I need a croissant recipe!

[Beankeeper]

You know those giant, moist croissant you can buy from the store in big plastic containers?! Oh my goodness, those taste delicious!!! (Especially with cheese a fruit.) I can't find a recipe that results in anything like them. Do any of you know of one?

 

[monkeyboots]

Cute photo, Beankeeper!
Well, croissants are quite the baking Mt.Everest for me, so my advice would be: Use your time baking other things and buy your croissants. Pick your baking battles, I guess.
That being said, the key to good croissants is using just enough flour to hold the butter together (that's my little joke).
As you can see...I have been NO help to you. Sorry.

 

[Beankeeper]

Oh, thank you, Monkeyboots! You know what I'm embarrassed about? I was so tired the day I was on here asking questions that I didn't realize my autocorrect was changing the spelling of words like "and" to "a" instead. So, I must have looked incredibly illiterate to everyone! Ha-ha! Oh well... At least I noticed it.

AND... I don't mind the no-help-croissants comment. It still made me smile. I don't mind buying those croissants either - they are so good, they remind me of my trip to Europe! I just wanted bragging rights if I could ever figure out how to make them.

 

[Alex]

I haven't tried this recipe but I frequently watch James Martin on TV and he knows what he is talking about! So I'll lay it out here:

Ingredients:

• 625g/1lb 5oz strong white flour, plus extra for rolling out
  
  
• 12g/½oz salt
  
  
• 75g/3oz sugar
  
  
• 20g/¾oz dried yeast
  
  
• 500g/1lb 2oz butter, chilled
  
  
• 8 sticks chocolate (optional)
  
  
• 1 free-range egg, beaten

Method:

1. Place the flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Using a wooden spoon, slowly mix in a little water until the mixture forms into a pliable dough.
   
   
2. Place the dough on a floured surface and knead until it feels elastic.
   
   
3. Return the dough to the bowl, cover and chill in the refrigerator for an hour.
   
   
4. Return the chilled dough to your floured work surface and roll it into a rectangle, around 60x30cm/24x12in.
   
   
5. Roll out the chilled butter into a rectangle about 1cm/½in thick, around 20x30cm/8x12in.
   
   
6. Place the butter rectangle in the centre of the dough rectangle, so it covers the middle third of the dough.
   
   
7. Fold each side of the dough over the butter, so there is one layer of dough on the bottom, a layer of butter, then two layers of dough.
   
   
8. Wrap the dough in cling film and chill in the fridge for another hour.
   
   
9. Lightly flour the worktop and roll out the dough to a rectangle, around 60x30cm/24x12in. Repeat the folding process, folding the long sides into the middle, then return the dough to the fridge for a further hour.
   
   
10. Repeat this process of folding and chilling two more times, then wrap the dough in cling film and set it aside to rest overnight.
    
    
11. Using a rolling pin, roll out the rested dough to 3mm/1/8in thick.
    
    
12. Either use a croissant cutter to cut triangles or cut the rolled out dough into squares, each 20cm/8in square.
    
    
13. Cut each square diagonally, making two triangles.
    
    
14. Place the dough triangles on a lightly floured surface with the right angle away from you.
    
    
15. Roll the croissant towards the right angle point and curl the dough roll around into a traditional crescent shape. If using chocolate, add the chocolate across the widest part of the triangle, before rolling it up.
    
    
16. Place the shaped croissants on baking trays lined with baking parchment and leave to rise for 1½ hrs.
    
    
17. Preheat the oven to 200C/425F/Gas 6.
    
    
18. Lightly egg-wash the croissants and bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown

The recipe has quite a few recommendations so I assume this will work out for you, Beankeeper. I wish you all the best with the achievement of creating those lavish croissants that we all love!

 

[Beankeeper]

I haven't tried this recipe but I frequently watch James Martin on TV and he knows what he is talking about!

Ohhhhhh!!!!! I am so excited to try this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you so much!!! I will keep you all posted on how they turn out!

 

[Alex]

Please, do. If they turn out well, I may just have to try them! I break up from work in a couple of weeks so I will have a whole 6 weeks to kill and practice lots of lovely recipes!

 

[Beankeeper]

I wish I baked more before I had children. Now, I simply don't have much time to try out new recipes. I just have enough time now for the tried-and-true ones that I'm planning to feed the family with. I would love to experiment. So, if you've got the time now, you better take advantage of it!!!

 

[Alex]

I tend to have spouts of wanting to bake and not wanting to bake. We're moving house soon and I have a cupboard full of ingredients that I need to use up before the 18th July!

 

[Beankeeper]

Oh, I know how that goes! We move once a year (sometimes more) because we end up hating the houses we live in or we have another baby and need more room! I am always sad when I discover I let an ingredient expire. That's why I end up making tons of breads, cakes, cupcakes, and all kinds of sweets and just give them away. I'd rather give them away instead of letting them waste.