Today we’re conquering our fears and making homemade croissants! If you’re about to run away screaming, I understand. I’m not sugarcoating it: croissants aren’t easy. Croissants require time, patience, and a lot of rolling. However, just because this recipe is advanced doesn’t mean that YOU have to be an advanced baker to try it. You can absolutely handle this quintessential baking bucket list recipe. ♥
Let me hold your hand through the whole process. I’m sharing step-by-step photography, a full video tutorial, plenty of tricks based on what I’ve learned, and the croissant recipe. I started working on croissants earlier this year. I studied a couple recipes, tested them, tweaked what I found necessary, and played with this dough for weeks. The croissants are golden brown, extra flaky, crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, and unbelievable warm from the oven. One bite of this delicate French pastry will immediately transport you to a quaint French bakery. I’m confident in this homemade croissants recipe and I’m confident in YOU baking them.
The good news! You need zero fancy equipment and zero special ingredients. If you’re looking for a weekend project, know how to read directions, and crave a fresh homemade pastry (don’t we all?), then stick around. You’ll be rewarded with the BEST treat ever!!!
Let’s get right into it. Making croissants is a labor of love. The long recipe directions and all these step-by-step photographs seem intimidating, but let me walk you through the basic process so you aren’t nervous.
The Process
- make easy dough from butter, flour, sugar, salt, yeast, and milk
- roll out dough into a large rectangle
- make the butter layer (I have an easy trick for this!!!)
- enclose the butter layer inside the dough
- roll out the dough into another large rectangle, then fold it back together
- roll out the dough again, fold it back together again
- roll out the dough one more time, fold it back together
- shape the croissants
- bake
There’s resting time between most steps, which means most of the time is hands off. To help us develop all the layers, croissant dough needs to rest in the refrigerator often. That’s why I call making croissants a project. Do it over a couple days with long breaks between the steps.
All that rolling out and folding back together? That’s called LAMINATING.
What is Laminated Dough?
Laminating dough is the process of folding butter into dough many times, which creates multiple alternating layers of butter and dough. When the laminated dough bakes, the butter melts and creates steam. This steam lifts the layers apart, leaving us with dozens of flaky airy buttery layers.
Just like we do when we make a croissant bread loaf, We’re going to laminate the dough 3 times, which will create 81 layers in our croissants. Yes, 81! Let me paint that picture for you.
- Start with dough, butter layer, dough = 3 layers
- Roll it out and fold it into thirds = 9 layers
- Roll that out and fold it into thirds = 27 layers
- Roll that out one last time and fold it into thirds = 81 layers
So we’re only laminating the dough 3 times, but that gives us 81 layers. When the croissants are rolled up and shaped, that’s one 81 layer dough rolled up many times. So when you bite into a croissant, you’re literally biting into hundreds of layers.
Isn’t that SO COOL???
Croissants Video Tutorial
Watch me make croissants in this video. I talk you through the whole video too.
Now let’s see everything come together in step-by-step photographs.
DOUGH
Croissant dough begins with butter, flour, sugar, salt, yeast, and milk. Unlike most yeasted doughs that require warm liquid to activate the yeast, you’re going to use cold milk. The yeast will work its magic later on in the recipe. In the beginning steps of croissants, the dough should always be cold. If, at any point, the dough becomes too warm… stop. Stop what you’re doing and place the dough back in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
The mixer will beat the dough for about 5 minutes. Stand by your mixer as it works the dough. This dough isn’t particularly heavy, but your mixer will still get a workout. Did you see my Instagram story when my mixer FELL OFF MY COUNTER? I walked away at the wrong time and the whole thing danced off the counter. Unplugged itself and everything. Don’t make my mistake!
We made the dough, now we’re going to cover it and let it rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Now let’s roll out the dough into a 14×10-inch rectangle. Use a clean ruler or measuring tape. The ruler or measuring tape, besides your rolling pin, is the most crucial tool when making croissants.
I recommend using a silicone baking mat. While we will still lightly flour it, the mat is nonstick and it’s a handy guide for the exact measurement. You also need to transfer the dough to a baking sheet and the silicone baking mat makes that possible.
The dough isn’t extremely cold after only 30 minutes in the refrigerator, so it will be easy to roll out. Be precise with the 14×10-inch measurement. The dough will want to be oval shaped, but keep working the edges with your hands and rolling pin until you have the correct size rectangle. You can see how I do all this in the video below.
Cover the rolled out dough and chill it for 4 hours or overnight. Literally pick up the silicone baking mat, put it on top of your baking sheet, cover the dough, and chill it. I usually chill it for 4 hours because there is one more 4 hour or overnight chill period coming up. That’s when I typically chill it overnight, making this a 2 day recipe.
BUTTER
Many croissant recipes instruct you to shape extremely cold butter into a rectangle or square. Have you ever tried to manipulate cold sticks of butter into another shape? It’s really hard. I learned the following trick from Zoe at Zoe Bakes. Please go follow Zoe, she is the absolute best. ♥
Start with softened butter, beat it with flour so it has some stability, then spread into a rectangle and chill it. It’s 100x easier to shape softened butter than it is to shape cold butter. Thank you Zoe!
You can use any butter you like best. If you’re going to spend money on European style butter, croissants are when to do it. If I’m being honest, I use store-brand butter and love the croissant’s flavor. It’s butter. It’s going to be good regardless.
The butter rectangle is 7×10 inches, half the length of the dough and the same width, so it fits into the dough. We will chill the butter rectangle right on the silicone baking mat. After it’s chilled, we can peel it right off and place it on the dough to begin lamination.
Make sure you only chill the butter for about 30 minutes. Our goal is to have the croissant dough and butter be the same temperature. It makes lamination possible. Butter solidifies much quicker than a soft dough, so that’s why our dough will chill for 4 hours and our butter will only chill for 30 minutes. Make sense?
Because you shaped the butter into the precise 7×10-inch size, it fits nicely on the 14×10-inch dough. (After the butter rectangle chills, you can always cut sharp edges with a pizza cutter or knife to make it the appropriate size.)
Fold the cold dough over the cold butter. Use your fingers to seal the butter inside.
Now we’re going to laminate the dough 3x with a 30 minute break between the 2nd and 3rd time. Why between the 2nd and 3rd time? Because our dough has been out of the refrigerator for long enough by this point and needs to be chilled again. 30 minutes is plenty.
I do not have step-by-step pictures of the lamination process because it’s time sensitive and the dough just became too warm as I tried to set up the shot. However, you can see me laminate the dough and talk through the process in the video below. (3:20-5:15 minutes) Watching me work through this step is more helpful anyway.
Our dough has been rolled out and folded 3x, now it’s time to rest.
Cover the laminated dough and chill it for 4 hours or overnight. This is when I usually chill it overnight.
Roll out the dough 1 more time. This time you’ll roll it into an 8×20-inch rectangle.
Use your pizza cutter and slice the rectangle down the center to create two 4×20 rectangles. Then slice across 3x to create eight 4×5-inch rectangles.
Look at all these layers!!!!
Now slice each of the 8 rectangles into 2 triangles. Using your fingers or a rolling pin, stretch the triangles to be about 8 inches long. Do this gently as you do not want to flatten the layers. Cut a small slit at the wide end of the triangle, then tightly roll up into a crescent shape making sure the tip is underneath.
Loosely cover the shaped croissants and allow to rest at room temperature (I suggest just keeping them on the counter) for 1 hour, then place in the refrigerator to rest for 1 hour. Unlike a lot of croissant recipes, I prefer the shaped croissants to be cold going into the oven. They won’t spread as much. They will rise and proof for the 1 hour at room temperature and continue to do so in the refrigerator for another hour.
The croissants are ready to bake after that! FINALLY.
Brush them with egg wash (egg + milk).
Bake.
Indulge. Because after making the dough and rolling it out a million times, you completely deserve to. Enjoy them plain or with jam or homemade raspberry sauce. Interested in chocolate croissants? Of course you are!
If you happen to have any leftovers, day old croissants are perfect so soak up flavors in an easy breakfast casserole.
FAQ: Why Are There Are Chunks of Butter in my Dough & Why Did Butter Leak Out of the Croissants?
These are 2 common questions and I’m happy to sum it all up for you. Some butter leakage during the baking process is normal and expected, however if your baking croissants are sitting on pools of butter, your butter layer may have been too cold. It would make sense to give the best temperature for the butter layer, but you’re really looking for texture. You want the dough and sheet of butter to be similar in softness. If the butter layer is too hard, it will crack and split under the dough. Let it sit at room temperature to soften before the laminating process (step 7) OR reduce the chill time in step 6 down from 30 minutes to about 15.
See Your Croissants!
Many readers tried this recipe as part of a baking challenge! Feel free to email or share your recipe photos with us on social media. 🙂
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How to Make Croissants
- Prep Time: 12 hours, 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 13 hours, 10 minutes
- Yield: 16 croissants
- Category: Pastries
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: French
Description
Buttery, flaky, and perfect homemade croissants!
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons; 60g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 cups (500g) all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled), plus more for rolling/shaping
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 Tablespoon active dry or instant yeast
- 1 and 1/2 cups (360ml) cold whole milk
Butter Layer
- 1 and 1/2 cups (3 sticks; 345g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 Tablespoons (16g) all-purpose flour
Egg Wash
- 1 large egg
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) whole milk
Instructions
- Preliminary notes: Watch the video below and use the step-by-step photos before you begin. Read the recipe before beginning. Make room in the refrigerator for a baking sheet. In step 6 and again in step 13, you will need room for 2 baking sheets.
- Make the dough: Cut the butter in four 1-Tablespoon pieces and place in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment (or you can use a handheld mixer or no mixer, but a stand mixer is ideal). Add the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. Turn the mixer on low-medium speed to gently combine the ingredients for 1 minute. With the mixer running, slowly pour in the milk. Once all of the milk is added, turn the mixer up to medium speed and beat the dough for at least 5 full minutes. (If you don’t have a mixer, knead by hand for 5 minutes.) The dough will be soft. It will (mostly) pull away from the sides of the bowl and if you poke it with your finger, it will bounce back. If after 5 minutes the dough is too sticky, keep the mixer running until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
- Remove dough from the bowl and, with floured hands, work it into a ball. Place the dough on a lightly floured silicone baking mat lined, lightly floured parchment paper lined, or lightly floured baking sheet. (I highly recommend a silicone baking mat because you can roll the dough out in the next step directly on top and it won’t slide all over the counter.) Gently flatten the dough out, as I do in the video below, and cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Place the entire baking sheet in the refrigerator and allow the covered dough to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Shape the dough: Remove the dough from the refrigerator. I like to keep the dough on the silicone baking mat when I’m rolling it in this step because the mat is nonstick and it’s a handy guide for the exact measurement. Begin flattening out the dough with your hands. You’re rolling it out into a rectangle in this step, so shaping it with your hands first helps the stretchy dough. Roll it into a 14×10-inch rectangle. The dough isn’t extremely cold after only 30 minutes in the refrigerator, so it will feel more like soft play-doh. Be precise with the measurement. The dough will want to be oval shaped, but keep working the edges with your hands and rolling pin until you have the correct size rectangle.
- Long rest: Place the rolled out dough back onto the baking sheet (this is why I prefer a silicone baking mat or parchment because you can easily transfer the dough). Cover the rolled out dough with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, place the entire baking sheet in the refrigerator and allow the covered dough to rest in the refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight. (Up to 24 hours is ok.)
- Butter layer (begin this 35 minutes before the next step so the butter can chill for 30 minutes): In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter and flour together until smooth and combined. Transfer the mixture to a silicone baking mat lined or parchment paper lined baking sheet. (Silicone baking mat is preferred because you can easily peel the butter off in the next step.) Using a spoon or small spatula, smooth out into a 7×10-inch rectangle. Be as precise as you can with this measurement. Place the entire baking sheet in the refrigerator and chill the butter layer for 30 minutes. (No need to cover it for only 30 minutes.) You want the butter layer firm, but still pliable. If it gets too firm, let it sit out on the counter for a few minutes to gently soften. The more firm the butter layer is the more difficult it will be to laminate the dough in the next step.
- Laminate the dough: In this next step, you will be rolling out the dough into a large rectangle. Do this on a lightly floured counter instead of rolling out on your silicone baking mat. The counter is typically a little cooler (great for keeping the dough cold) and the silicone baking mat is smaller than the measurement you need. Remove both the dough and butter layers from the refrigerator. Place the butter layer in the center of the dough and fold each end of the dough over it. If the butter wasn’t an exact 7×10-inch rectangle, use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to even out the edges. Seal the dough edges over the butter layer as best you can with your fingers. On a lightly floured counter, roll the dough into a 10×20-inch rectangle. It’s best to roll back and forth with the shorter end of the dough facing you, like I do in the video below. Use your fingers if you need to. The dough is very cold, so it will take a lot of arm muscle to roll. Again, the dough will want to be oval shaped, but keep working it with your hands and rolling pin until you have the correct size rectangle. Fold the dough lengthwise into thirds as if you were folding a letter. This was the 1st turn.
- If the dough is now too warm to work with, place folded dough on the baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, and refrigerate for 30 minutes before the 2nd turn. I usually don’t have to.
- 2nd turn: Turn the dough so the short end is facing you. Roll the dough out once again into a 10×20-inch rectangle, then fold the dough lengthwise into thirds as if you were folding a letter. The dough must be refrigerated between the 2nd and 3rd turn because it has been worked with a lot by this point. Place the folded dough on the baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, and refrigerate for 30 minutes before the 3rd turn.
- 3rd turn: Roll the dough out once again into a 10×20-inch rectangle. Fold the dough lengthwise into thirds as if you were folding a letter.
- Long rest: Place the folded dough on the lined baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. (Up to 24 hours is ok.)
- At the end of the next step, you’ll need 2 baking sheets lined with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. The dough is currently on a lined baking sheet in the refrigerator, so you already have 1 prepared!
- Shape the croissants: Remove the dough from the refrigerator. On a lightly floured counter, roll the dough out into an 8×20-inch rectangle. Use your fingers if you need to. Once again, the dough is very cold, so it will take a lot of arm muscle to roll. The dough will want to be oval shaped, but keep working it with your hands and rolling pin until you have the correct size rectangle. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, slice the dough in half vertically. Each skinny rectangle will be 4-inches wide. Then cut 3 even slices horizontally, yielding 8 4×5-inch rectangles. See photo above for a visual. Cut each rectangle diagonally to make 2 triangles. You have 16 triangles now. Work with one triangle at a time. Using your fingers or a rolling pin, stretch the triangle to be about 8 inches long. Do this gently as you do not want to flatten the layers. Cut a small slit at the wide end of the triangle, then tightly roll up into a crescent shape making sure the tip is underneath. Slightly bend the ends in towards each other. Repeat with remaining dough, placing the shaped croissants on 2 lined baking sheets, 8 per sheet. Loosely cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and allow to rest at room temperature (no warmer– I suggest keeping on the counter) for 1 hour, then place in the refrigerator to rest for 1 hour or up to 12 hours. (Or freeze, see freezing instructions.) I prefer the shaped croissants to be cold going into the oven.
- Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C).
- Egg wash: Whisk the egg wash ingredients together. Remove the croissants from the refrigerator. Brush each lightly with egg wash.
- Bake the croissants: Bake until croissants are golden brown, about 20 minutes. Rotate the pans halfway through baking. If croissants show signs of darkening too quickly, reduce the oven to 375°F (190°C).
- Remove croissants from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for a few minutes before serving. They will slightly deflate as they cool.
- Croissants taste best the same day they’re baked. Cover any leftover croissants and store at room temperature for a few days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. You can also freeze for up to 3 months, then thaw on the counter or overnight in the refrigerator. Warm up to your liking.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: Croissants are perfect for getting started ahead of time. The dough can rest for 4 hours or overnight in step 5 and again in step 11. You can also freeze the dough after the 3rd turn in the lamination process (after step 10). Instead of the 4 hour rest in the refrigerator in step 11, wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap or aluminum foil, place in a freezer zipped-top bag, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator and continue with step 12. You can also freeze the shaped croissants after they rest for 1 hour at room temperature in step 13. (Before placing in the refrigerator.) Cover them tightly and freeze for up to 1 month. Thaw completely in the refrigerator, then bake as directed.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): KitchenAid Stand Mixer | Rolling Pin | Pizza Cutter | Pastry Brush | Silpat Baking Mat | Baking Sheet
- Yeast: I use and recommend Red Star Platinum, an instant yeast. You can use active dry yeast instead if needed. No changes to the recipe or prior proofing required; just mix it in as instructed. (Most modern yeasts are already active!) Reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
- Keep Dough Cold: Make sure the dough is ALWAYS cold. If it warms up too much, stop what you’re doing and place the dough back in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
- Floured Surface: Lightly flour the work surface, your hands, the dough, and the rolling pin as you work.
- Air Bubbles: Are there air bubbles in your dough as you roll? That’s ok. Pop them with your fingers or a toothpick, then lightly flour where you popped the air bubble.
- Croissants for Brunch: I recommend starting the recipe the day before in the early afternoon. Complete steps 1-10, then let the laminated dough have a long rest in the refrigerator overnight (step 11). Begin step 13 2-3 hours before brunch.
- Dough adapted from Joy of Baking, Fine Cooking, and Epicurious
Keywords: croissants, homemade croissants
Hi Sally,
The recipe is great. I just have one question – what is the thickness of the dough supposed to be in the last step before cutting it into squares and triangles?
Thanks!
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Hi Sally, can I use gluten free flour instead?
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I haven’t personally tested this recipe with GF flour but let me know if you do!
I tried making these at home, however I normally use Imperial instead of butter and this recipe definitely needs good old fashioned butter to work normally. The Imperial thaws way too quickly and doesn’t become as hard as butter. Still came out tasting fairly okay just didn’t get as much layering.
★★★★
Hi Sally! In the middle of laminating, and noticed that despite wrapping a chilled butter layer in the dough, it sometimes oozed out. I forged on – maybe it has to do with the room temperature, as it’s summer after all! Also, I’ll report back tomorrow because I’m at 7,000′ altitude – and that can wreak havoc with a recipe!
It happens to me, too, when I make these in very humid months. Let me know how they turn out!
This recipe was so great!! My friend and I made it as our first major baking project, and so we were a bit skeptical about our abilities, but the croissants turned out DELICIOUS. Thank you for the step-by-step instructions!
★★★★★
Dear Sally, I just discovered your blog and your croissant video and recipe. I have to start out by saying….you are absolutely lovely! I have a degree in food and nutrition and have already shared your blog with several of my San Francisco hometown peeps!! I now live in Princeton, NJ. Anyway, I decided to try your croissant recipe today. The recipe was very clear…I was the problem. All went as planned until the butter started cracking during the lamination process. I measured with a scale, set a timer for the chilled dough using a timer, and stopped after the third turn. I did not use European butter, only standard supermarket unsalted butter. The dough is resting in the refrigerator for my 4 am wake up to roll it out. My question for you is a follows: Will the shattered, broken butter be a problem? Can my dough be saved? Is there anything I should do before rolling and baking tomorrow? thank you so much. I look forward to exploring your website more?
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Hi Susan! Thank you so much for the sweet comment, I loved reading it! Sorry I’m just seeing this now– I’m unable to get to blog comments on the weekends. Anyway, the butter layer shattering inside the dough is normal and happens (happens to me sometimes too!) and all you need is to just continue with the recipe. If needed, sprinkle more flour on your hands, the rolling pin, the dough, and work surface as you work. The butter will soften up as you roll and won’t be as broken apart as it seems right now. I promise!
They were delicious….but not pretty!! I impressed the family and the 80-year-old professors at the local coffee shop by bragging about the 729 layers (3 to the fifth power). I think one big problem is that I was hesitant to add flour. There is definitely a science to the flour-butter ratio and I was afraid of overdoing it and making dense croissants. Things got pretty sticky and rolling/pulling them into triangles was a big mess. I forged ahead and baked them anyway with the shattered chunks inside. By 10 AM half of them were eaten. Next time I will use better butter, add more flour (with caution), and try to roll more tightly. Will report back when I make them again. Thanks Sally!!!
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Hi Sally! Thank you for this recipe. My wife is from France and we haven’t found a great shop around us to buy croissants, so it’s so wonderful that you made a recipe easy enough for us to make them at home! For my first attempt, they turned out wonderfully in the taste department and the texture was great too. My only issue was that they unrolled in the oven while baking. Was this probably just an issue with not rolling them correctly? They didn’t brown super evenly either so I am wondering, do you recommend turning the oven fan on for even baking? Thanks again for helping me bring the taste of France home for my wife!
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Hi Jenn! Thank you so much for trying the recipe and I’m so happy to help. Making sure you roll each triangle up very tightly– this will help prevent any unraveling. Setting the oven to convection (fan-forced) will help promote even browning– but you may want to slightly lower the oven temperature so they don’t burn too quickly.
Wonderful recipe! Tasted delicious! When it came to the butter, I used an old fashioned traditional trick by grating hard cold butter onto the centre of the dough, and pressing it down firmly according to the correct measurements. It was super easy and saved time. I noticed that the weather plays an important role in the proving of the croissants. During the summer they prove airier and fluffier, and during the winter they remain compressed and doughy, and will definitely need more time to rise before baking. Proving is vital to get the perfect texture.
Hi
Thanks for the great recipe! Can I leave the dough in the fridge after laminating (step 11) for a few days? I want to bake them fresh for a party but I don’t want to freeze the dough because it is just a few days. Is there any reason not to leave the raw dough in the fridge for a few days and longer than overnight?
Thanks
A few days is too long, but keeping the shaped dough in the refrigerator overnight shouldn’t make that much of a difference– they’ll still be great.
Not as hard as I thought it was be! I think my butter was a little too cold but they still turned out flaky and delicious. The recipe was so easy to follow and very clear!
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Sally, I tried your croissants recipes step by step, they turn out very nice. thank you.
I just have a question, what it will happen if i use two stick of butter?
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Hi Nee! I recommend just sticking to the recipe for both the dough and butter layer. So glad you tried and enjoyed them!
Fantastic croissants tutorial, Sally, thank you so much for it. We loved them and they came out perfect.
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Its amazing recipe of croissants.Thanks
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These were amazing! Mine turned out a little wonky ( I think I floured my surface when rolling a little too much). But other than that they were great. Quick question, would it be possible after rolling them into the croissant shape to leave them in the fridge overnight in step 13?
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So glad you enjoy these croissants, Cierra! Keeping the shaped dough in the refrigerator overnight shouldn’t make that much of a difference; they’ll still be great.
This recipe came out amazing! It was my first time attempting croissants for a brunch morning, and I even converted a non-croissant lover. I didn’t use a kitchen aid for the dough, but kneading it for a little long (10 minutes) worked fine!
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I think I was too flustered when I started this because I accidentally used my paddle attachment and snapped it so I was doomed from the start the dough still looked good afternoon switching to my dough hook so I continued but then when I got to laminating things went wrong again. The butter just broke into chunks as I rolled so now I just have lumps of butter in the dough. I persisted because I had waited so long but now I’m looking at these lumpy shaped croissants waiting to go in the oven and I’ve lost all hope. Any ideas what went wrong with my butter? Too cold maybe? Yours looks much lighter too maybe I didn’t add enough flour? I will try again, I’m determined now. Your instructions are amazing and when I read over I think it’s that the butter was too cold but thought maybe I’d ask in case you have some tips for this part. Thanks
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Hi Holly! So glad you enjoyed the croissants, but if you want to avoid those cold chunks of butter next time, make sure it’s a little softer when using it to laminate. You want it soft and pliable for rolling in the dough, but not so soft that it will spill over the sides. If it’s too cold, it will break up into chunks.
Even after all my dramas they actually turned out pretty amazing I was impressed!! So I imagine next time with your tips on the butter they will be even better. The kids loved them with ham and cheese. Lots of fun to make.
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Oh my goodness. Once you make these unbelievably delicious croissants you will want to make them over and over again. Yes, those beauties are a labor of love, but they are SO worth it. Sally’s video makes this recipe easy to follow. It’s not hard, it’s just time consuming, so make sure you have a full day to dedicate to it. You won’t regret it! Well, your body might (I love you, butter.), but your stomach won’t! Thank you, Sally, for yet another magical recipe!
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I’m fairly new to baking so I don’t know what possessed me to try these, but I did, and they were so good! So flaky and buttery. They do take a lot of time and it was hard to get the measurement right, but the instructions were very clear. Mine weren’t as pretty as they could be – I tend to get impatient at the shaping stage. They tasted amazing though.
Made these and pain au chocolat last night and WOW! I started with the recipe in Bread Illustrated but I found the had some weird techniques but yours was user friendly and out of this world delicious. THANK YOU
This is the first recipe of yours I’ve used and my first go at croissants. I had so much fun making them that i started a second batch during my first round’s laminating process. I can’t believe how well they turned out. So flaky and delicious! Will be back to make more of your things. Thanks for making such a arduous task so easy and attainable!
Hi Sally!
One thing I noticed that is different about your recipes compared to others is the chilling step before you roll out the dough and shape it. If our dough is not to sticky can we roll it out and shape it quickly and pop it into the fridge or is it critical to not work it until it has been chilled?
Thanks!
Hi Brittney! Thank you for asking. I find it’s crucial to refrigerate before rolling it and shaping it.
I had so much fun making these. My husband ate 7 in just minutes out of the oven. Called them award winning. I always love your recipes and you are my favorite go to for baking!!
Like so many others here, I too was nervous but glad I did it. Apparently my butter was too cold during lamination and broke apart. This would have been fine but for the fact that I baked the first batch on a cookie sheet not a rimmed baking sheet so the excess butter dripped all over and smoked up my kitchen. As a result, I finally got around to scrubbing down my oven. Looking forward to the chocolate version so I canRa learn from my mistakes. The end result was tasty though.
Hi Sally! I am a self taught baker, and oh my goodness – have been looking forward to making these, I have been running away from trying to make homemade croissants forever! But, because of your video, and step by step photos – today was the day! I just completed my third round of laminating, and my dough is currently proofing in the fridge. I think the dough may have to wait until tomorrow morning for me to cut, and bake since it is already 6 pm 🙁 I am SO excited for tomorrow!
Made these over the last couple days and we enjoyed them with dinner tonight. They were absolutely lovely! Not something I will undertake all the time but for special occasions, this will be a keeper! So fun to get to bite in to all those beautiful layers and know that I did it. I’ve always wondered what goes in to making croissants from scratch and now I know and know that it’s not that hard as long as you plan ahead. Loving your monthly baking challenge!
Hi Sally! I’m hoping to try the croissants this week but I have one concern.
For some reason with doughs like this that require a lot of chilling, unless I’ve activated yeast in warm water, it never dissolves completely and I can see the yeast grains throughout the dough.
I’ve tried making Danish dough this way once and found that the end result was more doughy and pillowy. It felt like the yeast didn’t actually do much rising at all. The result was far better when I used proofed yeast (in warm water) and mixed it into the dough, plus let it sit out for about 15 minutes before chilling. It was a little softer while rolling, but the Danishes were great.
I would assume I’d run into the same problem with croissant dough unless I activate the yeast first. Maybe it’s the yeast brands I get here in India or something, but do you think I could try your croissant recipe this way without causing serious damage? Thanks in advance!
Hi Gayatri! Since that proves more successful for you, go ahead and dissolve the yeast in warm water before you begin. I would reduce the cold milk down by however much water you use. Please let me know how it turns out!
Sally! I’m so excited!!! I did it! They’re super flakey and buttery and I can see the layers! I’m actually jumping around now 😀 At first I thought I’d definitely messed them up because the heat in India is unbelievable right now and I barely made it through the first fold. Rolling and shaping was also really difficult because the dough was softening so fast and there was butter oozing and I had no idea if they would ever resemble croissants. I’m so happy that the stars aligned. I definitely need to try them again and make some temperature adjustments and a smaller recipe possibly because my silicone mats and oven are both small. But thank you so so so much for an incredible recipe. I’ll share photos with you soon 🙂 <3
I did it! Read and watched the video several times which was a great help. The instructions made the process very easy. I did have issues with the butter melting and pooling around the croissants. I did notice that the butter looked cracked and in pieces in some spots. After some research, my butter was to cold or I didn’t proof my dough long enough. I did use our outside refrigerator and this tends to run cold when it’s colder outside…hmmm. The croissants did taste buttery and where flaky, I just know they could be better. I will be trying this again 🙂 I will conquer the lamination process!
P.S. my yeast was new 😉
I’m so happy you tried these croissants. Croissants are one of those recipe you learn from experience. You just have to make them in order to perfect the craft. 🙂 And you’re exactly right… if the butter is cracking, it means the layer was too cold during lamination.
Hi Sally!
I made croissants today thanks to you!! I still can’t believe it & am quite impressed with myself over this. Your recipe, tips, photos, video were all fantastic & easy to understand & follow. I started yesterday & left the dough overnight in the fridge for the 2nd long rest & finished them this morning. The most buttery flakey delicious croissants EVER!! I’m so happy its such a long process cause I’m afraid of how often I’d make (and eat!) these otherwise….. 🙂
Hi Sally,
Is it possible to make these without the stand mixer? Thanks so much!
Hi Hannah! It sure is. If you have a hand mixer, you can use that and then knead by hand for the 5 minutes. Or you can use a large bowl and spatula or wooden spoon to combine the ingredients, then knead by hand for 5 minutes.