This laminated dough makes excellent mini croissants, pain au chocolat, and almond croissants. The laminating process takes time, but makes delicate, crispy outside layers and soft, pillowy inside layers. Recipe adapted from Brod & Taylor.
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Ingredients
- Dough
1/3 cup (80 ml) milk, room temperature
1/3 cup (80 ml) water, room temperature
2 1/2 teaspoons (7 g) dry active yeast
2 1/2 tablespoon (30 g) sugar
1 teaspoon fine/2 teaspoons kosher (6 g) salt
2 1/2 cups (300 g) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons (22 g) butter, softened
- Butter Block
150 g high-fat butter
- Egg Wash
1 egg
1 tablespoon (15 ml) milk
pinch salt
Directions
- Dough
- Add the water, milk, and yeast to the bowl of a stand mixer. Add other dough ingredients except the softened butter. Mix on speed 3 for 5 minutes. Once the dough has started to form, add the butter a little at a time to the moving mixer. Shape into a 5 inch square, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and rest for 30 minutes at room temperature. Refrigerate overnight.
- In the morning, unwrap the dough and press into a 6 x 7 inch rectangle. Rewrap and place in the freezer.
- Make the butter block: fold a piece of parchment paper to make a 5.5 x 6.5 inch square. Place cold butter in the center of the square and fold the sides over. Gently beat with a rolling pin until the butter is flexible enough to start rolling it. Roll the butter to an even thickness, filling in all corners of the parchment paper square.
- Bring the dough out of the freezer. Roll into a 6×12 inch block that is 7.5 mm thick. Unwrap it and the butter block. It should be pliable but not at al melted. Center the butter block on the dough so that the 5.5 inch side is nearly touching the either side of the 6 inch side of the dough.
- Fold the dough over the top of the butter block. Bring the sides completely together. Pinch edges to seal.
- Turn the dough 90 degrees. Roll into a 6 x 18 inch sheet (5 mm thick). Make a double fold: fold about 2.5 inches from the left side in. Fold the right side in to meet the left side. Fold in half.
- Turn the dough 90 degrees. Roll into a ~6 x 18 inch sheet (5 mm thick). Make an envelope fold. Bring the left side of the dough 2/3 of the way in. Bring the right side over the left side to make a new 6 x 6 inch square. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least 1 hours
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Roll to a square that is about 10 x 14 inches and 5 mm thick.
- On the top and bottom sides, use a small knife to mark 3.5 inches, 7 inches and 10.5 inches. Use the marks to cut 4 rectangles. Cut each rectangle diagonally to make 2 triangles from each rectangle, for a total of 8 triangles. This will make medium-small croissants. You can also make 6 larger croissants by cutting a rectangle every 4 2/3 inches. Place the triangles into the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes to chill and relax.
- Remove from the refrigerator. Gently manipulate the larger end of each right triangle into an isosceles triangle–the point should be equidistant from either end. Gently roll each triangle into a croissant.
- Place each croissant on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and very gently push down. There should be about 3 inches between each croissant. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until very puffy and jiggly, about 2.5-3.5 hours. The best temperature for this is 76º F. Any warmer than 77 or 78 degrees will lead to melted butter, which will result in loss of layers.
- When the croissants are almost ready to bake, preheat the oven to 400º F.
- Make the egg wash by mixing the egg, milk, and salt until well combined. Brush the top of each level of croissant with the egg mixture, being careful to not brush the sides, because that can seal the sides and limit the rise.
- Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees, then lower the temperature to 350º F. Rotate the tray 180 degrees and bake an additional 10 minutes, until golden brown. Cool on a baking rack