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. Just like making mille-feuille, 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. Same process that makes our Chicago-style deep dish pizza crust so buttery and flaky!
Just like we do when we make a croissant bread loaf or homemade cruffins, 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!
See my How to Knead Dough video tutorial if you need any extra help with the kneading step.
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, honey butter, 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 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 Tbsp; 56g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 cups (500g) all-purpose flour (spooned & 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 (340g) 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 begin to knead the dough.
- Knead the dough: Keep the dough in the mixer and beat for an additional 5 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5 full minutes. (If you’re new to bread-baking, my How to Knead Dough video tutorial can help here.) If the dough becomes too sticky during the kneading process, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of flour at a time on the dough or on the work surface/in the bowl to make a soft, slightly tacky dough. Do not add more flour than you need because you do not want a dry dough. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your finger—if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rest. You can also do a “windowpane test” to see if your dough has been kneaded long enough: tear off a small (roughly golfball-size) piece of dough and gently stretch it out until it’s thin enough for light to pass through it. Hold it up to a window or light. Does light pass through the stretched dough without the dough tearing first? If so, your dough has been kneaded long enough and is ready to rest. If not, keep kneading until it passes the windowpane test.
- 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): Stand Mixer (preferred), Hand Mixer, or Glass Mixing Bowl with Wooden Spoon / Silicone Spatula | Rolling Pin | Pizza Cutter | Pastry Brush | Silicone Baking Mat or Parchment Paper | Baking Sheet | Cooling Rack
- 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, Food & Wine, and Epicurious
Reader Comments and Reviews
Hi Sally, I’ve used this recipe regularly to make vegan croissants (yes, with plant based butter!) with fabulous results. Next time I make them I’d like to use them for sandwiches, so I want them to be a little bigger – yielding 12 croissants instead of 16. Would you recommend rolling the dough out thicker before shaping to cut the same dimensions (4×5), or would you recommend rolling the dough out to 8×20 as instructed, and cutting larger pieces?
Hi Amanda! We haven’t tested it, but would guess that rolling it out the same and cutting larger pieces would work better. Let us know if you try!
This really turned out much better than expected! I have been an avid baker for a long time, but never had the nerve to tempt fate with croissants. This recipe was great and made the daunting task of lamination feel way more doable. My layers turned out amazing. I used one stick of unsalted and 2 salted this time. But I do think I’ll splurge for the higher fat content of European butter next time. Because, porque no?!
If you were to fill with something like chocolate or almond paste, I’m assuming you would add it during the shaping process, but do you have any idea how much to add?
Hi Angela, here’s our recipe for chocolate croissants you can reference!
Thanks for the info! I made these this morning and they were fabulous! I made half with chocolate and half plain. I’m thinking Nutella next time… anyway, you could see all the flaky layers and they were a beautiful golden brown. They were just perfect! I watched the video a couple times before trying them and that was incredibly helpful. Thank you for posting that and sharing this recipe. I will definitely be making these again!
The detailed instructions and video for this recipe are so helpful–thank you! I had butter leakage but I’ve seen tips in the comments for how to avoid that next time. My other big challenge was shaping the rolls. I had a hard time getting them from the wider triangle shape after the dough is cut to the longer shape needed for croissants. Any tips would be appreciated.
Hi Colleen! The video tutorial in the recipe card above should be helpful for a visual of this step. Thank you for making this recipe!
Hi! is there nutrition facts for these croissants? thanks
I have made these twice and they taste great but have been a complete design failure.
On my second attempt the butter appeared to break up into chunks within the dough and the cone oozing out everywhere when I did the fold and roll. Because the butter wasn’t fully contained it leaked out during cooking (the oven was very messy).
Any tips on how to avoid this would be greatly appreciated.
I am determined and I will persevere but would like to know how to do it better. 🙂
Hi Amelia! It sounds like your butter got colder than your dough and broke apart. 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 to make lamination possible.
Hi Amelia,
I’ve been a lot of croissants recently and I’ve found that, although a lot of recipes call for you to have the butter warmer to make the two the same consistency, you will get much better results by making the dough colder. As for the butter itself, keep it very cold but pat it down with the rolling pin until it is more pliable before using, this works really well!
Keep going and you’ll get there soon
I was intimidated to made croissants, but decided to forge ahead. The video was super helpful! I’m an avid baker, I make ciabatta & French bread weekly, so I’m no stranger to “dough chemistry”.
I did get concerned during the middle of the process when I could see what looked like “butter pats” through the dough, but decided I would rather err on the side of too cold, rather than too warm. They turned out amazing! All the flakey layers were there, they got huge and puffed up fabulously during baking.
I think my one mistake was not stretching the triangle out to a full 8″, they were more like 7″. I was concerned about manipulating them too much and ruining the layers. But I think by not stretching them out a little further, it made them “thicker” than they should be, so the inside was slightly undercooked when the outside was done. And I mean slightly. I think making them the full 8″ will correct that problem the next time.
*I did get a little butter leakage, but it was fairly mild. I think this is why the bottoms over-brown from the butter leakage. Since I baked the two trays separately, the second round, I put an empty sheet pan on the bottom rack to block the oven’s heating element from hitting the bottom of the croissant’s pan, it worked like a charm! The second batch had leakage, but the bottoms stayed golden.
One last note; Reheating! I didn’t want a reheat to cook the outside anymore, so I wrapped it in foil and popped it in the toaster oven on “toast” for about 8 minutes, then unwrapped and let it sit in the turned off/warmed toaster oven for 1 more minute so the exterior didn’t cook, but re-cripsed. They were like fresh out of the oven!
Oh, my…what a disaster! When I mixed my flour, sugar, etc. after slowly adding the milk my dough was like a thick slurry. I tried it 2 times and the same results both times. The first I beat it on high for 10 minutes and the dough never came together away from the sides of the bowl. After beating the second try for 8 minutes I gave up…the same thing! I was very accurate with my measurements both times. If I could get some ideas as to why and what I need to do differently I sure would appreciate it! I have a Kitchenaid stand mixer.
Thanks so much!
Hi Vikki, it’s so hard to say exactly what could be going wrong without being in the kitchen with you. It sounds like your dough is too wet. Are you in a particularly humid environment? You can try adding a little extra flour to bring the dough together. The video tutorial in the recipe card should be a helpful reference for the texture of dough you’re looking for.
Hi Vikki,
I had the exact same thing happen to me! I used the version where you weighed out the ingredients and then tried again with the cups method, I think the weights are slightly off (milk was actually 330ml or similar and the flour was 530g) as the second time the dough was much drier and not practically a liquid. I would suggest doing the cups if that wasn’t the one you tried.
Very easy recipe. Although its a lenthy process the results were amazing. My only tweak is bake at 350 instead of 400. My first batch had to be tossed, they were overbaked and raw in the middle. Then Iowered the oven to 350, and it was perfect.
I loved this recipe! It went super well for me but literally took me days! Is there a short cut? I wondering if there is a recipe similar to a rough puff version but with yeast but for croissants?
I really loved the recipe. I made the tastiest and best looking croissants on my first attempt. Thank you for making it so easy.
I am a fairly seasoned baker but this was my first foray into making croissants, and i’m glad I went with this recipe! I appreciated the detailed steps and the videos, I reviewed them both several times prior to starting which I definitely recommend to make the whole process easier. Honestly was way less intimidating and labor intensive than i thought it would be!
I used instant yeast and let them sit overnight after the last turn before shaping. They were darn near perfect and my husband ate three within an hour of them coming out of the oven 🙂 I put half of them in the freezer for a later date after shaping (only two of us here, and i didn’t think it was prudent to eat the whole darn batch between us haha). This recipe is a keeper!
Followed everything to instruction, but I don’t know if I was successful. It was really flat and bread-like. Didn’t really puff up at all. Maybe proofing the active dry yeast would yield better results? I think cutting them into elongated triangles in the first place rather than squares and then into triangles would yield better results.
How long do preshaped croissants need to thaw properly in the refrigerator? If I transfer them from the freezer the night prior, will they be ready for baking in the morning, say 12 hours or so?
Hi Dani, we usually thaw them overnight in the refrigerator like you mention, so that timing should be perfect. Hope this helps!
I made these for my extended family Christmas today, and they were excellent! I usually can’t stand videos-just give me words, please-but yours was an exception, and I am glad I watched. Thank you!
This recipe was excellent. Every step was super clear and the video was extremely helpful. My croissants turned out delicious! My first time ever attempting! Thanks!
This is my third time baking these croissants and this batch turned out the best by far. They puffed up beautifully in the oven, and they even rose before that in the fridge overnight. I put some homemade pistachio cream in them and aside from some shaping difficulties they turned out wonderful. Now I just have to find another recipe to use my leftover pistachio cream in
Just want you to know that you are my GOTO for anything baked! Beautiful recipes and great instruction within each. My thanks for what you provide and inspire!!
Hi Sally, thank you for this recipe! I’m interested in making ham and cheese croissants. If I use your croissant recipe, when do I add the ham and cheese?
Hi Bri, several readers have reported success with adding ham and cheese to these croissants. I would suggest adding the ham and cheese to the triangles right before rolling them into the crescent shape. Please let us know how it goes!
I have not mastered the skill! My croissants are not proofing. The refrigerator may be too cold. The dough was very cold to the touch and butter was hard.
I rolled out croissants after the dough warmed a bit. My finished croissants will not proof. I have put them back in the fridge and don’t know what to.do with them now.
I hope that made sense!
Hi Deanna! The dough won’t proof much before baking – the video tutorial above should be helpful. You can let them sit at room temperature to see if they puff up a bit before baking, or go ahead and bake them.
I tried this recipe and it worked perfectly! Just wondering if you can spread the butter right onto the sheet of dough instead of making it seperate and then placing it on the dough?
Hi Pam, you want the clear separation between the dough and the butter, as that’s what will help create all of the layers.
Can I use buttermilk in place of whole milk?
I haven’t tried it, but for best results, I recommend sticking with whole milk.
I’ve made these several times and they’re always DELICIOUS! I recently moved from sea level to the mountains (5500 ft) – how should I adjust the measurements?
Hi Raurie, so glad to hear you’ve had success with our croissant recipe! We wish we could help, but we have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
Hi Sally, thinking about giving these a go. I usually use salted butter in everything, would that be a problem with these?
Hi Hannah! We always use unsalted butter in baking so we can control the exact amount of salt going in. You can read more about the differences between salted and unsalted butter in baking.
after i shape the croissants can i leave them in the fridge overnight and bake them the next morning?
Hi KJ, see recipe notes for our detailed make-ahead instructions. Happy baking!
can i double this recipe? and if so, how exactly?
For best results (and to prevent over or under mixing/working the dough), we recommend making separate batches rather than doubling.
kitkat, what I did was made the dough twice in separate batches, but when one had to be in the fridge, I would work on the other one.
Fantastic recipe and great tutorial video. Thank you – Can you tell me why we make a slit in the 8 inch triangle? What does that do?
Hi Stacey! It helps the dough easily expand to make the crescent shape. It could easily rip instead, so cutting the slit helps.
So exactly how clean are the sides of the bowl supposed to be after the initial kneading? Mine is not near as dough free as the video?
I don’t have instant yeast or active dry, is there anything that I can replace it with or should I go out and buy it?
You really need yeast for this recipe!
Hi Sally, this is my first time trying this recipe. I followed all instructions and now baking my croissants. They’re sitting in a pool of butter. What if I done wrong?
Hi Margo, This can definitely happen and while the croissants still taste fine, it can be disappointing. We’re happy to help you for next time though. It sounds like the butter was simply too hard inside your dough and these hard pieces/chunks of butter are pooling out. Before any point where you are rolling the dough or shaping the laminated dough, let it sit on the counter until the butter has slightly softened and isn’t hard and chunky underneath the layers. You’ll have an easier time laminating the dough and the butter shouldn’t pool out as much. You can also try lowering your oven temperature by 25 degrees F to help ensure the croissants bake a little more evenly, too. Hope this is helpful!
Yes, I had the same problem. Taste okay, but …
I don’t have a stand mixer, so could I use a handheld mixer or mix by hand?
Hi Nova, yes, you can use a handheld mixer or no mixer if needed.
Hi Sally – as I write this I look at my ipad keyboard that is covered in flour from this recipe. The joy that is these croissants and the excellent instruction from you – Thank you Sally. I own a Thermomix and I got a notification that there is a new croissant recipe. So 2 weeks ago I tried it and they failed miserably. I was not deterred and then I found you Sally. They were amazing and not hard, I live in a part of Australia that has quite cool days still as we head into Spring. I found it easier with the coolness of my house.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and passing it on Sally.
So glad this recipe was a success for you, Dannielle!