Classic Homemade Croissants

About This Recipe

The croissant is perhaps the most technically demanding of all everyday pastries — its extraordinary flakiness comes from lamination, the process of repeatedly folding cold butter into dough to create hundreds of paper-thin layers. When baked, the moisture in the butter creates steam that puffs the layers apart, producing the characteristic honeycomb interior and shattering crust. Making croissants at home requires patience and precision, but the result is deeply rewarding.

Ingredients

Serves 12

• 500 gstrong white bread flour
• 10 ginstant yeast
• 10 gfine salt
• 80 gcaster sugar
• 300 mlwhole milk(cold)
• 40 gunsalted butter(softened, for dough)
• 280 gunsalted butter(cold European-style 84%+ fat, for lamination)
• 1egg(beaten with 1 tbsp milk, for egg wash)

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the dough

   Combine flour, yeast, salt and sugar. Add cold milk and softened butter. Mix until a shaggy dough forms, then knead briefly — 3–4 minutes — until smooth. Do not over-knead. Flatten into a rectangle, wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight.

2. 2

   Prepare the butter block

   Place cold butter between two sheets of baking parchment. Beat with a rolling pin until pliable but still cold. Shape into a 20×20cm square. Refrigerate until firm but still pliable.

   The butter and dough must be at the same temperature — both cold but both pliable. If the butter breaks or tears, it's too cold.

3. 3

   Enclose the butter and fold

   Roll the dough into a 40×20cm rectangle. Place the butter block in the centre. Fold the dough flaps over the butter like an envelope, pinching all edges to seal. Roll away from you into a 60×20cm rectangle. Fold both short ends to the centre, then fold in half like a book (4 layers). Wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes. Repeat the rolling and folding process twice more, refrigerating 30 minutes between each fold. Refrigerate the final dough overnight.

4. 4

   Shape the croissants

   Roll the cold dough to 4mm thick, about 60×30cm. Cut into long triangles. Stretch each triangle gently and roll from the wide base to the tip. Place on lined baking sheets with tips tucked under, curving into a crescent. Prove at cool room temperature for 2–3 hours until puffed.

5. 5

   Bake

   Preheat oven to 200°C (fan 185°C). Brush croissants gently with egg wash — avoid getting it on the cut sides. Bake for 18–22 minutes until deeply golden. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes before eating.

Variations

• •

  Pain au Chocolat: roll rectangles (not triangles) around two pieces of dark chocolate and seal well before proving.

• •

  Almond Croissants: fill day-old croissants with almond cream (frangipane), top with flaked almonds and bake again.

Storage

Best eaten the day of baking. Freeze unbaked shaped croissants — bake from frozen, adding 5 minutes. Stale croissants are excellent for almond croissants or bread pudding.

Frequently Asked Questions