Croissants

Name: Croissants
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 18 min
Total time: 7 h 33 min
Yield: 12 croissants
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 500 g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting; 55 g caster sugar; 2 tsp salt; 10 g fast-action dried yeast; 140 ml cold water; 140 ml cold whole milk; 40 g unsalted butter, soft, for the dough; 280 g unsalted butter, cold, in one block, for laminating; 1 egg, beaten with 1 tbsp milk, to glaze

7 h 33
Prep 1 h
Cook 18 min
12 croissants
hard

Start cooking

Flaky, honeycombed croissants made by folding a block of cold butter into a yeasted dough three times, then shaping and proving.

Method

1
Mix the flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a large bowl, then add the cold water, milk and 40 g soft butter and mix to a rough dough.
2
Knead briefly on a lightly floured surface until smooth, about 5 minutes. Shape into a flat rectangle, wrap and chill.
3
Meanwhile, put the 280 g butter between two sheets of baking paper, flatten it with the rolling pin and roll it into an even 19 cm square. Chill it.
4
Roll the dough into a 20 x 40 cm rectangle. Lay the butter on one half, fold the other half over and press the edges to seal it in.
5
Roll the dough away from you into a 20 x 60 cm strip, then fold it in three like a letter. Wrap and chill.
6
Turn the dough so the folded edge is on your left, roll it into a 20 x 60 cm strip again and fold in three. Wrap and chill.
7
Repeat the rolling and folding one last time, then wrap and chill.
8
Roll the dough into a rectangle about 25 x 65 cm and 4 mm thick, then cut it into 12 long triangles with 10 cm bases.
9
Cut a 1 cm notch in the middle of each base, stretch the triangle gently and roll it up from the base towards the tip.
10
Set the croissants on lined trays with the tips tucked underneath, brush with egg glaze and leave in a warm but not hot room until doubled and wobbly.
11
Heat the oven to 200°C and brush the croissants with glaze a second time.
12
Bake until deep golden brown and crisp, swapping the trays halfway.
13
Cool on a wire rack before eating, so the inside can finish setting.

Notes

Keep everything cold. If butter starts to break through or ooze while rolling, wrap the dough and chill it for 20 minutes before going on.
If the room is too warm during proving, the butter melts out and the layers are lost. Somewhere comfortably warm, away from the oven, is right.
The shaped, unproved croissants freeze well. Thaw and prove them overnight in the fridge, then finish proving at room temperature.

Equipment

Large mixing bowl, Rolling pin, Baking paper, Ruler, Large sharp knife or pizza wheel, Two baking trays, Pastry brush, Wire rack

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