To make croissants, the key steps are:
- Make the croissant dough from flour, butter, sugar, yeast, milk, and salt. Knead the dough and let it rise.
- Laminate the dough by enclosing a chilled butter layer inside it and repeatedly rolling and folding it to create many layers of butter and dough.
- Roll out the laminated dough, cut it into triangles, and roll each triangle into a crescent shape.
- Let the rolled croissants rise until doubled in size.
- Brush with egg wash and bake until golden and flaky.
The process usually takes multiple days because the dough needs resting and chilling between laminations and rising stages to develop the buttery, flaky layers characteristic of croissants.
Basic Ingredients
- Flour, sugar, salt, yeast, milk, butter, and eggs (for egg wash).
Dough Preparation
- Combine dry ingredients and wet ingredients.
- Knead until smooth and let rise until nearly doubled.
- Refrigerate to chill.
Laminating & Folding Butter
- Pound butter into a flat sheet.
- Roll the dough into a rectangle.
- Place butter in the center and fold dough over it.
- Roll and fold the dough multiple times (3 times is common) to create 81 layers.
Shaping Croissants
- Roll dough into a rectangle.
- Cut into triangles.
- Stretch triangles gently and roll from the wide base to the tip.
- Curve slightly into crescent shapes.
Proofing and Baking
- Let croissants rise until doubled in size (2-3 hours or more).
- Brush with egg wash.
- Bake at around 350°F to 400°F for about 15-20 minutes until browned and flaky.
This summary reflects expert step-by-step croissant making with lamination, shaping, proofing, and baking to get the light, flaky texture croissants are known for.
