Go to the Recipe: The Secret to Mastering Croissants at Home
Great class. To add to the advice not to get discouraged if you mess up, even highly imperfect croissants still taste delicious!
I cannot express how excited I was when I saw this recipe pop up today. I have been trying to master my croissants. Will definitely give this a shot!
So happy you’ve released this class!
I love Matthew Woolen!
I just started the process, but unless I did not scale correctly, the hydration of the dough is too high. I have ended up just baking a big loaf of bread and saving the butter block for later.
Is the Day 3 video missing?
Well I did it! Rather pleased with the outcome. Thank you for all the tips.
It's there under step # 7.
dang.... Steve those look super.
Thanks! It seemed to be missing yesterday when I was watching!
It's such a joy to watch a professional giving instructions for this; the former recipe on ChefSteps was good but this is definitely better and something to try out!
It’s the butter block tip. No video on final rolling, cutting and shaping. ☹️
Finishing all 16 croissants is challenging for a small family. Would the shaped croissant doughs be kept well in a freezer before proofing for future use?
My butter seems to break into small shards during lamination instead of even layers when I do things according to this method or the previous croissant dough by Grant. The only recipe that doesn’t cause this is for me is Joanne Chang’s where she has you beat the butter with a tablespoon of flour and then smear it directly onto the dough block and then seal and fridge as one before 1st roll and fold. For some reason either my butter gets too hard compared to the dough when I use the chefsteps method or the beating with flour helps homogenize the butter and spread more evenly during rolling. My lamination is still decent with good layering After baking but just an uneven honeycomb due to the larger butter pockets. I may have to try beating the butter with flour then making the parchment shaped block and see if that improves things. Otherwise this new dough works a lot better for me that the older recipe which just caused weeping and butter absorption. If my dough isn’t perfect I usually just make something more forgiving like morning buns/cinnamon buns or kouign amann instead of croissants.
Hi Sid, if you are getting small shards during lamination I would recommend letting the butter warm up a little more.
it would be best to just freeze the sheet before you shape them, but yes frozen shaped ones will work great as well. you can also use half of the batch to make the cinnamon rolls... I'm assuming your family will finish those off pretty quickly!
Second time was a charm.
looks great Kevin!
Did you change something the second time?
Why do we let the dough proof after the third turn if we're just going to degas it again by rolling it out? If I don't have much time on day three, can I just let it proof for an hour or two after the third fold, roll, cut, shape and then let them sit in the fridge over night until it's time to brush and bake?
Is there a target temperature for the dough/butter before the first enrobing? I'm a little confused by the wording "be sure the dough and butter block are equally well-rested and very cold" when Matthew says in the video to let the fully-chilled butter block rest for 30 minutes before starting. It's not clear for how long (if at all) he rests the dough at room temp.
The longer rest makes it easier to roll out by hand. You can roll it out after a couple hours if you are pressed for time. You may have to go back and forth from the fridge if dough gives resistence.
Hello Aaron, for the first enrobing the dough block is always rested in the cooler and needs to stay cold. The butter on the other hand has to "warm up" so it can be rolled out inside the dough. This is more of a feeling, the butter should match the softness of the dough or vice versa. The butter needs to be in between 60-65 f/ 16-18 c. A firm but soft butter block, just soft enough to roll out in between the cold dough. So, after butter block has chilled fully, remove and let temper for about 30 minutes.
I don't know. I might have mis-scaled the liquid the first time. This third time (right now) my butter has shattered inside the dough!
My butter just shattered for me. I'll probably make buns, too. I'm sure they will taste fine!
You advocate using a high protein bread flour for making a stronger / more elastic dough. I would normally use KAF bread flour (12.7% protein) but I have a bag of high-gluten flour (14.2% protein) I use for making bagels. Would this be more ideal or too hard?
Also, is it possible (or advisable) to freeze the dough at some point to proof and bake later?
Hello Steve, Stick with the KAF bread flour for this. The protein at 12% is the goldilocks zone. I would shape croissants, egg wash and then freeze. The shelf life is still limited in the freezer, the yeast activity will decrease over time once frozen. You should have a few weeks kept frozen with similar results.
These came out great! Best croissants I’ve ever made since I worked in a bakery in college 15 years ago and had access to a sheeter! Getting the same feel on the dough and butter before laminating is crucial. Thanks Matthew
Hey Chefsteps team, I'd like to know, if malt powder is an essential ingredient for this recipe and may I able to not make this as long as I don't have it?
Nice work!
You will turn out a fine croissant without the malt powder. The malt helps to tenderize the dough without adding much in the terms of flavor. It improves the texture of the dough while providing cosinstent food for the hungry yeast.
Hey chefsteps, I got it on my second attempt thanks so much! If I wanted to use some levain for sourness when and how much I add?
I couldn't find the quantity of butter for the lamination is mentioned. Could someone please help?
in the initial ingredients list. 385g, butter, unsalted. for block
You would not have to add very much, maybe 5-10%. We have not experimented with wild cultured croissants. You will need to adjust the yeast and the hydration.
Thank you!
thanks! Ill probably try it and let yall know! 5 to 10% in the sponge maybe?
For the sponge, the directions say add 30% of the 200g of flour but I don’t see the step to add the remaining 140g. I assume you add the other 70% just after the initial whisk but before the one hour rest?
Watching the video cleared it up. 200g equals about 30% of the total flour for the entire recipe so for the sponge you should add all 200g at the same time.
What can I replace Diastatic Malt powder, please? Can’t find it in Egypt.
First try and great success. It was a bumpy road though with torn dough and butter leaking on the countertop. I folded it in but there was more on the other side. I placed the dough/butter more often into the fridge/freezer to keep it extra cold and not to loose too much butter.
I didn't find Diastatic Malt powder so added a bit more flour to get to the same dough consistency as in the video.
For those who are on the metric system and also got confused with mixing imperial and metric in the same text, here are the measures in centimeters
4. First roll: 25.4 x 45.7 cm
5. Butter block: 20.3 x 25.4 cm
6. Folds: 30.5 x 91.4 cm
8. Final roll: 38.1 x 96.5 cm
Base width of cut outs: 10.2cm
Help here, during lamination, the butter keeps bursting on the side, and as I roll, the thin dough layer on top and at the bottom rips off, causing the butter to leak out.... butter is properly chilled
I've been making a half recipe once a week (yields 8 croissants). My technique is still very imperfect, but they taste fine.
It was suggested by Matthew in another post that if you want to freeze some to shape, egg wash, then freeze. Any guidelines on proofing from the freezer as well as any other considerations? Thanks!
Make sure the butter block is sealed inside the dough. Be sure to press the edges to seal the butter inside. If butter pushes out your butter may be too soft or your dough was not cold enough. Dough rectangle needs to be nice and cold and butter needs to be the same feeling. Depending on your environment you may try popping your dough rectangle into the freezer for 10 minutes or so to help firm to butter firmness. Hope this can clarify your problem. Let us know.
Amylase powder at a much lower volume ratio than diastatic malt powder (around 1:50 amylase to diastatic malt powder grams) or You can omit and still make a fine croissant. It aids in tenderness and works as a dough conditioner.
Hello Joe, For proofing from frozen. Tray frozen croissants on a parchment lined baking. They need to be sheltered and need to thaw at room temerature before proofing. Now this can be done in the proofer with no heat or on the countertop. Cover without touching the croissants. This should take around 2 hours to thaw and should give a little when pressed. Once thawed proceed with the proof and add some heat and a small amount of moisture. You can also thaw in the cooler overnight and proceed to proof. Always make sure they are shielded from air flow that will dry them out. Egg wash before baking.
any thoughts on using yeast optimized for sweet dough, e.g. Instaferm Gold yeast says it is for products containing over 10% sugar such as Danish rolls, v.s. Instaferm Red yeast is for normal bread containing less than 10% sugar. Croissants seem to be at the high end of less than 10% sugar?
Please learn the proper pronounciation Hearing the "T" ça raille sur les oreilles.
Richard Livernois, il est déjà assez gentil de nous donner la recette et nous faire des vidéos.
Don’t hate, appreciate!
When you print this out, it doesn't print out correctly. Cuts off the last direction on each page
Hello could you help me please? The butter come all out the croissants during baking I proved them in countertop and put them into a pre heated oven at 200C
I think a helpful addition to this class would be to show the result of common errors with photos of the cross sections of the croissants to illustrate the issues. For example, we've seen what your 'ideal' croissant looks like, but what happens when things go sideways? What do they they look like if they're over- or under-proofed? What's the difference between slightly under-baked and slightly over-baked? How does butter leakage affect the final product? Can you course-correct or are you out of luck if you get a tear in the top layer of the laminated dough? What are the issues I don't even know about?
My first attempt was...ugly at best... A good learning experience that gave me an edible, but very flawed, pastry. It would helpful to narrow down the multitude of pastry-related sins I committed to learn how to do better next time.
From the picture it looks like the dough is underproofed. Remeber croissants should be double in size before baking. At room temperature it could take a long time especially in cooler environments. Butter leaking means the lamination needs improvement. The quality of the yeast you use will determine the rate of proofing.
you mean osmotolerant yeast? I’ve encountered those in recipes that require higher sugar levels like some brioche as you said, but never used I just bumped the instant yeast by 30%.
Now it make sense... I'm living in the tropical region which is has an extremely hot room temperature... Can i do it in an air conditioned room? Thankss...
It's a must. I live in Brazil and here even the bests pastry and bakeries shops work their dough under air conditioner. Turn on at least 15min before (depending on the room) starting at something around 19ºC or 62ºF
@Luiza Sane Either under proofed or more probably weak or old yeast - try instant yeast. Thats a sure bet anywhere in the world. Without making a sponge but mix the dry yeast direct into the dry ingredients
Matthew, can you provide some specific cues about finding the right feel for the butter and the right feel for the dough? Because it is possible to have the butter TOO cold right?
It is possible to have the butter too cold. This is the main issue with lamination is getting the butter the same softness as the dough while still being cold. This is more a feeling than an exact temperature, as the dough will have different grades of firmness depending on how long it is rested in the cooler.
I have been testing all kinds of butter--Kerrygold is too soft and I have the butter oozing out problem with it, but its taste is very good. I also tried harder butter like Cremerie Classique and the hard version of Plugra (1 lb size and wrapped in red paper). They tend to crack if I have not super careful. The best I have tried is the half pound blocks of Plugra (wrapped in gold foil).
