Be good flaky

The perfect Croissant is some butter, a few folds and an arm workout away.

Cédric Grolet’s French Croissant Recipe

Ingredients For the dough:

• 1 kg (8 cups) all-purpose flour, preferably a fine pastry flour similar to T45

• 420 g (1 3/4 cups) water

• 50 g (1/4 cup) eggs or 1 large egg

• 45 g (1 1/2 oz) fresh yeast

• 18 g (1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon) salt

• 100 g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar

• 20 g (1 tablespoon) honey

• 70 g (5 tablespoons) butter

• 400 g (14 oz) beurre de tourage or dry butter (see notes above)

For the egg wash:

• 55 g (2 oz) egg yolks or 3 egg yolks

• 30 g (2 tablespoons) heavy whipping cream

Instructions- 

Make the Dough:

• In a mixing bowl fitted with a dough hook, combine the flour, water, eggs, fresh yeast, salt, sugar, and honey.

• Set your mixer to medium-slow speed and mix until the ingredients form a homogeneous paste. Then, increase the speed to medium-high and continue mixing until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

• Add the beurre pommade and knead until the dough comes together. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and let the dough rise at room temperature (24 to 25°C / 75 to 77°F) for 1 hour.

• After rising, flatten the dough to release the air, then roll it out into a large rectangle, with the width matching the beurre de tourage and double its length. Place the dough in the freezer for 5 minutes, then transfer it to the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

• Place the beurre de tourage in the middle of the dough. Fold the dough from each side over the butter to cover it completely.

• With the edge of the visible butter facing you, use a rolling pin to make a double fold: roll the dough from bottom to top until it’s about 7 mm thick. Mark the center of the dough, fold the top and bottom edges to the center, then fold the dough in half like a wallet. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 10 minutes.

• Finally, make a single fold: roll the dough to a thickness of 1 cm, rolling from bottom to top to form a long rectangle. Fold the top third of the dough over the middle, then fold the bottom third over the top. Immediately roll out the dough to a thickness of 3.5 mm to start cutting and forming the croissants.

Make the Egg Wash:

• In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and cream.

Forming the Croissants:

• Cut the dough into triangles that are 7 cm wide at the base and 35 cm high. Roll each triangle from the base to the tip to form the croissants. Let them rise for 2 hours at 26°C / 77°F.

Finishing and Baking:

• Preheat the oven to 175°C / 350°F.

• Place the croissants on a parchment-lined baking sheet and brush them with a thin layer of egg wash.

• Bake for 15 minutes or until the croissants are nicely golden. Remove the croissants from the oven and let them cool on a rack.