Croissants

Unbalanced

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

Place flour into the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook. Add salt and sugar to one side of the bowl and yeast to the other. Add water and mix on a slow speed for 2 minutes, then on a medium speed for 6 minutes. The dough should be fairly stiff.

Step 2

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a ball. Dust with flour, place in a large ziploc bag and chill in the fridge for an hour.

Step 3

On a lightly floured surface, roll out your dough into a rectangle about 24” by 8”. It should be about ½” thick.

Step 4

Flatten the butter to a rectangle, about 16” by 7½”, by bashing it in with a rolling pin. I typically do this between two pieces of parchment paper. Put the butter on the dough so that it covers the bottom two-thirds of the dough. Make sure that it is positioned neatly and comes almost to the edges.

Step 5

Fold the exposed dough at the top down over one-third of the butter. Now gently cut off the exposed bit of butter, without going through the dough, and put it on top of the dough you have just folded down. Fold the bottom half of the dough up. You will now have a sandwich of two layers of butter and three of dough (like a Club Sandwich!). Pinch the edges lightly to seal in the butter. Put the dough on a small, parchment lined sheet tray, cover with plastic and chill in the fridge for an hour to harden the butter.

Step 6

After chilling, place dough on the lightly floured work surface with the short end towards you. Roll into a rectangle, about 24” by 8”, as before. This time fold up one-third of the dough and then fold the top-third down on top to make a neat square. This is called a single turn. Put the dough back on the sheet tray covered with plastic and chill for another hour. Repeat this stage twice more, putting the dough back into the fridge for an hour between turns—for a total of three turns (this is called lamination and is what gives the dough 81 layers!).

Step 7

Place the dough in the fridge for 8+ hours, or overnight, to rest and rise slightly.

Step 8

When you are ready to shape the croissants, line 2 large or 3 baking medium sheets trays with parchment paper.

Step 9

Put the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to a rectangle a little more than 16” long and 12” wide. It should be about ¼” thick now. Trim the edges to neaten them.

Step 10

Cut the rectangle lengthways into 2 strips. Then cut triangles along the length of each strip. These should be about 5” wide at the base and 6” high from the base to the tip. Once you have cut the first triangle, you can use it as a template for the rest. You should get 6 triangles from each strip.

Step 11

Before rolling, hold down the wide base of the triangle and gently tug the opposite thin end to cause a slight tension in the dough. I tend to cut a ½” slit in the base of the triangle before rolling—it helps when rolling to pull slightly from the middle. Now starting at the thick end of each triangle, roll it up into a croissant. You will have 12 medium sized croissants. For a traditional croissant shape, turn the ends toward each other slightly once rolled.

Step 12

Put the croissants on the sheet trays lined with parchment paper, leaving space between them to expand; allow 4-6 per tray. Cover each tray with plastic wrap and leave the croissants to rise at room temperature until at least doubled in size—about 2 hours.

Step 13

Heat your oven to 395°F.

Step 14

Lightly whisk the egg with a pinch of salt to make an egg wash. Brush the top and sides of the croissants with the egg wash. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Be sure to watch the bottoms because they can burn quickly. You can nest the baking trays to ensure a cooked but not burnt bottom—or deflect the heat somehow from underneath. Cool on a wire rack and eat warm.