Croissants

Croissants

Dough:
3/4 cup milk
2 tsp yeast
1 3/4 cup flour
2 Tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt

Butter Layer:
1 1/2 – 2 Tbsp flour
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter

Prepare the Dough (several hours, or the day before):

Heat milk in microwave or in saucepan over low heat just until warm (about 110*F). If it feels, too hot, let it cool to lukewarm (will feel comfortably warm on wrist or back of arm). Add yeast and stir in.

Combine flour, sugar and salt in a bowl and pour in milk and yeast mixture. Stir together until combined, using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. The dough will be a soft and sticky ball. Don’t try to knead it! Cover with plastic wrap or sealed lid and refrigerate for 4 – 12 hours (or a little more – just get back to it by tomorrow!)

Prepare the Butter:

To prepare the butter, sprinkle 1 1/2 Tbsp. flour on a sheet of wax paper. Roll the cold butter in the flour. Cut it into chunks and push it back together into a lump, if you like. The idea is to keep it cold, but get it soft enough to flatten out. Put another piece of wax paper over top and push at the butter with your rolling pin and your hands until it’s malleable, but not melting. If starts to get too warm and soft, let it cool off in the fridge before resuming work. As you push it out, add up to another 1/2 Tbsp. of flour if necessary, to keep it from getting too sticky. You’ll want to try to get it into a rough rectangle about 6 x 9 inches, but it’s okay if you need to piece it together later, though. When done, put it back into the fridge (still between the sheets of wax paper) to stay nice and chilled while you prepare the dough.

Layer the Dough and Butter:

Remove the dough from the fridge. Lightly sprinkle the clean counter with flour, and dump the dough out onto it. Sprinkle a little more flour on top, just enough to keep your hands from sticking to it. Push and stretch the dough out into a 6 x 12 rectangle. Turn it so that the short ends are at the top and the bottom.

Take the flattened butter out of the fridge, peel it off of the wax paper, and lay it on the bottom two-thirds of the rectangle of dough. Piece as necessary.

Now, just like you fold a letter (except backwards), you’re going to fold the unbuttered top third of the dough down over the middle. Then fold the bottom third up over the middle, to make 5 layers of dough and butter.

Lightly flour the counter and dough. Turn the dough so the short ends are at the top and bottom again. Using your rolling pin, start to flatten out the dough. Start by pressing shallow indentations into the dough, then continue to gently flatten and roll out the dough into a 6 x 12 rectangle, being careful not to push the butter out the edges.

Now, fold both short ends in towards the middle, leaving about 1/2″ of space between the ends. Then fold in half.

Gently roll again out into an (approximate) 6 x 12 rectangle. Wrap loosely in plastic wrap (this will allow for expansion as it rises) and place it in the fridge. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, and up to 24 (although, if you plan on leaving it in the fridge this long, place a plastic bag over top, or another layer of plastic wrap so that it doesn’t dry out).

Cut the Croissants:

Sprinkle the counter lightly with flour. Remove the prepared rectangle of dough from the fridge and unwrap. Carefully roll the dough out into a 12 x 12 square.

Cut in half, making two 6 x 12 rectangles. A pizza or pastry wheel works best, but you can use a sharp knife, too. Grab opposite corners (eg. upper right and lower left) and gently stretch the rectangles a little. This is so you can cut out those triangular croissants a little nicer, especially those first and last ones.

Mark out each rectangle into about 6 triangles (I ended up with a little more), each with about a 4″ base. Using your pizza or pastry wheel (or knife), cut them out.

Roll the Croissants:

Now, take each of these triangles and stretch them across the base (bottom), so that it’s about the same length as the other two sides. Then, turn up the bottom about 1/2 inch and hold onto it with one hand, while with the other, grab the point and stretch it out another 2 or 3 inches. Roll up the croissant.

Place the rolled croissants point side down on pans lined with parchment (or wax paper, in a pinch) about 2 inches apart, and curve each croissant a little to make a crescent (moon) shape. (It’s best to use pans with low sides, if you can, as the butter may run off when it melts in the oven and make a mess. With sideless pans, you may want to not place any croissants too close to the edge, or place another pan underneath in case there are any drips.)

Let Rise, and Bake:

Cover the pans of croissants with plastic wrap and allow to rise until about doubled in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Since the dough came out of the refrigerator, it will take awhile.

Set your oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 375*F.

Brush the risen croissants with egg wash (not too much, or it will puddle underneath, and you don’t want that). Put in the oven and bake about 25 minutes, until they are a dark golden color. They will also feel very light for their size when you pick them up (full of air, you know!)

Serve with jam, marmalade, or Nutella for brunch or tea, along with tea or coffee. Fresh fruit also makes a nice accompaniment.