9/1/2021 Croissants Recipe - NYT Cooking

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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, (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/06/dining/croissant-recipes.html) and Claire Saffitz’s step-by-step video
on YouTube. (https://youtu.be/vpwY3nmLLaA))

INGREDIENTS PREPARATION

FOR THE DÉTREMPE (DOUGH): Step 1

Twenty-four hours before serving, start the détrempe: In the bowl of a
4 ⅔
cups/605 grams all-purpose or stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the flour, sugar, salt
bread flour, plus more for dusting and yeast, and stir to combine. Create a well in the center, and pour in
⅓
cup/66 grams granulated sugar the water and milk. Mix on low speed until a tight, smooth dough
comes together around the hook, about 5 minutes. Remove the hook
1
tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon/12
and cover the bowl with a damp towel. Set aside for 10 minutes.
grams kosher salt
2 ¼
teaspoons/7 grams active dry Step 2
yeast
Reattach the dough hook and turn the mixer on medium-low speed.
¾
cup plus 2 tablespoons/214 grams Add the butter pieces all at once and continue to mix, scraping down
water, at room temperature the bowl and hook once or twice, until the dough has formed a very
½
cup/120 grams whole milk, at room smooth, stretchy ball that is not the least bit sticky, 8 to 10 minutes.
temperature
Step 3
¼
cup/57 grams unsalted butter, cut
into 1/2-inch pieces, chilled Form the dough into a ball and place seam-side down on a lightly
floured work surface. Using a sharp knife, cut two deep perpendicular
FOR THE BUTTER BLOCK AND slashes in the dough, forming a “+.” (This will help the dough expand
ASSEMBLY: into a square shape as it rises, making it easier to roll out later.) Place
the dough slashed-side up inside the same mixing bowl, cover with
1 ½
cups/340 grams unsalted plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until about 1 1/2 times its
European or European-style butter (3 original size, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Transfer the bowl to the refrigerator
sticks), chilled and chill for at least 4 hours and up to 12.

All-purpose flour, for rolling

Step 4
1
large egg yolk
As the dough chills, make the butter block: Place the sticks of butter
1
tablespoon heavy cream 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
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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.

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

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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 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

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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
(https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1022057-pain-au-chocolat) or
ham and cheese croissants
(https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1022058-ham-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
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

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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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