French · Free recipe
Laminated Butter Croissants
A two-day project of folding a cold slab of butter into yeasted dough through three careful letter folds, creating dozens of paper-thin layers. In the oven they puff into honeycombed, deeply bronzed crescents that shatter into flakes at the first bite and smell intensely of browned butter.
- Prep
- 22 hr
- Cook
- 22 min
- Total
- 22 hr 22 min
- Serves
- 12
- Level
- Hard
Method
-
Mix the flour, sugar, yeast, salt, milk, and softened butter for 3 to 4 minutes until just smooth, flatten into a rectangle, wrap, and refrigerate overnight.
-
Pound and roll the cold butter between parchment into a 7-inch square about 1/2 inch thick, and chill it until firm but still pliable, about 20 minutes.
-
Roll the dough into a 10-inch square, set the butter block on it diagonally, fold the dough corners over to seal it in, and roll into an 8x24-inch rectangle.
-
Fold the rectangle into thirds like a letter, wrap, and chill for 30 minutes; repeat the rolling and folding twice more, chilling between each turn, for three folds total.
-
Roll the dough into a 9x20-inch rectangle about 1/4 inch thick, trim the edges, and cut into 12 long triangles with a 4-inch base.
-
Cut a small notch in the base of each triangle, stretch it gently, and roll it up loosely from base to tip, placing the rolls tip side down on parchment-lined sheets.
-
Cover loosely and proof at a cool room temperature, below 78F, for 2 to 3 hours until visibly puffy, layered, and wobbly when the pan is nudged.
-
Heat the oven to 400F, brush the croissants gently with egg wash, and bake for 18 to 22 minutes until deep golden brown all over, including the seams.
Zest note from the test kitchen
If butter starts to smear through the dough or feel greasy while rolling, stop and chill it for 20 minutes; warm butter merges with the dough and you lose the layers.
