Homemade croissants
- Nutrition Facts
- Calories: 400
- Protein: 6.6
- Fats: 17.7
- Carbohydrates: 50.7
Today we will have the classic French breakfast with homemade croissants. These are crescent shaped yummy cakes of puff pastry or leavened puff pastry. And the very dough is kneaded in several stages and requires a lot of patience and free time.
History of croissants
History of croissants got lost somewhere in the distant past associated with the last battle of the Middle Ages. In Vienna besieged by Turkish troops in 1683 a mysterious cook baked a pastry shaped like a crescent moon, a symbol similar to the image on the flag of the Ottoman Empire. It turns out that it was prepared in the name of liberation from the Turkish conquerors. Croissant was loved by the French, but in fact, it is purely a product of the Austrian culinary art. By the way, the correct name of croissant is "Viennese bagel» (Wiener Kipferl).
Ingredients:
- 10 grams of dry yeast;
- 100 ml of warm water;
- 2-3 cups of finely ground flour;
- 65 grams of sugar;
- ½ teaspoon of salt;
- 1 egg;
- 65 grams of butter;
- ¼ of chocolate bar.
Recipe for homemade croissants
- Knead the yeast dough to start. Yeast is put into a small bowl.
Put the required number of yeast in a small pot.
- Add the warm ( not hot ) water. Dissolve the yeast in the water.
Dissolve the yeast in warm water.
- Add a spoonful of sugar. Mix it well and wait till the yeast swell.
Do not forget to add a teaspoon of sugar and give it a rest.
- In a separate bowl, sift flour. Add the sugar and salt.
In the meantime, in a separate bowl, sift some flour and mix it with salt and sugar.
- Combine everything with the swollen yeast.
Now combine the dry ingredients with the yeast.
- Begin kneading the dough. Add soft butter and egg yolk.
Getting the dough kneading and add the egg yolks and butter.
- Very carefully, knead the yeast bun for about ten minutes.
Thoroughly knead the dough by hand for at least 10 minutes.
- Kneaded dough bun should be put in a plastic bag and then at the very bottom of the fridge. Do not freeze it! Keep to there from 5 to 12 hours.
The ready dough is put in a bag and sent in the refrigerator for at least 5 hours.
- And now proceed directly to the preparation of croissant dough. Remove the ready yeast dough from the fridge. Using a knife, make a cross cut on the top of the bun.
At the end of the time, take out the dough from the fridge and make a crosswise incision.
- Roll out the dough into a rectangle or as in the photo. When rolling, flour the work surface. In the center, lay a piece of very cold butter but not totally frozen.
Roll out the dough in the shape of a flower with petals and place the butter in the middle.
- Cover the butter with dough and food it like an envelope.
Give it an envelope shape flowing the dough in the way shown in the picture.
- The edges should be connected, then roll out a rectangle.
Edges will certainly need to be carefully connected and. Then roll out the dough into a rectangle.
- Next, we add it into three layers. If necessary, crush and strings. To figure was obtained smooth. Recipe homemade croissants still difficult, but it's worth it.
Ready rectangle folded into three layers, as in the photo.
- Cover it with a cling film and place it in a cool place for 1 hour or in the freezer for 30 minutes.
Now put the dough for croissants in a plastic bag and put in the cool place for about 1 hour or 30 minutes in the freezer.
- We continue with flouring another layer and roll it out.
Now, sprinkle work surface with flour and roll out already cooled down dough.
- Fold in three layers, and do just as shown in the picture. Then pout in the freezer for 30 minutes. Flour the cooled layer again and roll out into a rectangle. Fold again and send in the fridge. Do the same thing several times. The more the better. You can stop at the 5.
Again, we put the dough into three layers, and then give it a «book» form. This procedure should be repeated several times, and the more the better.
- The last one is rolled out and collected in a book. You need to put the dough in the fridge for at least 5 hours and preferably overnight.
After the last rolling, dough should be folded again and put back in the fridge for at least 5 hours.
- Ready-made dough is easy to mold. Cut it into two pieces. Put one of them in the freezer.
Now proceed to the preparation of croissants and foremost divide the dough into halves. Put one in a cool place, and take the other.
- The piece is divided into two or more and a thin layer is rolled out of each of them. Be sure to use enough flour.
Divide the piece in halves again, flour both parts and roll out into a thin cake.
- Next, mold the long triangles. Make incisions at the bottom and beside them lay out pieces of chocolate. We, by the way, decided to make a homemade chocolate croissants.
Make a certain number of triangles out of each dough piece and put a piece of chocolate on the wider side of each of them.
- Make the rolls of those triangles.
Make rolls starting from the wide edge.
- Put them on an oven tray layered with parchment.
Cover oven tray with parchment and put the croissants on it.
- Cover them with cling film and leave it for some time.
Cover the croissants with film and give it a rest for about 30 minutes.
- Grease with an egg white and put in an oven preheated to 400F for 25 minutes. Watch the croissants attentively.
When the croissants will increase in size, brush them with an egg white and bake for about 25 minutes in an oven preheated to 400F.
- Remove them from the oven tray. This can be done quite simply. Croissants easily slip off the parchment, it is enough just to pick up them up.
Once croissants are ready, removed them from the oven tray.
- Place your homemade croissants on a dish, give them a little cool and serve. Crunchy chocolate croissants merely melt in your mouth if easting them with milk.
Put the croissants on a dish and serve with milk or tea. Bon Appetite!
Variations and options
There is a plenty of homemade croissants recipes. For instance, the dough can be prepared not only in such a way, but with a puff pastry, when flour and butter are combined and then kneaded into a bun. It can also be left in a fridge for at least 5 hours. You may use anything for the filling, but you can cook them empty as well and you may easily sprinkle it with chocolate glaze.
The healthy features of croissants
The highest calorie food speaks for itself when it comes to the healthiness of any bakery product. Croissants are very nutritious, so we can surely say that a couple of them can be a great breakfast. Chocolate filling even helps dealing with stress. It turns out that our homemade croissants are perfect anti-depressant and energy booster at the same time. Cook croissants on weekends, eat them for breakfast and enjoy such a wonderful start of the day. That’s it, the recipe is over. So don't waste your time and start cooking it immediately. But, most importantly, treat your loved ones with this delicious and nutritious breakfast, as real French do!
