It wasn't until my early twenties that I even began to cook & was probably 2 years ago that I started getting into baking. Hands down, I prefer baking. There are too many fast and loose variables involved in cooking for someone like me. A lot of options for a Virgo means a lot of stress. I need structure! Rules! Right and wrong! I've made a whole array of weird breads over the past few years but feel like I'm finally starting to understand it. I'm sure someone in a culinary class could have saved me a lot of time...but I'm also weary of people who say they have all the answers. I need to see a deflated loaf of bread many times before believing that you really do have to wait 4 hours to bake it. If there's one thing you should know about my recipes, it's that I've already cut every corner possible. I would never recommend some method or ingredient just for its alleged value. I recommend what works & what's good.
OKAY, CROISSANTS. I recently met a wonderful girl named Meredith Rubin who loves bread and baking as much as I do (unbelievable). In a discussion about our loftiest baking dreams, we agreed that anyone claiming to be a baker must be able to make croissants. It's a rite of passage. So, 6 instructional videos / 2 books / 2 attempts / a lot of beers later, I'm ready to show you how I made croissants!
(makes about 14 big croissants)
(Don't freak out. Have fun. It's just dough.)
3 C whole milk
1/2 C packed light brown sugar
2 T plus 1/2 t active dry yeast
7 1/2 C unbleached flour
1 T salt
6 sticks salted butter
2 egg yolks
2 T heavy cream
Good amount of plastic wrap!
MAKE THE DOUGH:
(Set butter out on the counter.)
(If you don't have a stand mixer, do it by hand. No biggie.)
Warm the milk to about 110 degrees. Pour it into the bowl of a stand mixer and mix in brown sugar and yeast. Let it sit for about 5 minutes or until the top gets foamy. If it doesn't foam, the yeast is not activating & you should start over.
Start your mixer on low with a dough hook attachment & add flour. Mix on low for 7 minutes. Dough should be sticky and very soft. Generously flour a large flat surface and also flour your hands. Scrape the dough onto the surface and knead by hand for another 2 minutes. You'll need to add bits of flour as you go to create a dough that's smooth, slightly sticky & soft. Loosely form the dough into a rectangle about 2 inches thick. Wrap well with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. This is to firm up the dough.
MAKE THE BUTTER BLOCK:
(There are several good ways to do this! You should watch a few videos to see which way suits the resources you have in your kitchen.)
Place sticks of butter equidistantly (word?) into a 9x13 baking dish lined with plastic wrap. When the dough has been chilling for 1 hour, you're ready to start forming the butter. It's VERY important for the butter and dough to be about the same firmness. If your butter is too hard, it won't stretch with the dough, it will just separate in clumps which will result in a croissant with uneven layers (still delicious, just not as pretty!). Place another layer of plastic wrap over the top of the butter sticks and start smashing them into the dish. You want your block to be as even as possible. I used a juice glass to help me roll it flat.
LAMINATING (incorporating butter):
Pull your dough put of the fridge and unwrap it on a floured surface. Roll it out to be 15x 27 inches. Pull the butter block out of the baking dish and put it right in the center of the dough. It should go horizontally do that there is 1 inch of dough on either side of the butter. Fold each flap of dough over the butter like you're folding a letter. Try not to trap any air.
NOW. You're ready to do your first fold!! With a rolling pin, start to gently roll out the dough encased with butter. You'll be rolling it out to 13 x 27 inches. Once you've made it to this size you'll fold it like a letter again. Your dough now has 3 layers & should be in a rectangle that is 13 x 9 inches. Wrap it with plastic & refrigerate for 45 minutes.
You'll repeat this rolling and folding step 3 more times for a total of four folds.
After you've completed the folding, you can wrap and refrigerate the dough until you're ready to bake the croissants (18 hours max, though).
FORMING & BAKING:
This is the most fun!!
Pull the dough out of the fridge and unwrap in on a well floured surface. Maintaining the rectangular shape, roll out dough until it is consistently about a 1/2 inch thick. Use a pizza cutter to trim all 4 edges to reveal layers (!!). Use a straight edge and your pizza cutter to cut out triangles. Cut into the flat end of each triangle about an inch. Pull two flaps apart slightly and roll evenly to the top point. Place croissant on your prepared baking pan and roll up the rest. Now, THIS IS CRUCIAL. You have to let the croissants set out in the kitchen or a warm room for 2 solid hours. This allows for the final rise which aerates the dough thus keeping your croissants from being super dense. Be patient! I learned this the saddest, hardest way.
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| Pre-rise |
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| Post-rise |
(Heat the oven to 400 degrees)
Make an egg wash with 2 egg yolks and a tablespoon of cream. Liberally coat croissants. Go crazy if you want & put on 2 coats! Pop the whole pan on your fridge for 5 minutes before baking. This helped me control the yeast and keep it from flipping out in the oven. The chilled croissants were much prettier! Bake for 20-25 minutes or until beautifully golden. Try not to peek...but good luck with that. When you pull them out of the oven, be gentle. If you jostle them around too much they could deflate a little.
CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!? YOU MADE CROISSANTS!! YOU'RE PRACTICALLY A GENIUS!
If you have extra dough after trimming, you can cut it out with biscuit cutters / braid it / twist it. There's no wrong way to eat this dough. I ate some raw. Couldn't wait.
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