Sure, everyone knows what a croissant is—they sell them at the local coffee shop or at the supermarket. Unfortunately, these versions are often nothing like the real thing. A real croissant has a knock-your-socks-off butter flavor, and a texture so delicate and flaky that the pastry crackles into tiny pieces and melts instantly in your mouth with every bite.
But unless you live near a great French bakery, the only way to really experience this kind of authentic croissant is to make it yourself. Luckily, a croissant is nothing more than a flaky butter pastry dough with yeast in it. Yes, this kind of dough takes time to make, most of the time is spent rising and resting. And we simplify the hands-on work—making the pastry dough and shaping it into crescent rolls—with our step-by-step instructions.

USING A BUTTER SQUARE TO MAKE A FLAKY, BUTTER PASTRY DOUGH


STEP #1 After making the croissant dough, make the butter square: Lay the sticks of butter side by side. Sprinkle the butter with the flour, then cover with a second sheet of parchment paper.



STEP #2 Pound the butter into a square: Gently pound the flour into the butter with a rolling pin. Once the butter is softened and the flour is incorporated, roll the butter into a square as directed. Chill the butter square.



STEP #3 Roll out the dough and add the butter square: Roll the dough into a square on a lightly floured counter as directed. Place the chilled butter square diagonally in the center of the dough. If the dough or butter ever feels a bit soft or becomes hard to work with, place it in the refrigerator to firm up for a few minutes—the texture of this dough depends on the butter and dough not melting together until baking time.



STEP #4 Cover the butter square with the dough: Fold the dough up over the butter square so that the corners meet in the middle; pinch the dough to seal.



STEP #5 Roll then fold (turn) the dough: After rolling out the dough as directed, fold the dough into thirds like a business letter.



STEP #6 Form a square: Fold the ends of the dough rectangle over the center to form a square. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let rest in the refrigerator for 2 hours before repeating steps 5 and 6 again. By chilling then rerolling and folding the dough again, you create the many ultrathin, yet distinct layers of dough and butter that ultimately turn into flaky pastry when baked. The resting time (in the refrigerator) both relaxes the gluten in the dough and gives the butter time to firm up again so that it doesn’t melt.

SHAPING TRADITIONAL CROISSANTS





STEP #1 Roll the dough then cut it in half: Roll the chilled dough into a 20-inch square on a lightly floured counter, then cut the dough in half. If the dough begins to stick to the counter at any point, sprinkle a bit more flour on the counter underneath it.



STEP #2 Form triangle-shaped pieces: Cut each dough half crosswise into 3 small rectangles and cut each small rectangle on the diagonal into 2 triangles (you will have a total of 12 triangles). We like to roll the dough out right on the counter and use a bench scraper to cut it; if you don’t have a bench scraper, you can use a knife, but be careful not to cut up your counter!



STEP #3 Stretch the triangles: Gently stretch each triangle of dough to lengthen it slightly and even out the sides. Because the triangles of dough are a little lopsided after cutting, we simply stretch them out a bit to make them more even before rolling them up into pastries.



STEP #4 Cut a slit in the wide ends: Cut a 1-inch-long slit in the center of the triangle’s wide end, then fold the dough on either side of the slit outward. By doing this, you prevent the middle of the croissant from becoming too bulky when it’s rolled up, making for a prettier pastry that bakes through more evenly.



STEP #5 Roll up the triangles: Gently roll up the triangle of dough from the wide end to the tip, gently stretching it as you go. By gently stretching the dough as you roll it up, you ensure that the final pastry will have lots of flaky layers and a pretty crescent shape.



STEP #6 Shape the croissants on the baking sheet: Lay the croissants on the prepared baking sheets with the pointed end facing down and bend the ends of each croissant around to form a crescent shape. Pinning the “tail” of the croissant underneath the pastry prevents it from unrolling during baking.


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