Daring Bakers Past Challenge - Croissants

Well... I did it. I made croissants! I have been telling myself to make them for over a year now and never got around to it. It was one of the first Daring Baker challenges and I figured now was the time to do it.

I wasn't too nervous about the dough since I have now worked with laminated dough twice (puff pastry and the danish braid). Besides being incredibly time consuming, making the dough wasn't difficult. I spent the better part of a day mixing, rising, rolling, chilling, rolling, chilling, rolling, chilling! I then popped the dough in the freezer and decided that I would wait a few days to make the croissants.


After about 5 days in the freezer I pulled out the dough and moved it to the fridge to thaw overnight. The next morning I started the process of rolling out the dough. Now that was difficult!!! Talk about an arm workout! I don't know if I should've let the dough warm a little, but I was too afraid of melting the butter. I finally rolled it out almost to the thickness required, but Eric was fussing in the bouncy seat and I decided it was time to shape the croissants and get him fed!

All shaped and ready to go

As a result of not rolling the dough enough, my croissants looked like they were on steroids. Oh well... no one is going to complain about a monsterous croissant! In addition to the plain croissants, I also made 4 Pain au Chocolat (chocolate encased in the croissant dough).

Mmmm... layers!

Chocolate anyone?

Now, I'm not one to toot my own horn but these croissants were AMAZING! So buttery and flaky! I realize that there is room for improvement, but I am so proud of myself for creating these. SO SO SO GOOD!!! I can't wait to share them with Nathan when he comes home for R&R! I will have the dough waiting in the freezer!


The recipe is freakishly long (about 5 pages) so I won't be typing it here. But, if you are really interested in making these (and I suggest you give it a shot!) let me know and I can get the recipe to you!