Skip to content
German Pastry Chef, home

Pastries and Cookies, Classics, Other Bakes

Croissants

by Lisa

Trained pastry chef

Golden homemade croissants, some colored with natural food coloring, on a brunch table

5.0 (1)out of 5, 1 rating

Go to recipePrint
Prep
12 hr
Bake
22 min
Total
12 hr 22 min
Makes
8 pieces

Classic croissants take a lot of patience, love and a bit of experience. But when all three come together and you use high-quality ingredients, you're well on your way to delicious croissants.

Read more

Whether they come close to the original French croissants, I can't say, but one thing is certain: they taste fantastic, and when you make them yourself in bright, cheerful colors, they're a real eye-catcher on the brunch table.

A big shout-out to Emanuel from the community, who shared this recipe with me. Even though I didn't follow it exactly, his recipe is the original version. Thank you for your help with this recipe.

Ingredients

Makes 8 pieces

  • 4 cups500 gall-purpose flourGerman Type 405. In German recipes plain flour means soft wheat flour Type 405 unless stated otherwise. In the US use all-purpose flour; in the UK, plain flour.
  • 1 cup230 mlmilk
  • 1large eggGerman size M (US large)
  • 2 ½ tsp10 ggranulated sugar
  • 2 ½ tsp10 gsugarbrown
  • ¾ oz20 gyeastfresh. German recipes use either a 42 g cube of fresh yeast or a 7 g packet of dry yeast; one cube equals about two packets. In the US use active dry or instant yeast; one ¼ oz (7 g) envelope replaces half a cube of fresh yeast. In the UK use fast action dried yeast (7 g sachet per half cube), or fresh yeast from a supermarket bakery counter.
  • 2 tsp12 gsalt
  • 2 tbsp30 gunsalted buttersoftened. German butter is unsalted and has about 82 percent fat. In the US use unsalted butter; European-style unsalted butter is closest. In the UK use unsalted butter.

You'll also need

  • 1 stick plus 5 tbsp190 gunsalted butter
  • all-purpose flour for rolling out
  • water for spraying
  • egg or milk for brushing before baking
  • natural food coloringEataRainbow
  • neutral oilfor dissolving the coloring

Method

Dough

  1. For the dough, quickly knead all the ingredients together, then cover and chill for at least 1 hour.

  2. After chilling, roll the dough out on a little flour into a rectangle (about 16 × 10 inches / 40 × 25 cm), then wrap it flat in plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge overnight.

Butter block

  1. Cut the butter into pieces and spread them out on a sheet of parchment paper, fold the paper over and roll the butter into a rectangle. The rectangle should measure about 8 × 6 inches (20 × 15 cm). After rolling, leave it wrapped in the paper and keep it flat in the fridge.

Laminating and shaping

  1. The next day, place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and roll it out a little more if needed, so that the butter block fits exactly when you fold the dough around it.

  2. Lay the butter block on the dough, fold the dough over it and, if needed, trim off any excess edges without butter so you get a neat rectangle.

  3. Now roll the dough out in one direction until you can fold it like a letter. Before folding, be sure to brush off any excess flour with a pastry brush and, if needed, spray the dough with a little water so the layers stick together better. Then wrap the dough in plastic wrap again and chill it for about 10 minutes in the freezer, then 1 hour in the fridge.

  4. After chilling, roll the dough out lengthwise once more, brush off the excess flour and fold it like a book. After the book fold, wrap it in plastic wrap again and chill it for 10 minutes in the freezer, then 1 hour in the fridge.

  5. After chilling, roll the dough out one last time to about 26 × 12 inches (65 × 30 cm).

  6. Now cut the dough into triangles measuring 4 × 26 inches (10 × 65 cm), cover them with plastic wrap one last time and let them rest in the fridge for 30 minutes, then roll them up loosely.

  7. Place the rolled croissants straight onto large baking sheets (about 16 × 14 inches / 40 × 35 cm; a US half sheet pan, 18 × 13 inches, works too), cover them and let them rise in a warm place for about 2 hours.

  8. To bake, preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) convection (fan).

  9. For a lovely shine, brush the croissants with a little milk or egg, then put them into the hot oven. Bake until golden (see the baking time above), then let them cool on a wire rack.