb flour - even your own Kougn-Amann recipe does it (https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/kouign-amann--2 ) - curious why it's not done here .
Update: my dough tore a bunch during laminating on both sides see photo I guess my dough was too cold and I was too rough during rolling which caused this? Not sure how this will turn out tomorrow if it's all leaking...
Thanks!
I'm dizzy from all the turns...lopsided croissants anyone?
Please slow down on those turns and editing.
You can. Results will vary, plus you are omitting any extra steam provided from the whey in the whole butter.
Can clarified butter be used for the butter block? I can see where it would be too soft and "melt" to quickly
ok thank you... I will find a different recipe for puff pastry.
Puff pastry is a different formula altogether. Around the same method of folding, but the dough and butter are another ratio. Puff dough is usually equal parts butter to flour as well.
I baked the a couple weeks ago... and they were amazing! I was wondering though if I could use this recipe to make puff pastry? (just replace milk with water and reduce sugar content + remove yeast completely?)
Or you can make a poolish since it’s useful in adding extensibility to doughs.
Right. Thanks, Matthew!
Do you mean a 1/2 batch? We give you dimensions at the bottom of the page and it would be 14x8(dough), 9x7(butter).
Hey, if I decrease the scale twice, what should be the dimensions of the dough and the butter sheet? I came up to 7x12 and 6x8, going to try right now…
UPD. just found the answer at the end. I was pretty close, huh .
In theory yes, Relaxers make dough easier to work with. Enzymes can be tricky business and we have not explored this like Modernist Cuisine. Bakeries will use conditioners like ReddiSponge to relax dough and make it quick to work with by reducing mixing and fermentation times. That being said time also is the key to relax dough. Resting between each step is key as well as if you feel any resistance then resting will relax the dough. Typically you will use 2-3% of a conditioner in doughs. Time can be the relaxer and costs nothing.
Modernist Bread talks about adding dough relaxers to make doughs more extensible and easier to braid. Their examples include bromelain, kiwi juice, pineapple juice, etc.
Would it work to add some dough relaxer to croissant dough to make it easier to roll and laminate? If so, what quantity of what relaxer?
Thank you so much for the tips and tricks chef. It is really a good recipe.
Also, I have tried the fully-loaded focaccia recipe, it turns up really soft in the centre and crunchy outside. I will share the results on the focaccia recipe.
YOU crushed it! Well done.
My first baked croissant. Thank you chef steps .
I hope you guys give this recipe a go. From Sydney, Australia x
Correct a strong flour is necessary for sturdy croissants and the t55 is ideal. Although croissants can be made with many flour types and the outcome will differ per each type. t45 is made from softer wheat but should still contain enough gluten to hold structure for the dough yielding a soft delicate croissant.
that flour? he actually listed two distinct ones.
une farine forte est nécessaire ( d'après cette recette), eau plutôt tiède pour avoir la poussée d'une heure indiquée.
ps: demander à des américains pour une recette française.. vraiment? et puis nos farines sont trop fortes en Amérique du Nord
That flour will work great. The warm water helps to equalize the temperature from the cold milk. When cold liquids are used you will just increase the time for initial fermentation.
Hallo can wi ues t45 and t55 flour and cold water not worm water ?
Or sueld be worm water in this recipe ?
Thanks
Yes. You use very active 100% hydration sourdough started which is 30% of your flour weight and add 0.25% of flour weight as an insurance policy. Your total hydration of the dough should around 58%. You will need to let the dough ferment until it has at least doubled before you do your first roll out.
Would this be a recipe that would welcome a sourdough starter as a substitute for instant yeast, or no? Figuring ~316g starter yields same yeast content (correct me if I'm wrong). Then this results in a sponge with 316g starter, and only 150g water, and 42g flour (taking half of 316g, and subtracting that from each ingredient)... and all other instructions stay the same. Thoughts?
Not perfect but they were AMAZING!
Happy national croissant day! I had to make these three days ago in order to have them today but the planning was worth it. First time making croissants. Always wanted to give it a go. I used a garbage bag and glasses to keep it off them while proofing.
Lots of thanks 🤩 Lorraine
Wow, Bella! Those look so delicious.
Thank you 😍. And thanks for inspiring and for challenging us 🙏
Thanks Kyl. ❤️
The measurements are at the bottom of the page in a tip labeled, a note on scaling.
Very Nice, look at that crumb!
My dearest ChefSteps staff 😍. You have inspired me to approach this pastry 🥐, finally, but I’m addictive to sourdough for the past half a year.
Self taught home baker, with outstanding skills 😎.
I adopted your technique to create my own sourdough version, and now I’m proudly present to your judgment my first ever sourdough croissant results.
Leftovers were served next morning with avocado and emoji eggs
These are outstanding. I've made croissants a few times before, but these are the best of the lot. In addition to the flavor, which was just spot on, the lamination specified and shown here is superior to what I've seen else: A larger, thinner butter block to start made all the difference for me. The video steps were super helpful as well. The work spreads out nicely over 3 days, and the only pain was the 3 hour rise time after shaping (I needed all of that).
My only comment is cooking time. Mine were barely done @ 22 minutes and probably would have done better at 23 minutes or maybe even 24. I did have the convection fan running.
So if you scale the recipe by half do you half the rectangle size for the dough and butter and for the then laminated dough? Thanks
I also made a batch using the King Arthur bread flour which has 12.7% protein as the pack says. But it's not as good.
I made a batch using a whole grain flour and the result is amazing. Thank you for the recipe:D.
I’d recommend upping the oven temp to 375* for a conventional oven.
Hello KEN WITT, At room temperature they should take around 3 hours. This is dependent on your ambient temperature. Just keep a slow eye on them and do the jiggle test.
how long does the proofing usually take after they are shaped?
The malt powder may be hard to source for some folks. You can have great results without it. You could substitute amylase powder. Did you try clicking the link attached to the malt powder for more info?
Help! What can I replace the malt powder with?
Full batch used half for pains au raisins.
Half a batch should make 14 pains au raisins easily.
You’d need about +/- 400g of Crème pâtissière And raisins soaked in simple syrup
My proportions were:
100g sugar
100g water
1tbsp rum extract, whisked in off heat
150g sultanas.
Make syrup, dump in raisins. Leave to cool on counter and fridge for up to 4 days. Strain before using.
Hi. If I have access to beurre de tourage. Can I instead of pounding it to the dimensions of this recipe, just adjust dimensions of the rolling of the dough ?
I showed my croissants
to the most prominent French baker PAREMI there is in Vienna and ask him for his opinion compared to the one he (shown below) produces.
His commends were:
The reason why his Croissant (looks a lot prettier then mine) lays mostly in the fact that he uses expensive machinery. One can hardly match at home a professional baker.
Why Paremis one rose higher and with nicer, fluffier and bigger holes compared to mine he pointed to a dough handled to warm when kneading and raising the first time and 30 minutes resting time.
The internaldough temperature must obligatory remain always during handling at maximum but ideally below 25º celsius!
- After raising for 30 Minutes between 22º and maximum 25º Celsius the dough must be put immediately in the fridge overnight.
- If the dough internal temperature should (as in my case) rise to or above 25º Celsius, then the yeast shoots all his power in this very first stage and the dough impotently collapses the Croissants (even when raising before nice and high) and flattens out to a slab as in mine when confronted in the oven with high temperature.
The bakery had, given the high local temperature in the last days, a similar problem like me and had to use the trick to pre-cool the flour (and bowls) in the fridge before working him.
I showed my ChefSteps croissants (shown below) to the most prominent French baker PAREMI there is in Vienna and ask him for his opinion compared to the one they
produce (shown above)
The reason why his Croissant (looks a lot prettier then mine) lays mostly in the fact that he uses expensive machinery,
One can hardly match at home a professional baker.
The dough temperature must mandatory remain always during handlings at maximum but ideally below 25º celsius!
After raising for 30 Minutes the dough must be put immediately in the fridge overnight.
If the dough internal temperature should (as in my case) rise to or above 25º Celsius, then the yeast shoots all his power in this very first stage and the dough impotently collapses the Croissants (even when raising before nice and high) and flattens out to a slab as in mine when confronted in the oven with high temperature.
