This recipe comes straight from the celebrated pâtissier Cédric Grolet’s book Opera Pâtisserie. If you’re a fan of French baking, be sure to check out my article on the best French pastry books ever—it’s full of delicious inspiration :).
Pain au chocolat, which literally means “chocolate bread,” is one of the most iconic French pastries. It’s a type of viennoiserie, made with a piece of laminated, yeast-leavened dough that’s shaped into a neat rectangle and filled with two bars of dark chocolate. Fun fact: the dough used to make pain au chocolat is the same as the one used for croissants.
While croissants and pains au chocolat are now seen as classics, they’re actually relatively modern inventions. These pastries, known as “viennoiseries” in French, were introduced in the early 19th century by August Zang, an Austrian officer, and Ernest Schwarzer, an Austrian aristocrat, who opened a Viennese bakery in Paris on Rue de Richelieu. Originally, both croissants and pains au chocolat were made from a brioche base, but they evolved over time to use the buttery, flaky dough (pâte feuilletée) we know and love today.
Pain au Chocolat or Chocolatine?
In France, what you call a pain au chocolat can depend on where you are. There’s a long-standing, and still very much alive, debate over whether this pastry should be called “pain au chocolat” or “chocolatine.” The term “pain au chocolat” is most commonly used in central France, the south, and Paris, while in southwestern France—places like Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Occitanie—people tend to call it “chocolatine.”
In fact, this debate even made it to the French parliament in 2018! MPs debated whether “chocolatine” should be recognized as an official alternative name, but the motion was voted down, so “pain au chocolat” remains the more widely accepted term.
The origins of the word “chocolatine” are a bit mysterious. Some believe it dates back to the 15th century when English rulers in Aquitaine would ask for “chocolate in bread” at local bakeries, which the French might have understood as “chocolate in.” Others think it could be tied to August Zang—the Austrian baker who brought Viennese pastries to Paris in the 1830s—who might have been selling chocolate-filled croissants called “schokoladencroissants,” which could have been translated into “chocolatine.”
Pain au Chocolat or Chocolate Croissant?
As a French person, I’ve never heard anyone refer to pain au chocolat as a “chocolate croissant.” Here in France, besides the traditional croissant au beurre, you might come across variations like croissant aux amandes (almond croissant) or croissant aux abricots (also known as Oranais), but never “chocolate croissants.” If you ask for one in a French boulangerie, the baker will likely smile and gently correct you, saying, “pain au chocolat.”
Even though croissants and pains au chocolat are made from the same dough, we see them as totally different pastries. A pain au chocolat is a rectangle filled with two chocolate bars, while croissants are cut into triangles and rolled up into their signature crescent shape.
So, without further ado, here’s Cédric Grolet’s pain au chocolat recipe! And if you need a bit more help shaping your pains au chocolat, you can watch the master baker himself in this Vogue France video.
Cédric Grolet’s Pain au Chocolat Recipe
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 1 kg (8 cups) all-purpose flour T45
- 420 g (1 ¾ cups) water
- 50 g (1 large egg or about 2 oz) eggs
- 100 g (½ cup) granulated sugar
- 45 g (1 ½ oz) fresh baker's yeast
- 18 g (1 tablespoon) salt
- 20 g (1 tablespoon) honey
- 70 g (5 tablespoons) unsalted butter
- 400 g (14 oz) beurre de tourage* see notes below
- 36 small chocolate batons or sticks
For the egg wash:
- 50 g (3 large) egg yolks
- 30 g (2 tablespoons) heavy whipping cream
Instructions
For the dough:
- In a mixing bowl fitted with a dough hook, combine the flour, water, egg, fresh yeast, salt, sugar, and honey. Start the mixer on a medium-slow speed and mix until the ingredients form a smooth, homogeneous dough. Then, increase the speed to medium-high and continue mixing until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Add the "beurre pommade"** (see notes) and knead until the dough fully comes together. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and let the dough rise at room temperature (75°F to 77°F) for 1 hour.
- Once the dough has risen, gently press it down to release the air, then roll it out into a large rectangle that’s twice as long as the width of your "beurre de tourage." Place the dough in the freezer for 5 minutes, then transfer it to the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Next, place the "beurre de tourage" in the center of the dough, and fold the dough over from each side to completely cover the butter.
- With the edge where the butter is visible facing you, use a rolling pin to make a double fold: roll from the bottom to the top until the dough is about 7 mm thick. Mark the middle of the dough, fold the top and bottom edges toward the center, then fold the dough in half again, like closing a wallet. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 10 minutes.
- For the final fold, roll the dough out to a thickness of 1 cm, forming a long rectangle. Fold the top third of the dough down over the middle third, then fold the bottom third up over the top. Roll out the dough to a thickness of 3.5 mm to begin cutting and shaping the croissants.
Make the egg wash:
- In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks and cream together until smooth.
Forming the pains au chocolat:
- Cut the dough into rectangles that are 7 cm wide by 20 cm long. Place each rectangle vertically, with the longer side running from top to bottom. Place a chocolate bar near the edge of the dough, roll it up about 2 cm, place another chocolate bar, roll another 2 cm, and continue rolling until the pain au chocolat is fully formed. Allow the pastries to rise for 1 hour and 30 minutes at 77°F.
Finishing and baking:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and place the pains au chocolat on it. Lightly brush each one with the egg wash. Bake for 15 minutes, or until they are beautifully golden brown. Once baked, remove them from the oven and let them cool on a wire rack.
Notes
How much Buerre Pommade is used in this recipe? Thanks!
I’d love to try this recipe, but I only have instant yeast. Is it possible to replace the fresh yeast with instant yeast?
Bonjour Ashley, I don’t know if this recipe would work with instant dry yeast instead of fresh yeast. For the measurement here is a very detailed article that explains how to bake with dry, instant, and fresh yeast. xo