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.
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!
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 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. 🙂
PrintHow 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): Electric Stand Mixer | Rolling Pin | Pizza Cutter | Pastry Brush | Silicone 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
Hi, I have been making croissants for over 30 years. The first recipe I used was Julia Child’s, it made one dozen and when I succeeded they were excellent! About 15 years ago I switched to the Epicurious recipe that made 2 dozen and rarely failed. They are very good. When I saw your recipe I decided it was worth a try. I made one major mistake. When I cut the squares to then cut into triangles I ended up with only 12 ! So they are huge! I did bake them longer but they are a bit dark on the bottom because I had to bake them longer. They do taste very good and I will make them again, not making the same mistake!
What is the purpose of add that touch of flour to the butter layer?
Hi Laurie, the flour adds some stability to the butter layer.
Stuck at home because of covid and it was hubby’s birthday. I wanted to do something special and had limited options! I watched your video and though, I have to try this! I have to say, I can bake beautiful cakes, but I’ve always been intimidated by pastries. I gave it a try. We are 4. We are all 16. Embarrassed much?! These were so good. Thank you again for such detailed step by step and the video. This was extremely helpful!
Just made these and so happy with how they turned out! I’ve never made croissants before and I was a little intimidated by this recipe but it was actually very easy to follow. The video helped so much! Shared some with some friends and they thought they were delicious. Will definitely be making these again!
Before you start shaping the croissants, how thin should you roll out the dough?
Hi Sally,
I was wondering if it would be possible to make the croissants with semi-skimmed milk instead of whole?
Hi Jay, A lower fat milk is fine in a pinch but the dough will not be as rich.
Hi Sally, if I wanted to make almond croissants using almond paste, where and how do I do that? Thanks Sally, love your new website. You are an inspiration!
Hi Dorene! We haven’t tried almond croissants yet. Let us know if you do!
I finally crossed these off my bucket list and they did not disappoint!! They were truly amazing! I made half plain and half chocolate. I froze half of each so I can pull them out whenever. So So So So good!! My husband said they’re better than from the bakery! I was a little nervous because I made them dairy free, so I made them using Earth Balance sticks and soy milk, but they still turned out amazing! Thank you Sally for all the amazing steps, images and videos!
I started challenging myself with new baking ‘assignments’ during the pandemic. In the last 20 months, I’ve made croissants 10 times, trying 5 different recipes … YOURS is the recipe I keep coming back to. Simple instructions, with a perfect result Every. Time. Thank you!
Hi sally! I’ve tried making these twice now, with the same problem both times. When I roll out my dough, the butter is in small chunks and protrudes from the dough. I wish I could attach a photo here, but basically the croissants look “lumpy” with chunks of butter popping out, which then melts when I bake and the dough ends up in a pool of butter. They still taste good because butter is delicious but I wish I could figure out how to keep the butter inside the croissants.
Hi sally! I’m making these as a surprise for my dad, and currently they are in the fridge for another four hours. I think i might have messed up and wanted to message you before continuing… When putting the butter mixture into the dough I noticed large brown clumps coming up as I rolled out the dough, is this fine? I did scrap a few out but I wanted to ask. Also I forgot to put the dough in the fridge before the third roll, will the recipe be harmed?
Thank you so much!
Hi Brooklyn, We are just seeing this note now but wanted to respond incase you try these again. While it’s normal to notice brown granules of yeast in the dough, we can’t imagine what large clumps would be unless the yeast simply wasn’t mixed in well. If you forget to refrigerate it the butter may be too soft and leak out, but you can still bake them. How did yours turn out?
Hi Sally
Was so excited to see you had croissants in your recipes as was thinking of trying and had bad luck with another recipe and love making your bread. Loved the process and the tips always so so helpful. Croissants came out great and will know even more next time super happy to have homemade croissants for Christmas Day!
Hi, would this be too difficult to make without a mixer? Thank you.
Hi Brooklyn, you can use a large bowl and spatula or wooden spoon to combine the ingredients, then knead by hand for 5 minutes. Enjoy!
Thanks for the step by step recipe to make something that has always been scary for me!
I love this recipe!
Hi! I made these in February for Valentine’s Day and they were so delicious! I love that I can freeze them, which is what I did with most of them (not that my boyfriend & I COULDN’T eat all 16 in one setting!). I’m making them again this weekend, and while I’ll be freezing most of them again I want to bake several Sunday morning (tomorrow!) for brunch. I let them rest overnight for the 2nd long rest this time, just to see if they’d have even more air between the layers, so I’m now at the point where I will soon shape them and let them rest at room temp for an hour. After that I will freeze most but the few I want to bake fresh tomorrow will have to sit in the fridge for over 12 hours – is that ok? It will be more like 20 hours in the fridge prior to baking.
Hi Heather, I’m just seeing your comment now. (Takes awhile to get through our 150+ questions daily!) The shaped croissants should only be in the refrigerator for up to 12 hours, but a little longer than that won’t hurt. How did they turn out?
Another great recipe. I absolutely love this. It’s so good! Thank you so much!
Hi
Tried this recipe twice. Came out beautiful. Thanks.
Hello,
I am in the process of making this, however, I missed the step of freezing the dough before turn three and I can see that some of the butter layers were broken. Is there a way to redeem it?
Thank you
Hi Natasha, at this point there isn’t but I expect the croissants will be just fine. They just won’t have quite as many layers.
Will it help if I repeat turn 3 to create more layers?
Yes, definitely.
Made these. Enjoyed the experience. Not quite perfect, but close enough. Next time will be better. Followed directions exactly. I won’t be buying any more store made croissants for my daughter. Thanks.
I loved this recipe and had no issues however how would I cut the dough to make the croissants big enough for sandwiches
I just tried these for the first time: I have never made before… can’t wait for the results
The recipe is fine, however, what I had not anticipated is that the butter will melt and come out of the dough while rolling. When I refrigerated it for a long time, hoping that this will solidify the butter, lumps were formed when I took it out and the lumps started protruding from the dough.
All in all, a nightmarish experience. Had it not been the time and butter invested, I would have ditched the recipe half way.
Not sure what went wrong. Was the dough not pliable enough, butter not whisked properly or is it the warm weather here in Mumbai?
Hi Smita, thank you for giving these croissants a try! There are a lot of variances that go into the consistency of dough, even down to the weather and humidity in the air. Keep the dough as cold as possible, even if that means stopping during any point and refrigerating it for 15-20 minutes before continuing.
Hello I had a question. Which measurement chart do you use to convert grams to cups? Thanks for the answer in advance!
Totally making these tonight…even the comments are making my mouth drool. 😀
I was wondering why you add a little flour to your butter layer?
Hi Sally,
I’ve tried your recipe and it came out brilliantly. However, I froze some for another day but once thawed and baked, the results were not the same. They were stodgy, not risen as much, and came out in a pool of butter. I’ve tried to lower the oven temperature and experiment different ways but they all turned out to be the same. Could you please shed some light, thank you =)
Hello Sally’s team.
I am making these croissants for the second time . The first time I used instant yeast. This time I am using active dry. I just put the dry yeast in but I see the yeast in the dough. Should I have added some milk and sugar and let it sit ? The dough is in the fridge overnight. I’m on step four.
Hi Alexandra, Our dough looks like that too– it’s no problem! Continue on with the recipe.
Thank you so much for the response. And to my surprise (although I don’t know why every recipe I have made has been spot on) they turned out perfect !
Can the unsalted butter in the butter layer be replaced with almond butter? My household is obsessed with almond croissants. I have never made a croissant before but I’ve decided to go for it and of course your website is the first place I went!
Hi Cecilia, almond butter won’t properly laminate the dough – we don’t recommend that. We haven’t tried almond croissants yet. Let us know if you do!
I made these for my family over the holidays. I watched the videos and followed each step to a ‘T’ and they were delicious!
why did my butter just come out the ends of the dough. I made sure to pinch the open ends shut but it still just popped out when I rolled the dough out. Yours seemed to just stay inside perfectly. I made sure the measurements were exact as well…
Hi Donna, it sounds like the butter became too warm. See if you can carefully lift the dough, place on a baking sheet, and refrigerate it to slightly solidify the butter so it’s easier to work with. (And stays inside.)
I don’t have a stand mixer. Can I do this by hand with a Danish whisk? I love my Danish whisk.
Thank you.
Hi Shana, you can do this with a hand-held mixer or by hand. We find a wooden spoon works best, but feel free to use your Danish whisk if desired and pay close attention to the directions for when to knead by hand. Happy baking!
Lizzy, I don’t think they understood the question. I too, would like to know the answer as 16 croissants is too many for my house, too. It makes sense to me that if the ingredients are halved, then the AREA of the dough should be halved. Which is not the same as halving the dimensions. For example rolling a full recipe to 8″ x 20″ results in 16 croissant triangles, each cut from a 4″x5″ square. But halving both of those dimensions to 4″ x 10″ would only yield (2) 4″x 5″ squares, or 4 croissants. You need to end up with (4) 4″x” 5″ squares to yield 8 croissants – (1/2 of the full recipe yield). So, more math is required for each of the roll-out dimensions. I myself am not up to this task on a Sunday morning without enough coffee in it yet, (or anytime, really!!) so I suggest making a full recipe and freezing half. Good luck!
Hi Sally!
Had so much fun trying this recipe! It was my first time baking croissants so I didn’t expect them to turn out perfectly and I was right. I had pool of butter on my baking sheet and my croissants ended up being slightly dense although it was flaky on the outside. I do have layers but there isn’t enough air between them. Any thoughts on what I might have done wrong? I would appreciate any advice you have! Looking forward to giving it another try.
Thank you!
★★★★
Hi Asmau, thank you so much for trying the croissants. Without being there to see exactly what’s happening, I’m going to guess that the butter may be getting too warm as you work and laminate the dough. When that happens, the butter becomes part of the dough rather than remaining in distinct layers. Does that make sense? This may also be why there was so much butter leakage. Don’t be afraid to refrigerate your dough as needed to keep the butter cooler, which helps keep the layers separate.