Monday, May 13, 2013

Homemade Butter Croissants





Whenever I go to New Frontiers Grocery I can't help but walk by the bakery section. Contained behind welcoming glass cabinet doors is your typical bakery fare, including fresh chocolate croissants. I can't help it, I always get one when I'm there and after I've paid, I sit in my car and eat it. The only downfall to this is the price. At $3 a croissant, my little indulgence can get a little pricey. So what am I to do? Oh, I know, I'll make my own!

I typed 'homemade croissant recipe' into Google and found one at the King Arthur Flour website. It looked easy enough, could I do it? Could I make rich, buttery, flaky croissants at home? I tried, and I did. And are they ever so delicious!

The King Arthur recipe makes 24 croissants, I halved the recipe to make 12. For some reason, it didn't occur to me that I could freeze them! Duh! I guess in the end, I can just make another batch of croissants. And since these are not your low-cal food, I made them by hand. I could at least try and burn off some calories while making them, though, I'd gain it all back after the croissants were baked.

This croissant dough is smooth, soft, and wonderful to work with. I had no problems with it sticking to my counter top. For the Butter Slab, I found it easiest to pull the butter out of the fridge and let it sit on my counter for about 30 minutes so it would be the right consistency to mix with the flour. I was also able to create two 'folds', chill the dough, then create the last two 'folds'. I filled half of them with good semi-sweet chocolate and the other half were left plain to enjoy with more butter and blueberry jam. Taking all but a few hours in the afternoon, these croissants will definitely be made again and again.


[Ready to be baked!]


Homemade Butter Croissants
Adapted from King Arthur Flour
Makes 12 delicious croissants.
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Ingredients:

Dough:
3/4 cup warm water
1 tsp active dry yeast
2 TBS sugar, divided
1 large egg
1 TBS melted butter
3 cups AP flour
1 1/2 tsp salt

Butter Slab
1 1/2 sticks salted butter, pulled from fridge 30 minutes prior to use.
3 TBS flour

Egg Wash
1 egg beaten with 1 TBS water

Directions:

-In a 2 cup glass measuring cup, measure 3/4 cup of warm water. Add 1 TBS of sugar and the yeast. Allow to proof for 10 minutes. While it proofs, place the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. After 10 minutes is up, add the egg, melted butter, and remaining 1 TBS of sugar into yeast mixture. Lightly whisk to combine and pour into dry ingredients. With your hand, stir until the flour is incorporated and dough pulls from the side of bowl. Place the dough onto clean countertop and knead for 5 minutes. Place dough into a clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes.

-While the dough rests, place butter into bowl and add the 3 TBS of flour, mix with a fork until all of the flour is combined and there are no lumps of butter left. It should be smooth mixture. Place onto a piece of plastic wrap, fold edges over and gently pat into a 4 inch square. Place into fridge to slightly firm up.

-Remove dough from bowl and place onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out into a 10 inch square. Remove plastic wrap from butter slab and place it onto dough so that it's a diamond shape. The corners of the butter slab should be pointed towards the straight sides of the square. Fold the corners of the dough inwards to cover butter like an envelope. Turn dough over and pat into a rectangle shape with the rolling pin.

-Roll out into a 16x8 inch rectangle. Fold the dough into thirds like you would a letter. Then fold in half like a book. This creates one 'fold'.

-If the dough is still cool enough, repeat the 'fold' process of rolling out dough into 16x8 inch rectangle, folding into thirds, and then the half fold. Place into fridge and let rest for 30 minutes. **If the dough is not cool enough, place in fridge and cool for 30 minutes, and then create the 'fold'. Repeat this process until you have performed four 'folds'. Once the four folds have been completed, chill the dough for 30 minutes.

-Take the dough out of fridge, on a lightly floured surface roll the dough into a 12x18 inch rectangle. Using a ruler and sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough in half to create two 9x12 inch rectangles. Cut the rectangles into thirds so that you end up with six 4x9 inch rectangles. Cut those diagonally to create two triangles. You'll end up with 12 triangles total. Place triangles with the point away from you and make a 1/2 inch cut at the base of the triangle. Roll up from the notch and place onto cookie sheet lined with parchment and chill for 30 minutes. **When you cut the notch, you can fill the croissants.

-While the croissants rest, preheat oven to 425F. After the 30 minutes is up, brush the croissants with egg wash and place into oven. Lower the heat to 350F and bake for 15-20 minutes, the croissants will be golden brown, remove from cookie sheet and cool. Then savor the deliciousness you just created!!

**Additional help can be found at King Arthur Flour


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