Cédric Grolet’s French Croissant Recipe
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 1 kg (8 cups) all-purpose flour, preferably a fine pastry flour similar to T45
- 420 g (1 3/4 cups) water
- 50 g (1/4 cup) eggs or 1 large egg
- 45 g (1 1/2 oz) fresh yeast
- 18 g (1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon) salt
- 100 g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
- 20 g (1 tablespoon) honey
- 70 g (5 tablespoons) butter
- 400 g (14 oz) beurre de tourage or dry butter (see notes above)
For the egg wash:
- 55 g (2 oz) egg yolks or 3 egg yolks
- 30 g (2 tablespoons) heavy whipping cream
Instructions
Make the Dough:
- In a mixing bowl fitted with a dough hook, combine the flour, water, eggs, fresh yeast, salt, sugar, and honey.
- Set your mixer to medium-slow speed and mix until the ingredients form a homogeneous paste. 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 comes together. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and let the dough rise at room temperature (24 to 25°C / 75 to 77°F) for 1 hour.
- After rising, flatten the dough to release the air, then roll it out into a large rectangle, with the width matching the beurre de tourage and double its length. Place the dough in the freezer for 5 minutes, then transfer it to the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
- Place the beurre de tourage in the middle of the dough. Fold the dough from each side over the butter to cover it completely.
- With the edge of the visible butter facing you, use a rolling pin to make a double fold: roll the dough from bottom to top until it’s about 7 mm thick. Mark the center of the dough, fold the top and bottom edges to the center, then fold the dough in half like a wallet. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 10 minutes.
- Finally, make a single fold: roll the dough to a thickness of 1 cm, rolling from bottom to top to form a long rectangle. Fold the top third of the dough over the middle, then fold the bottom third over the top. Immediately roll out the dough to a thickness of 3.5 mm to start cutting and forming the croissants.
Make the Egg Wash:
- In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and cream.
Forming the Croissants:
- Cut the dough into triangles that are 7 cm wide at the base and 35 cm high. Roll each triangle from the base to the tip to form the croissants. Let them rise for 2 hours at 26°C / 77°F.
Finishing and Baking:
- Preheat the oven to 175°C / 350°F.
- Place the croissants on a parchment-lined baking sheet and brush them with a thin layer of egg wash.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until the croissants are nicely golden. Remove the croissants from the oven and let them cool on a rack.
Notes
Beurre pommade is butter that has been brought to room temperature (20 to 30°C / 60s F) until it becomes very soft, similar to the texture of face cream. Think of it as butter that has softened enough to be easily spreadable.