Croissant (French Laminated Pastry)

Name: Croissant (French Laminated Pastry)
Prep time: 3 h
Cook time: 18 min
Total time: 3 h 18 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 250 g Bread flour; 250 g All-purpose flour; 140 ml Milk; 140 ml Water; 55 g Sugar; 11 g Salt; 10 g Instant dry yeast; 280 g Unsalted butter; 1 each Egg wash

France's emblematic laminated pastry — shatteringly crisp on the outside, honeycomb-airy within. This viennoiserie takes time and patience, but a freshly baked one is worth every fold.

Ingredients

8servings

Bread flour · or mix 250g + 250g all-purpose250 g
All-purpose flour250 g
Milk · lukewarm140 ml
Water · lukewarm140 ml
Sugar55 g
Salt11 g
Instant dry yeast10 g
Butter block (for lamination)
Unsalted butter · cold, good quality, to fold in280 g
Finish
Egg wash · yolk + a splash of milk1 each

Steps

Make a smooth dough (détrempe) from the flours, sugar, salt, yeast, and lukewarm milk + water. Round it and chill 1 hour.
⏲ 60 min
Pound and roll the cold butter between parchment into an ~18x18cm square block; keep it cold.
⏲ 10 min
Roll the dough to twice the butter block's size, enclose the butter, and seal the edges.
⏲ 5 min
Give it a letter (3-fold), then rest 30-40 min in the fridge — repeat 3 times total, rotating 90° each roll. Keep everything cold so the butter doesn't leak or melt!
⏲ 40 min
Roll the final dough to 3-4mm, cut long triangles, and roll each up tightly from the base into the croissant shape.
⏲ 15 min
Proof on a tray at 26-28C (78-82F) for 1.5-2 hours until doubled and jiggly.
⏲ 100 min
Brush with egg wash and bake at 200C (400F) for 15-18 min until deep golden.
⏲ 17 min

Tips & Variations

Variations

Pain au chocolat: Use rectangles with chocolate batons instead of triangles.
Almond croissant: Fill day-old croissants with frangipane, top with sliced almonds, and re-bake.
Ham & cheese: Split a baked croissant, add ham and cheese, and warm through for brunch.
Shortcut version: 'Cheat' croissants skip some lamination — fewer layers, but much faster.

Tips

Temperature is everything — match the butter's firmness to the dough and keep both cold. Melted butter kills the layers.
Rest well between folds to relax the gluten so the dough won't tear.
Use minimal dusting flour and brush off the excess at each fold.
Proof below butter's melting point (under 28C/82F) — too warm and the butter weeps out.
Roll so the cut layers face out; that's what blooms into the honeycomb crumb.

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