09/08/2021 Croissants Recipe - NYT Cooking
Croissants
By Claire Saffitz
YIELD 8 croissants
TIME 24 hours, largely unattended
This recipe is a detailed roadmap to making bakery-quality light, flaky croissants in your own kitchen. With a pastry as
technical as croissants, some aspects of the process — gauging the butter temperature, learning how much pressure to apply to
the dough while rolling — become easier with experience. If you stick to this script, buttery homemade croissants are squarely
within your reach. (Make sure your first attempt at croissants is a successful one, with these tips,
([Link] and Claire Saffitz’s step-by-step video on YouTube.
([Link]
INGREDIENTS PREPARATION
FOR THE DÉTREMPE (DOUGH): Step 1
Twenty-four hours before serving, start the détrempe: In the bowl of a stand
4 ⅔
cups/605 grams all-purpose or mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the flour, sugar, salt and yeast,
bread flour, plus more for dusting and stir to combine. Create a well in the center, and pour in the water and
⅓
cup/66 grams granulated sugar milk. Mix on low speed until a tight, smooth dough comes together around
the hook, about 5 minutes. Remove the hook and cover the bowl with a damp
1
tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon/12
towel. Set aside for 10 minutes.
grams kosher salt
2 ¼
teaspoons/7 grams active dry yeast Step 2
¾
cup plus 2 tablespoons/214 grams Reattach the dough hook and turn the mixer on medium-low speed. Add the
water, at room temperature butter pieces all at once and continue to mix, scraping down the bowl and
½
cup/120 grams whole milk, at room hook once or twice, until the dough has formed a very smooth, stretchy ball
temperature that is not the least bit sticky, 8 to 10 minutes.
¼
cup/57 grams unsalted butter, cut
Step 3
into 1/2-inch pieces, chilled
Form the dough into a ball and place seam-side down on a lightly floured
FOR THE BUTTER BLOCK AND work surface. Using a sharp knife, cut two deep perpendicular slashes in the
ASSEMBLY: dough, forming a “+.” (This will help the dough expand into a square shape
as it rises, making it easier to roll out later.) Place the dough slashed-side up
1 ½
cups/340 grams unsalted European inside the same mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room
or European-style butter (3 sticks), temperature until about 1 1/2 times its original size, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
chilled Transfer the bowl to the refrigerator and chill for at least 4 hours and up to
12.
All-purpose flour, for rolling
1
large egg yolk Step 4
1
tablespoon heavy cream As the dough chills, make the butter block: Place the sticks of butter side-by-
side in the center of a large sheet of parchment paper, then loosely fold all
four sides of the parchment over the butter to form a packet. Turn the packet
over and use a rolling pin to lightly beat the cold butter into a flat scant 1/2-
inch-thick layer, fusing the sticks and making it pliable. (Don’t worry about
the shape at this point.) The parchment may tear. Turn over the packet and
unwrap, replacing the parchment with a new sheet if needed. Fold the
parchment paper over the butter again, this time making neat, clean folds at
right angles (like you’re wrapping a present), forming an 8-inch square. Turn
the packet over again and roll the pin across the packet, further flattening
the butter into a thin layer that fills the entire packet while forcing out any
air pockets. The goal is a level and straight-edged square of butter. Transfer
the butter block to the refrigerator.
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Step 5
Eighteen hours before serving, remove the dough from the refrigerator,
uncover and transfer to a clean work surface. (It will have doubled in size.)
Deflate the dough with the heel of your hand. Using the four points that
formed where you slashed the dough, stretch the dough outward and flatten
into a rough square measuring no more than 8 inches on one side.
Step 6
Place 2 pieces of plastic wrap on the work surface perpendicular to each
other, and place the dough on top. Wrap the dough rectangle, maintaining
the squared-off edges, then roll your pin over top as you did for the butter,
forcing the dough to fill in the plastic and form an 8-inch square with
straight sides and right angles. Freeze for 20 minutes.
Step 7
Remove the butter from the refrigerator and the dough from the freezer. Set
aside the butter. Unwrap the dough (save the plastic, as you’ll use it again)
and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough, dusting with flour if
necessary, until 16 inches long, maintaining a width of 8 inches (barely wider
than the butter block). With a pastry brush, brush off any flour from the
surface of the dough and make sure none sticks to the surface.
Step 8
You’re going to enclose the butter block in the dough and roll them out
together. To ensure they do so evenly, they should have the same firmness,
with the dough being slightly colder than the butter. The butter should be
chilled but able to bend without breaking. If it feels stiff or brittle, let sit at
room temperature for a few minutes. Unwrap the butter just so the top is
exposed, then use the parchment paper to carefully invert the block in the
center of the dough rectangle, ensuring all sides are parallel. Press the butter
gently into the dough and peel off the parchment paper. You should have a
block of butter with overhanging dough on two opposite sides and a thin
border of dough along the other two.
Step 9
Grasp the overhanging dough on one side and bring it over the butter toward
the center, then repeat with the other side of the dough, enclosing the butter.
You don’t need the dough to overlap, but you want the two sides to meet, so
stretch it if necessary, and pinch the dough together along all seams so no
butter peeks out anywhere. Lift the whole block and dust a bit of flour
underneath, then rotate the dough 90 degrees, so the center seam is oriented
vertically.
Step 10
Orient the rolling pin perpendicular to the seam and lightly beat the dough
all along the surface to lengthen and flatten. Roll out the dough lengthwise
along the seam into a 24-inch-long, 1/4-inch-thick narrow slab, lightly
dusting underneath and over top with more flour as needed to prevent
sticking. Rather than applying pressure downward, try to push the dough
toward and away from you with the pin, which will help maintain even layers
of dough and butter. Remember to periodically lift the dough and make sure
it’s not sticking to the surface, and try your best to maintain straight, parallel
sides. (It’s OK if the shorter sides round a bit — you’re going to trim them.)
Step 11
Use a wheel cutter or long, sharp knife to trim the shorter ends, removing
excess dough where the butter doesn’t fully extend and squaring off the
corners for a very straight-edged, even rectangle of dough. Maintaining the
rectangular shape, especially at this stage, will lead to the most consistent
and even lamination. If at any point in the process you see air bubbles in the
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dough while rolling, pierce them with a cake tester or the tip of a paring knife
to deflate and proceed.
Step 12
Dust any flour off the dough’s surface. Grasp the short side of the rectangle
farther from you and fold it toward the midline of the dough slab, aligning
the sides. Press gently so the dough adheres to itself. Repeat with the other
side of the dough, leaving an 1/8-inch gap where the ends meet in the
middle. Now, fold the entire slab in half crosswise along the gap in the
center. You should now have a rectangular packet of dough, called a “book,”
that’s four layers thick. This is a “double turn,” and it has now quadrupled
the number of layers of butter inside the dough.
Step 13
Wrap the book tightly in the reserved plastic. If it is thicker than about 1 1/2
inches, or if it’s lost some of its rectangularity, roll over the plastic-wrapped
dough to flatten it and reshape it. Freeze the book for 15 minutes, then
refrigerate for 1 hour.
Step 14
Let the dough sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes. Unwrap and
place on a lightly floured surface. Beat the dough and roll out as before (Step
10) into another long, narrow 3/8-inch-thick slab. It should be nice and
relaxed, and extend easily. Dust off any excess flour.
Step 15
Fold the dough in thirds like a letter, bringing the top third of the slab down
and over the center third, then the bottom third up and over. This is a
“simple turn,” tripling the layers. Press gently so the layers adhere. Wrap
tightly in plastic again and freeze for 15 minutes, then refrigerate for 1 hour.
Step 16
Let the dough sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes, then unwrap and
place on a lightly floured surface. Beat the dough and roll out as before, but
into a 14-by-17-inch slab (15-by-16-inch for pain au chocolat or ham and
cheese croissants). The dough will start to spring back, but try to get it as
close to those dimensions as possible. Brush off any excess flour, wrap
tightly in plastic, and slide onto a baking sheet or cutting board. Freeze for
20 minutes, then chill overnight (8 to 12 hours). If making pain au chocolat
([Link] or ham
and cheese croissants ([Link]
and-cheese-croissants), see recipes.
Step 17
Four and a half hours before serving, arrange racks in the upper and lower
thirds of the oven. Bring a skillet of water to a simmer over medium-high
heat. Transfer the skillet to the floor of the oven and close the door. (The
steam released inside the oven will create an ideal proofing environment.)
Step 18
As the steam releases in the oven, line two rimmed baking sheets with
parchment paper and set aside. Let the dough sit at room temperature for
about 5 minutes. Unwrap (save the plastic for proofing), place on a very
lightly floured surface, and, if necessary, roll out to 17-by-14 inches. Very
thoroughly dust off any excess flour with a pastry brush. Use a wheel cutter
or long knife and ruler to cut the shorter sides, trimming any irregular edges
where not all the layers of dough fully extend and creating a rectangle that’s
exactly 16 inches long, then cut into four 4-by-14-inch rectangles.
Step 19
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Separate the rectangles, then use the ruler and wheel cutter to slice a straight
line from opposite corners of one rectangle to form two long, equal triangles.
Repeat with the remaining rectangles to make 8 triangles. Trim the short
side of each triangle at a slight angle, making them into triangles with longer
sides of equal length.
Step 20
Working one triangle at a time, grasp the two corners of the shorter end, the
base of the crescent, and tug gently outward to extend the points and widen
the base to about 3 inches. Then, gently tug outward from about halfway
down the triangle all the way to the point, to both lengthen the triangle and
thin the dough as it narrows. Starting at the base (the short end), snugly roll
up the dough, keeping the point centered and applying light pressure. Try
not to roll tightly or stretch the dough around itself. Place the crescent on
one of the parchment-lined baking sheets, resting it on the point of the
triangle. If the dough gets too soft while you’re working, cover the triangles
and freeze for a few minutes before resuming rolling. Space them evenly on
the baking sheets, four per sheet. Very loosely cover the baking sheets with
plastic wrap, so the croissants have some room to expand.
Step 21
Three and a half hours before serving, open the oven and stick your hand
inside: It should be humid but not hot, as the water in the skillet will have
cooled. You want the croissants to proof at 70 to 75 degrees. (Any hotter and
the butter will start to melt, leading to a denser croissant.) Place the baking
sheets inside the oven and let the croissants proof until they’re about
doubled in size, extremely puffy, and jiggle delicately when the baking sheet
is gently shaken, 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Resist the urge to touch or poke the
croissants as they proof: They’re very delicate. Try not to rush this process,
either, as an underproofed croissant will not be as light and ethereal.
Step 22
Remove the baking sheets from the oven and carefully uncover them, then
transfer to the refrigerator and chill for 20 minutes while you heat the oven.
Remove the skillet from the oven and heat to 375 degrees.
Step 23
In a small bowl, stir the yolk and heavy cream until streak-free. Using a
pastry brush, gently brush the smooth surfaces of each crescent with the yolk
and cream mixture, doing your best to avoid the cut sides with exposed
layers of dough.
Step 24
Transfer the sheets to the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Rotate the baking
sheets and switch racks, and continue to bake until the croissants are deeply
browned, another 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool
completely on the baking sheets.
Tip
Croissants are best within an hour or two of baking. After that, revive the
croissants by warming in a 350-degree oven for 5 to 8 minutes. Keep
wrapped airtight at room temperature.
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