Croissants

I have spent many hours perfecting this recipe. With the right ingredients, proper technique, and lots of love, these delicious buttery flakey croissants are just a few steps away. While homemade croissants seem like a daunting difficult task, they really are not! They just take time, and require patience. I've provided detailed instructions and TONS of photos to show you that they are possible! And AMAZING.

What scares most people about making homemade Croissants is the lamination. During the beginning steps there is a butter layer that gets "laminated" inside the dough, so after all the rolling, folding, and rolling, that one butter layer turns into about 27 layers of butter, all wrapped up inside the dough. The key is to keep it layered, and not mixed in. If the butter is mixed into the dough, then you have Brioche. That's never a bad thing, but when you're trying to make Croissants you want to end up with Croissants.

This is why you need patience! After each "turn" (rolling and folding) of the dough, it has to rest in the refrigerator. The more you work it, the warmer and softer that precious butter layer gets. So you work it a little, and let it cool off before working it again. Baby the butter. Love the butter.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup warm milk
• 2 1/2 tea. instant yeast
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling dough
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tea. salt
• 9 oz. (2 1/4 sticks) butter
• 1 egg
• 1 T. heavy cream

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl stir together 1 cup of flour, yeast, and warm milk. Milk should be very warm, not hot. Let the bowl sit for 20 minutes for the yeast to bubble.
2. Once the mixture has bubbled, "bloomed", and you know the yeast is alive, add the remaining 2 1/2 cups of flour, sugar, and salt. Stir until combined, dough will be sticky. Turn out onto floured surface and knead for about 2 minutes by hand until dough is smooth and elastic, but still soft. Form into a disc and place on a flour-dusted plate, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
3. Once dough has rested in the refrigerator for a few hours, prepare the slab of butter. Using cold butter, cut the pieces length-wise, about 1/2 inch thick and lay them on parchment paper in a square about 7x7 inches. Cover with another sheet of parchment paper and use a rolling pin to bang the pieces into a uniform slab. Uncover and cut edges as needed, placing scraps back onto the top. Bang, cut, roll, and measure until you get an even 7x7 inch square of butter. Place it back into the refrigerator for about 10 minutes while you roll out the dough.
4. Remove dough from the refrigerator and on a flour dusted surface roll dough out to a square about 10x10 inches. Place the cold butter slab in the center, rotated 45° so the butter looks like a diamond in the middle of the square of dough. Carefully pull each corner of dough over the edge of the butter and to the center of the butter, pressing down so no air is trapped. Dust the excess flour off, and pinch the edges of dough together once the butter is fully covered, sealing the butter inside the dough.
5. Press down with the rolling pin a few times to seal the layer a little more, and then roll out to a rectangle about 10x24 inches, trying to elongate the dough without widening it.
6. .........................................

For full instructions please see : www.sprinkledwithjules.com

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