Homemade Croissants from Scratch! (they're easier than you think)

Homemade Croissants are made with basic ingredients and are surprisingly easy to make. The result is a rich and flaky roll your family is sure to love.

Croissants start with a basic yeast dough rolled out, folded around some butter, then rolled out and folded and rolled out and folded and rolled out and folded.

They are a lot of fun to make and I encourage everyone to try it at least once.

Freezing Croissants

One of the great things about this recipe is you can freeze it at just about any stage and continue making them later. I labelled the recipe, which is why it looks so long at first glance.

I doubled the dough the first time I made them and froze half of it.

Then I folded the remaining half with butter the required 4 times, but only shaped and baked half.

The other half was frozen at this point to make chocolate croissants another day.

You can even freeze the baked croissants and just pop them back in the oven straight from the freezer and heat them just before serving. Hello easy holidays!

Tips for Homemade Croissants

There are three things you need to make the perfect flaky homemade croissant:

• a ruler
• a refrigerator
• a little patience, it has to rest and rise/chill a LOT

The technique is from Julia Child's The French Chef Cookbook. It it not hard, but you absolutely positively have to chill the dough completely between steps to achieve the layers like those from a bakery. Otherwise the butter melts into the dough and the dough becomes too elastic to work with properly.

Recipe

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Ingredients

 

• ¼ cup warm water (about 100°F)
• 1 package active dry yeast ((2 ¼ teaspoons))
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil ((if using bleached flour increase to 4 tablespoons))
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ⅓ - ½ cup milk (at room temperature)
• ¼ cup butter
• 1 large egg

Instructions

 

• Proof the yeast: In a small bowl, dissolve yeast, 2 teaspoons sugar and ½ teaspoon salt in the warm water. Let proof until bubbly, about 5 minutes. (If the mixture is not bubbling in 5 minutes your yeast is probably bad and the croissants will not rise properly).
• Make the dough: In a mixing bowl combine flour, oil, remaining sugar and salt. Add yeast mixture and ⅓ cup milk and mix until a soft dough begins to form.
• Turn dough out onto a floured board and knead until smooth and elastic, 3-5 minutes. If dough is too dry add more milk 1 tablespoon at a time. If it is too sticky, add more flour a tablespoon at a time.
• Place dough in a large greased bowl, cover with plastic and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 - 1½ hours.
• Punch down dough and shape into a circle. Cover with plastic and refrigerate 20 minutes.

  {Dough can be placed in a zip to lock bag and frozen at this point. Allow to defrost in refrigerator then proceed.}
• Add butter to dough: Roll out the stick of butter until softened slightly with no lumps but not beginning to melt. Shape into a 5 inch square and chill until dough is ready. (I stick mine in the freezer for about 5 minutes.)
  
• On a floured board, roll out the dough to a 9 inch circle. Place the 5 inch butter square on top and fold the sides up over the top. Gently push the top dough corners in towards the center so the butter is completely enclosed in dough.

  {Dough can be placed in a zip to lock bag and frozen at this point. Allow to defrost in refrigerator then proceed.}
  
• Roll and Fold #1: With a rolling pin, roll the dough square away from you to form a 15 inch by 5 inch rectangle. Fold the top of the dough down ⅓ of the way, and the bottom up like you are folding a business letter to get a 5 inch square again.
  
• Roll and Fold #2: Turn the dough ¼ turn so the top edge is on your right (or left if you prefer). Repeat the Roll and Fold step above. Cover in plastic and chill for at least 2 hours.

  {Dough can be placed in a zip to lock bag and frozen at this point. Allow to defrost in refrigerator then proceed.}
  
• Roll and Fold #3: Place the dough on a floured board with the top open edge on your right (or left if that was what you did above) and roll into a 15x5 rectangle and fold back into a 5 inch square.
• Roll and Fold #4: Turn the dough ¼ turn and repeat the roll and fold one last time. 4 foldings equals 81 butter layers between 82 dough layers!
• Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 2 hours (yes again!)

  {Dough can be placed in a zip to lock bag and frozen at this point. Allow to defrost in refrigerator then proceed.}
• Shaping the croissants: With a rolling pin, roll dough into a 20 inch by 5 inch rectangle. Cut in half and stick half in the fridge while you shape the first half.
• Cut into triangles: With a rolling pin, roll out the dough to a 15 inch by 5 inch rectangle, cut into thirds. Cut each square diagonally to make two triangles. Roll out each triangle to be 7 inches from point to base.
• Shape into crescents: Roll each triangle from the base to the point. Arc the sides in slightly and place on a baking sheet with the point underneath several inches apart. Repeat to make 12 total croissants.
• Rise and Bake: Let rise one hour until almost doubled.

  {Risen croissants can be frozen and baked later. Place in freezer while on baking sheet, then place croissants in a zip to lock bag until ready to bake.}
  
• Preheat oven to 475°F.
• In a small bowl beat the egg with ½ teaspoon water. Brush on the croissants.
• Bake until golden 10-12 minutes.

  {Baked croissants can be frozen and reheated in a 400° oven for a few minutes before serving.}