07.07.2020 Puff pastry croissants are a delicacy that evokes strong associations with French confectionery shops and the smell of coffee and chocolate. The dish is prepared from yeast and yeast-free puff pastry, with various fillings wrapped inside the bagel. The most common fillings are jam, thick jam, boiled condensed milk and, of course, chocolate. You can also use unsweetened fillings, such as cottage cheese or hard cheese.
For many, not only beginners, but also quite experienced housewives, preparing puff pastry at home seems like a lot of flour. In fact, preparing the dough is not as difficult as it seems at first glance. By strictly following the step-by-step instructions and learning some subtleties, puff pastry will no longer be intimidating, and baking with it will more often delight you and your family.
Fresh hot croissants are served for breakfast with a cup of strong morning coffee or tea, offered for tea in the evening, and used as a snack at school or at work. A soft, airy, sweet croissant will quickly restore strength and bring real culinary pleasure. Make croissants at home. This is not difficult to do if you follow the step-by-step recipes. Fill your everyday life with true Parisian chic.
Classic croissants made from puff pastry with chocolate (recipe with photos)
Preparing delicious croissants according to the classic recipe is a troublesome task, but the result is worth it. Small products made from puff pastry with chocolate, similar to tender buns, but airy and crispy, will become a favorite dessert for tea. So, here is the recipe for chocolate croissants:
Ingredients
- For the test
- Water – 1 glass (250 ml)
- Butter – 250 g.
- Dry yeast – 1 tbsp. l.
- Sugar – 3 tbsp. l.
- Flour of the highest or 1st grade - 3 cups
- Salt – 1 tsp.
For filling
- Dark chocolate – 1 bar
- Butter – 1 tbsp. l.
- Walnuts – ¼ cup
Preparation time: 5 hours, of which 25 minutes – baking, 4 hours – dough resting
Yield: 24 8 cm croissants
Calorie content: 465 kcal per 100 g.
Orange filling
Croissants made from puff pastry with the addition of orange are prepared with the following ingredients:
- 250 grams of puff pastry;
- zest of one large orange;
- Brown sugar;
- spoon of vegetable oil;
- spoon of milk.
Let's start cooking:
- Thaw the puff pastry to room temperature first.
- Dust the surface with flour, then roll out the dough and cut out 8 triangle-shaped pieces on it.
- Sprinkle them with orange zest and granulated sugar. Roll each piece into a tube. The top of the croissants should be brushed with milk.
- Place the resulting bagels on a baking sheet on which you have previously placed greased parchment paper. The dish is baked for 25 minutes inside an oven preheated to 180 °C.
How to make croissants from puff pastry with chocolate
The secret to making soft bagels with an appetizing crispy crust from classic dough is in its kneading and aging. Next, you will learn how to properly bake croissants from puff pastry; a recipe with photos will help you step by step, introducing you to every moment of their preparation.
Dissolve the yeast in water, add sugar and stir until completely dissolved. 1 tablespoon of dry yeast can be replaced with 20 g of wet pressed yeast.
Add melted butter and cooled to room temperature. Mix the ingredients.
Add flour and knead the dough well. Add salt halfway through the kneading process. Cover the bowl with the dough with cling film and place in a warm place for 1 hour to rise.
Tip: the recipe calls for adding salt to the croissant dough, not to taste, but a certain amount - the stratification of the dough during baking depends on this. We need 1 teaspoon of salt.
Roll the risen dough into a ball, place it on cling film, cut it into 4 pieces with a cross, and unfold it. Shape the dough into a square. Wrap in film and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Prepare the oil for the layer. Warm it in advance at room temperature until it becomes soft plasticine, then wrap it in cling film and beat it into a square the size of a dough square.
Tip: to layer the dough, you need natural butter; margarine will stick the layers together.
Place the chilled dough on a floured table. Stretch the dough or roll it out lightly with a rolling pin. Place cold butter in the center of the dough and fold into a square. Roll it out lengthwise and, mentally dividing it into 3 parts, fold it into a booklet, first turning one edge towards the middle, and then the other.
Wrap the folded dough in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 15 minutes, then place in the refrigerator for another 15 minutes.
Take the dough out of the refrigerator, put it on a table sprinkled with flour, roll it out along the layers from the center up and down to a thickness of 1 cm. Fold it into 3 layers like a book.
Wrap the folded dough in film, place it back in the freezer for 15 minutes, and then keep it in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
Repeat this procedure 2 more times. For the 4th time, cool the dough only in the refrigerator for 40 minutes.
Divide the dough into 3 parts, roll each into a circle about 5 mm thick. Cut it with a sharp knife into 8 equal parts as follows: crosswise into 4 parts, and crosswise again, dividing each resulting part in two.
Tip : While you work with one part of the dough, place the rest in the refrigerator to stay chilled.
Chocolate filling for croissants is the most common: tasty, healthy, convenient. Baking puff pastry with chocolate in the oven is easy: chocolate hardens at high temperatures and therefore does not leak out, like jam, for example.
Wonderful filling - chocolate with additives (nuts, cookies, raisins). Break it into slices and wrap it in bagels. Dark chocolate in combination with puff pastry will give baked goods a unique aristocratic taste.
Knowing how to roll croissants, you can easily shape them into a moon shape. To do this, cut the wide part of each triangle, lay out the filling and roll it into a bagel. To prevent the filling from creeping out of the baked goods, run wet fingers along the edges of the triangle before twisting.
Place the bagels on a baking sheet covered with baking paper and leave to proof. They should increase 3-4 times in size so that their surface will not crack during baking.
Brush the products with beaten egg. Do not grease the edges, otherwise they will peel poorly.
Before baking, preheat the oven to 220 degrees. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 200.
Decoration for croissants - melted chocolate. Dip the edge of the bagel in chocolate and sprinkle chopped nuts on top. Now the truly royal croissant is ready. Serve with hot coffee or chocolate (cocoa).
Preparing the classic dough takes a lot of time. Prepare more of it at once and freeze. If necessary, you can quickly prepare croissants with chocolate from ready-made puff pastry - the recipe with the photo above will help you roll out, cut and roll bagels, and later in the article you will learn how to prepare frozen dough for baking.
Croissant with boiled condensed milk
One of the most popular croissant recipes is with condensed milk. To prevent the filling from leaking out, you need to use boiled condensed milk. A quick and simple recipe allows you to cook croissants every day. Croissants with condensed milk can be treated to guests, prepared for family tea parties and placed on the holiday table. A royal croissant, that is, a large-sized pastry, is often prepared with condensed milk.
It will take 50 minutes to prepare the dish.
Ingredients:
- puff pastry – 500 g;
- egg – 1 piece;
- condensed milk – 200 gr.
Preparation:
- Roll out the dough into a thin layer 3 mm thick.
- Cut the dough into long triangles.
- Place the condensed milk filling on the narrow side of the triangle.
- Roll the croissant from the filling side towards the narrow edge.
- Place the croissants on a baking sheet lined with parchment.
- Give the blanks a semicircular shape.
- Beat the egg with a fork or whisk. Brush croissants with beaten egg.
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
- Bake the croissants for 25 minutes until golden brown.
How to make croissants from puff pastry
At any time, without much hassle and time, you can prepare croissants from ready-made puff pastry with chocolate, fruit, condensed milk, bought in a store. But it cannot compare with the one you prepare yourself. Dough made for future use according to the classic recipe with kefir can be stored in the freezer for a long time; at any time you can use it to prepare a delicious dessert with your favorite filling.
Remove the finished dough from the freezer and defrost it so that not only the top, but also the inner layers are soft. This can be done in advance - in the evening, put the dough in the refrigerator on the warmest shelf. You can defrost faster at room temperature or in the microwave.
Roll out the thawed puff pastry with a rolling pin along the layers on a floured table. Cut into 3-4 parts (depending on the amount of dough) and prepare croissants.
Bagels made from yeast dough need 30 - 40 minutes to rise in a warm place. They will increase in volume by 2-3 times. Brush the surface with egg and place in an oven preheated to 200 degrees. The fastest croissants are made from yeast-free dough, since it only needs to be defrosted first.
Recipe 1. Croissants from ready-made dough with condensed milk
half a kilogram of puff pastry;
butter – 150 g;
150 g boiled condensed milk.
1. Defrost the dough. Sprinkle the table with flour and unfold a sheet of puff pastry on it. Roll it out slightly. Cut the sheet into wide strips. Then we cut each strip into triangles.
2. Melt the butter and mix with boiled condensed milk. Place a teaspoon of boiled condensed milk filling on the wide side of the triangle and roll the dough into a roll.
3. Place the croissants on a deco lined with baking paper. Beat the egg and brush each bagel with it.
4. Preheat the oven to 200 C. Place the deco with croissants in the oven and bake them for half an hour. Place the finished baked goods on a dish and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
A little about croissants
Appetizing croissants made from airy dough are considered an original French traditional pastry. One can argue with this statement.
Translated from French, croissant (fr. croissant) means crescent. But the history of the croissant goes back to the 7th century in Vienna. The baker received the exclusive right to produce bakery products in the shape of a crescent (the symbol of Islam) as a reward for saving the city besieged by the Turks. While working at night, he heard the noise made by the enemies who were digging a tunnel to get into the city underground, and reported it.
Vienna can be considered the birthplace of the croissant form, and puff pastry croissants are a traditional French pastry that is served with hot coffee or chocolate (cocoa).
How to eat croissants according to etiquette? These are small, as they say “one bite”, products that are taken by hand. Jam, preserves, condensed milk, fruits that may be offered with them are placed on an individual plate next to the pastries.
Separately about the croissant
How many associations are born in your head when you mention this word. We immediately imagine before our eyes delightful images of a magnificent breakfast, and even our nose begins to catch the subtle pleasant aroma of fresh baked goods. Photos of croissants made from puff pastry dough are often found even as desktop wallpapers for many people, they are so attracted by the appearance of this dish.
It's no secret that croissants belong to French cuisine. It was in this magnificent country that they were first made. Nevertheless, avid cooks will always have an objection regarding the appearance of baked goods, so it is also worth noting that countries such as Hungary, Austria and France can be considered the birthplace of croissants.
Filling for croissants
More often, croissants are prepared with a sweet filling and served as a dessert with tea, coffee, cocoa, but unsweetened fillings will give the baked goods a unique taste, which, in combination with puff pastry, will make them the center of special attention even at the festive table.
The requirements for all fillings are the same - it should not be liquid, because during baking the dough will rise and displace the filling.
The most popular fillings for croissants:
- Chocolate
- Sweet fruits (apples, bananas, apricots, pears, peaches, citrus fruits)
- Berries (cherries, currants, gooseberries, chokeberries)
- Berries and fruits from jam
- Thick jam, jam
- Marmalade
- Cinnamon mixed with sugar
- Dried fruits (raisins, dried apricots, prunes)
- Any nuts
- Cottage cheese
- Cheese
- Salty fish
- Sausages, ham
Other recipes for croissants filled with puff pastry
- Croissants in the microwave with peaches
- Croissants with salted fish made from puff pastry made with beer
- Almond croissant made from puff pastry with kefir
- Croissants with prunes from ready-made puff pastry
- Croissants with puff pastry cheese
- Croissants with sausage made from classic puff pastry
- Italian croissant
- Croissants with raspberries, strawberries made from puff pastry
- Croissants with puff pastry marmalade made with kefir
- Lenten croissants with chocolate puff pastry
- Croissants with Nuttela
Microwave puff pastry croissants with peaches
Well-baked croissants with an appetizing beautiful surface will be obtained in the microwave with convection. Having placed the items for baking, you don’t have to worry about whether they will bake or burn. The oven will notify you when the products are ready with a loud signal.
Prepare classic puff pastry.
For the filling you will need 2 medium sized peaches and sugar for sprinkling. Peaches should be sweet, with firm flesh. Wash the fruits, peel them, cut the pulp into oblong slices so that when laid out for 1 product - 1 fruit slice. Lightly sprinkle the peach with sugar (just a little).
You can also make croissants with any other fruit.
Calorie content: 406 kcal per 100 g.
Croissants with salted fish made from puff pastry made with beer
Using beer when preparing shortcrust pastry for croissants will give the products additional fluffiness, tenderness and crumbliness. The dough is prepared according to the shortbread puff pastry recipe, only beer is added instead of water.
The salty filling of fish croissants will pleasantly surprise and even stun the invited guests with its original taste. Any fish filling will be delicious, but salmon is special.
For the filling you will need 2 hard-boiled eggs, 1 raw egg, 50 g salmon, 20 g cheese, green onions. Finely chop the greens and boiled eggs. Grate the cheese on a medium grater. Mix prepared ingredients with raw egg. Remove the dark part from the salmon fillet and cut into small pieces. Place a spoonful of filling on the dough and a piece of salmon on top.
Calorie content: 460 kcal per 100 g.
Almond croissant made from puff pastry with kefir
You can use any nuts for the filling - peanuts, walnuts, pistachios, almonds, hazelnuts and even pine nuts. Each will add its own unique taste and aroma and will always remain inside the baked goods. They can be used whole, broken into pieces, crushed, mixed with egg or chocolate.
Let's prepare croissants with almonds: mix 1 cup of almonds in a blender with 1 egg and 1 tbsp. l. Sahara. Prepare yeast dough with kefir.
After baking, pour melted chocolate over the surface of the bagels and sprinkle with chopped nuts.
Calorie content: 410 kcal per 100 g.
Croissants with prunes from ready-made puff pastry
Raisins, dried apricots, prunes, dried ground bird cherry – the easiest to prepare and most convenient filling for croissants. It will never leak and preparation work is minimal: rinse, dry, cut.
Prunes are famous not only for their special pleasant taste, but also for their great benefits for the body. Dried prunes are a ready-made filling: tasty, moderately sweet, with a slight sourness. Wash dried fruits and dry with a cotton towel. Cut into slices widthwise. And the filling is ready.
Thaw the finished croissant dough in advance. Roll out and cut into triangles in any way.
Calorie content: 390 kcal per 100 g.
Croissants with puff pastry cheese
For cheese lovers - croissants with cheese. An interesting option is cheese inside and cheese outside. Prepare the dough according to the classic recipe. The cheese filling is simple: grate 200 g of cheese on a coarse grater. Leave 2 tablespoons of cheese for sprinkling, wrap the rest of the cheese in bagels, adding 1 tsp. for each dough triangle.
Bake the products for 20 minutes at 200 degrees, then remove the baking sheet. Brush each bagel with milk, sprinkle grated cheese on top and place in the oven for a few more minutes. The cheese has melted and browned - the croissants are ready.
Calorie content of croissants with cheese: 414 kcal per 100 g.
Croissants with sausage made from classic puff pastry
Croissants with sausages are popular, made from puff pastry according to the classic recipe without filling. The filling is added to them after baking.
Bagels are prepared 10 -12 cm in size. Cut the finished croissants lengthwise (but not all the way), grease the cut of each part with a thin layer of mayonnaise. Cut the cheese into thin slices, make a cut along the sausages. Place the cheese on the bottom of the product, the sausage on top and cover with the other half. Place in the oven for a few minutes until the cheese begins to melt. Sausages can be replaced with ham.
Ingredients for filling for 8 croissants: 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise, 50 g of hard cheese, 8 sausages (or 100 g of ham).
Calorie content: 420 kcal per 100 g
Italian croissant
Italian croissants are baked from delicate puff pastry with the addition of vanilla. The dough is prepared according to a special recipe in 2 steps.
Knead the yeast dough from flour (250 g), water (130 g), dissolved pressed yeast (35 g), roll into a tight ball and let it rise.
Mix milk (150 g) with sugar (150 g), syrup or honey (20 g) and vanilla (1 sachet) in a mixer, then add eggs (230 g). Add the risen dough and continue kneading for several minutes, gradually adding flour (500 g), then add butter (75 g). When the dough is smooth and elastic, add salt.
Next, the dough is rolled out, cooled, and sandwiched in the same way as classic puff pastry. To layer the dough you will need 400 g of butter.
Calories:
Croissants with raspberries, strawberries made from puff pastry
For the filling, it is better to use whole berries from jam, or boil fresh ones a little in thick syrup. If you still really want croissants with fresh berries, then choose small, dense berries that have a little juice.
Do not mix the berries with sugar (it will give juice), but after placing a few berries on the dough, sprinkle lightly with sugar. These croissants made from shortcrust pastry are a wonderful dessert with aromatic filling for any occasion.
Calorie content: 403 kcal per 100 g.
Croissants with puff pastry marmalade made with kefir
If you want something special, make croissants with marmalade. This aromatic filling will not leak out during baking and is ready to use - you just need to cut the candies into small pieces or slices and wrap them in kefir puff pastry.
Calorie content of croissants with marmalade: 410 kcal per 100 g.
Lenten croissants with chocolate puff pastry
Those with a sweet tooth who are fasting can indulge in the pleasure of enjoying delicious pastries and making lean croissants with chocolate from classic puff pastry. The recipe for their preparation differs in that butter is replaced with high-quality vegetable oil (sunflower, olive), and dark chocolate (without dairy products) is used for the filling.
Calorie content: 390 kcal per 100 g.
Croissants with Nutella puff pastry
Small croissants with milk chocolate and nut filling, such as Nutella chocolate spread, will pleasantly diversify your breakfast and delight your beloved household members. From the finished dough, flaky tender bagels can be prepared very quickly, spending only 30 - 35 minutes, of which 10 minutes are preparing the products and 20-25 minutes are baking in the oven. For 250 g of puff pastry you will need 0.5 cups of Nutella and 1 egg for greasing the products.
Calorie content: 460 kcal per 100 g.
Recipe 8. Croissants from ready-made dough with Nutella
powdered sugar – 50 g;
mineral water 0 30 ml;
puff pastry dough – 250 g;
Nutella paste – 100 g.
1. Remove the finished puff pastry from the freezer, defrost and place it on a table surface lightly sprinkled with flour. Roll it out lightly and pierce it in several places with a fork.
2. Cut the dough into triangles. Place a little Nutella on the wide part, wrap the dough and secure on both sides.
3. Beat the egg until stiff and add a little drinking water. Line a baking tray with baking paper and place the prepared pastries on it. Brush each bagel with beaten egg.
4. Place the baking sheet on the middle level of the oven and bake for 20 minutes at 200 C. Transfer the finished croissants to a dish and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
How to decorate croissants
Fragrant and rosy croissants look beautiful without decoration, but you can decorate them to give them a more impressive look. We offer several ideas on how to decorate puff pastry croissants, but only your imagination will give the products an original and unique look.
- The easiest way is to lightly dust the finished bagels with powdered sugar.
- Drizzle honey, caramel and syrup over hot baked goods.
- Dip the not yet cooled products into caramel or thick syrup, and then into sugar or chopped nuts or coconut flakes. Those who like a bright citrus taste can use ready-made orange water for dipping.
- The most spectacular decoration for croissants is melted chocolate. You can use both dark and light chocolate, or both types at the same time.
Using a thin stream from a pastry bag, apply a simple pattern in the form of a lattice, mesh, zigzag to the surface of the products, and if time allows and your imagination runs wild, apply a more complex and beautiful pattern not only on the baked goods, but also on the plate in which the croissants are served.
An easier way is to dip one end of the bagel in chocolate and let the chocolate cool. If the edges are dipped in chocolate of different colors, this will give them additional originality.
When serving in portions, you can additionally decorate the croissants with fresh berries (cherries, strawberries, sprigs of red or black currant), fruit, sprigs of mint, which will add brightness and attractiveness to the dish.
Secrets of making puff pastry croissants
- How to achieve a good rise in yeast dough for croissants
- How to Shape Dough into a Square
- How to prepare butter for layering dough
- How to distribute the oil evenly throughout the dough
- How much salt should you put in croissant dough?
- How thick should croissant dough be?
- How to cut croissant dough
- How to wrap croissants
- The best way to cut croissant dough
- What to do to prevent croissants from cracking when baking
- How to get airy and tender croissants
- Why are croissants made from puff pastry soggy inside and not baked?
How to achieve a good rise in yeast dough for croissants
The yeast must be fresh (meaning not expired). Dissolve them in water whose temperature is no more than 50 degrees. The optimal dissolution temperature is 40 degrees (slightly warm to the touch). Melted butter should also be no higher than this temperature. If the temperature of the water and oil is even a little higher, the yeast will cook and the dough will not rise; at a low temperature, the dough will take a long time to rise, which will affect the taste of the croissants.
How to Shape Dough into a Square
Roll the dough into a ball, make 2 deep cuts in a cross with a sharp knife and turn the corners of the cuts from the center outward. Stretch the dough to form a square.
How to prepare butter for layering dough
Heat butter (natural, without additives) at room temperature until it becomes soft plasticine. Wrap it in cling film or put it in a plastic bag of a suitable size and beat it or roll it out with a rolling pin. Then put it in the refrigerator.
How to distribute the oil evenly throughout the dough
In order for the oil to be evenly distributed throughout the dough and the dough to layer well, you need to work with chilled oil and dough. Place the butter on a square of dough. After stretching the edges of the dough, fold it into an envelope so that the butter is completely covered. Roll out the dough with butter, giving it the shape of a narrow rectangle. Fold it into 3 layers like a book or 4 layers (fold the edges towards the middle, then fold it in half) and roll it out along the layers. Repeat this 2-3 more times, rolling out the dough each time only along the layers from the center to the edges. Do not apply much effort, roll out gently, gradually increasing the length of the rectangle.
How much salt should you put in croissant dough?
You need to put a certain amount of salt in the croissant dough, not to taste. The quality of the separation depends on this: for 3 two-hundred gram glasses of flour you need 1 teaspoon of salt. If there is too much salt, the dough will be over-salted; if there is too little, the layers will spread.
How thick should croissant dough be?
Roll out the dough 1 cm thick at the preparation stage, at the last stage (for filling) 3-5 mm thick: if the dough is thinner, the baked goods will not rise; if it is thicker, it will not bake.
How to cut croissant dough
Roll the dough into a ball and then roll out into a circle 5mm thick. Cut the circle into 8 equal parts as follows: crosswise from top to bottom into 4 parts, then make 2 more cuts, dividing each resulting part in two.
Another way. Roll out the dough into a long rectangle, cut it into squares, and cut them into triangles.
How to wrap croissants
To make the products easily take the shape of bagels, cut the wide part of each triangle and lay out the filling, roll it into a bagel. The cut will allow you to easily shape the bagels into a moon shape.
The best way to cut croissant dough
The croissant knife should be very sharp - evenly cut edges of the products will flake better.
What to do to prevent croissants from cracking when baking
To prevent the surface of the croissants from cracking during baking, you need to let them rise well - they should increase in volume by 3-4 times.
How to get airy and tender croissants
One simple secret will help make your baked goods tender and airy: before putting the risen bagels in the oven, sprinkle them with water - wet your hands with water and shake it onto the bagels. This will create a humid environment in the oven during baking, which will have a positive effect on the taste of the products.
Why are croissants made from puff pastry soggy inside and not baked?
There are several reasons why croissants made from ready-made dough did not rise and were not baked - the dough did not warm up to the inner layers and did not have time to rise (rise) or was defrosted several times.
When baking, monitor the temperature. At temperatures below 180, baked goods will be tough and may not bake through. At temperatures above 200, the surface of the products will quickly brown, but the inside will remain raw. Before baking, you need to preheat the oven to 220-240 degrees, put the croissants in the oven, change the position of the regulator to 180 - 200. The heat of the heated oven will give the baked goods a quick rise.
0
