Croissant is a small puff pastry bagel, translated from French croissant - a crescent. These are popular all over the world pastries that are served for breakfast with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate.
A few cooking tricks
- It is believed that puff pastry for croissants should be made from high-quality butter of at least 82% fat. Moreover, the main secret of baking lies in strict adherence to the recipe and proportions indicated there.
- In order for the dough to have a sufficient number of layers, during cooking it must be of the same consistency as butter, namely, the butter must be dense enough to keep its shape well, and not spread over the surface.
- Making a really good croissant dough the first time around is difficult, but skill comes with experience. If you don't feel like messing around with making puff pastry at home, you can buy ready-made frozen dough in briquettes.
- If you are using ready-made commercial croissant dough, defrost it first, then roll it out on a floured work surface and cut into triangles with a side size of about 20x10 cm. Next, make an incision at the base of the triangle and twist, giving it the shape of a bagel.
- Croissants can be with or without fillings. You can use jam, fruit, chocolate, as well as ham, cheese and so on as fillers. One of the most delicious and popular fillings is boiled condensed milk.
Puff yeast dough for croissants (classic recipe)
Ingredients:
- 500 g quality wheat flour
- 200 ml milk
- 40 g fresh or 13 g dry yeast
- 30 g icing sugar or caster sugar
- 30 g vegetable oil
- 2 g baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 medium eggs
- 350 g of high-quality butter with a fat content of 82%
- flour for rolling
- 1 yolk
- 1 tbsp. spoon of milk
Cooking step by step:
1. On the work surface of the table, spread a transparent film, sprinkle it with flour and lay out the butter - it should be thick enough, but not too hard. Sprinkle the butter with flour and cover with cling film. Now mash and beat the butter with your hands, forming a rectangle of about 10x12 cm from it. Put in the refrigerator for 20 minutes, then transfer to the freezer for another 10 minutes.
2. Prepare the dough at this time. Add yeast to milk. Sift flour with baking powder (baking powder), stir in eggs, granulated sugar or powder, vegetable oil and salt. Add yeast milk mixture and stir quickly. It is advisable that the kneading procedure lasts about 3 minutes, and the products are properly cooled.
3. Roll out the resulting dough into a layer of 20x12 cm on a floured work surface of the table, wrap it in a transparent plastic wrap and put it in the freezer for half an hour. At the end of 30 minutes, remove the dough and butter from the freezer at the same time.
4. Place butter on half of the dough, beat it slightly with a rolling pin to make it more plastic. Knead it on the three outer sides and cover with the free half of the dough, pinching the edges. Next, carefully enough roll out the rectangle from the middle back and forth to a layer height of at least a centimeter. The rolling pin should only move in one direction. When rolling, "dust" the dough with flour.
5. Next, fold the dough 3 times, wrap it again with foil and put it in the freezer for 15 minutes, then put it on the refrigerator shelf for the same time. Then roll and fold the dough again, doing this six times at least. Then put the dough in the refrigerator for at least an hour. If you make the dough in the evening, it is better - for the whole night.
Tip: during rolling, follow one rule - each subsequent time, roll in a direction that will be perpendicular to the previous one and make only one movement with a rolling pin - back and forth
6. Remove the finished puff pastry from the refrigerator, place it on a floured kitchen table and roll it into a layer about 4 mm thick. Cut the wedges to the size of 20x10 cm, place the filling on the wide side, roll into bagels and transfer to a board or tray.
7. Allow the pieces to stand in a warm enough place (temperature about 26-28 degrees Celsius) for half an hour, then transfer to a baking sheet lined with oiled parchment. Combine milk and yolk, shake and spread the mixture over the croissants for a beautiful blush. Bake in an oven preheated to 190 degrees Celsius for 20-25 minutes.
Croissants with condensed milk and nuts
Ingredients:
- puff yeast dough
- 100 g hazelnuts
- 50 g icing sugar
- 3-4 drops of almond essence
- condensed milk
Cooking in stages:
1. Prepare the dough according to the classic recipe, or defrost the ready-made dough from the store. Roll out on a floured countertop. Slice into triangles.
2. Coat the edges of the wedges with condensed milk. For the filling, chop the hazelnuts, add almond essences and powdered sugar, and pour in 3 tbsp. tablespoons of boiled water at room temperature, stir to get a paste of homogeneous consistency.
3. Spread the nut filling over all pieces and roll the croissants. Grease a little with condensed milk on top again. Place on a baking sheet lined with oiled baking paper and bake in an oven preheated to 190 degrees Celsius for about 20 minutes or until browned.
Croissants with condensed milk and apples
Ingredients:
- puff yeast dough
- 3 green apples
- boiled condensed milk
- 1 egg
Cooking in stages:
1. Prepare a basic recipe or defrost a commercial puff pastry briquette. Roll into a layer on a floured surface and cut into wedges. Peel the apples, chop them into bars. Put a spoonful of condensed milk and a slice of apple on the wide part of the wedges.
2. Shake the egg and brush the edges of the pieces, for example with a silicone cooking brush. Roll the bagels from wide edge to narrow edge, brush with the rest of the egg on top.
3. Place the croissants on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake until tender in an oven preheated to 180-190 degrees Celsius.
Croissants with condensed milk and bananas
Ingredients:
- puff yeast dough
- 2 bananas
- 100 g of condensed milk with cocoa
- 2 eggs
Cooking in stages:
1. Make the classic croissant puff pastry recipe. If you are using store-bought dough, defrost it first. Roll out on a floured surface. Slice into triangles.
2. Brush the wide side of the triangles with chocolate condensed milk. Peel the bananas and cut into round slices. On each piece, place 2-3 slices of banana on top of the condensed milk, now fold the triangles into bagels.
3. Shake a raw chicken egg and use a silicone brush to brush over the croissants. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment paper, brush its surface with a thin layer of vegetable oil and lay out the rolled bagels. Bake in an oven preheated to 190 degrees Celsius until a blush appears.
Croissants with condensed milk and sour cream cream
Ingredients:
- puff yeast dough
- 200 g of boiled condensed milk
- 2/3 cup sour cream
- 1 yolk + milk
Cooking in stages:
1. Knead and roll out croissant dough on a floured table, cut out triangular segments from a layer about 3-4 mm thick. For the cream, beat the condensed milk and sour cream and put it on a wide part of the blanks with a teaspoon.
2. Roll the blanks into bagels. Shake the egg yolk and milk, and apply with a cooking brush to the croissants. Place on a baking sheet with parchment, place in an oven preheated to 190 degrees Celsius and bake until tender, until the croissants are browned.
Walnut croissants with condensed milk
Ingredients:
- puff yeast dough
- 1 can of boiled condensed milk
- 150 g hazelnuts
- egg or yolk
Cooking in stages:
1. Prepare a classic recipe for yeast puff pastry, or defrost a store bought dough briquette. Roll into a layer and cut into triangles.
2. Finely chop the nuts, mix most of them with boiled condensed milk, set aside the rest for decoration. Spoon the filling onto the wide side of the triangles with a teaspoon and roll the croissants.
3. Place the bagels on a baking sheet with parchment paper. Shake the egg or yolk and use a cooking brush to brush over the surface of the pieces, then sprinkle with chopped nuts.
4. Preheat oven to 180-190 degrees Celsius, place a baking sheet with croissants and cook for about 20 minutes or until browned.
