So this month I decided to use yeast to make warm, fragrant croissants. I used Mireille Guilano's recipe from French Women Don't Get Fat again since her baguette recipe turned out so well last month.
One word of warning, these take a long time to make, although they really are very EASY! The dough just needs a lot of sitting and rising time. I also stuck a little dark chocolate in a few before rolling for an afternoon treat. Although mine maybe don't look the best, I can tell you they tasted amazing! I figure in time I will get the rolling technique down!
CROISSANTS
Recipe from French Women Don’t Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano
Friday Night
1 cup milk
2 tsp active dry yeast
2 ¼ cups flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup of warm milk. Measure out 2 ¼ cups flour and add 2 Tbsp of this flour to the milk and yeast. Whisk until smooth, and then cover with plastic wrap. Set aside for about 20 minutes or until it doubles in size.
Meanwhile, mix the sugar and salt with the remaining 2 1/8 cups of flour. Prepare you mixer by putting on the dough hook attachments.
Next, transfer the raised dough of milk, yeast and flour to the mixing bowl. Warm the remaining ¾ cup of milk and add it to the bowl. Turn the mixer to high and gradually add in dry ingredients of flour, sugar and salt. Reduce the speed to low and allow it to mix until the dough is sticky and soft. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Saturday Morning
12 Tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
3 Tbsp flour
Knead the flour into the softened butter until fully incorporated. Shape into a square.
Cover your work table with flour. Remove the dough from the fridge and begin to shape it into a 6 inch x 15 inch rectangle. Spread the butter on the top 2/3 of the rectangle of dough leaving a ½ inch border around the outside.
Fold the dough like a letter, folding the bottom 1/3 up first and then the top 1/3 down. Turn it counter clockwise so the open flap is to the right
Roll it out again to a 6 inch x 15 inch rectangle and fold again. Transfer to a baking pan, cover tightly with plastic wrap and put back in the fridge for about 6 hours.
Saturday Afternoon
Remove the dough from the fridge, place on a floured work surface. Roll out the dough and fold just like during the morning. Do this two times, wrap it again and refrigerate it overnight.
Sunday Morning (You’re almost done!)
2 Tbsp milk for brushing
1 egg yolk + 1 Tbsp milk for glaze
Plan to start this process about 2 hours before you want to eat the croissants. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface. Roll it out to a 16 inch circle. Cut the dough into quarters and each quarter into 3 triangles.
To make each croissant, roll the wide base of triangle toward the corner. Transfer each one to a baking sheet. Brush with milk and then let them stand for about 45 minutes. They should double in size.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Brush each croissant with the egg, milk glaze. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. If they brown to quickly lay a piece of foil over the top during baking. Let them cool a little before serving.
