Best Homemade Croissant Recipe for National Croissant Day
January 30th is National Croissant Day in the United States, giving all of us a chance to celebrate this creamy, crescent-shaped, curved pastry. The croissant rolls are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. There’s nothing better than having a breakfast croissant with the combination of coffee to kick your day off.
What Is a Croissant?
A croissant is a classic French pastry that is rolled into a crescent shape. Although croissants are considered a French specialty, they originated in Austria. Back then, it wasn’t as flaky as it is today. Later, in France, further changes were made to give it a proper shape and a crisper, more tender taste.
The croissant is a crispy nutritious breakfast item. It’s a popular snack that can be enjoyed for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, simply covered with everything from butter to whipped cream. If you haven’t tried this flaky and delicious homemade breakfast yet, National Croissant Day is the perfect opportunity to make them yourself.
Is It Hard to Make Homemade Croissants?
Making croissants with your own two hands from wholesome ingredients is the best way to taste them and learn how they are prepared. Traditional croissant making is a time-consuming process that involves the tedious processes of laminating, chilling, rolling, shaping, and baking. And with the feature of being airy, fluffy, rich, and buttery all at the same time, it is quite a bit more involved than most baking projects.
But for this homemade croissant recipe, we’ve cut out a lot of steps to save you making time. And the end result is just as good. When coming out of the oven, these fresh, warm, buttery, and flaky pastries will definitely wake up your senses. What a way to start the day!
What Kitchen Appliances Can You Use to Make Croissants More Easily?
A high-quality kitchen appliance can help simplify the cooking steps to a certain extent, saving time and energy.
To make croissants, typically, you’ll need a stand mixer like Ventray Stand Mixer to help mix your ingredients quickly and thoroughly. Another essential piece of equipment is an oven like Ventray Countertop Convection Oven to bake the croissants evenly for better and more satisfying results.
How to Make This Best Homemade Croissant Recipe?
Unlike other croissant recipes, this homemade croissant recipe doesn’t have a lot of steps, folding, and specific measuring and counting, making it suitable even for beginners. So, following our recipe, you’ll still have all those beautiful flaky layers, but it really cuts down on the prep work!
Start by mixing together the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt with a stand mixer. Then add unsalted butter. Make sure every piece of butter is coated in the flour mixture.
Fold everything together until the dough forms a ball. Chill the dough for at least 2 hours before you start rolling and folding.
Click HERE to see the specific steps to make this homemade croissant.
Croissants fall into that category of laminated pastry. Cold butter is the key to the success of laminated doughs, so it’s very important to keep the dough cold at all times. Work as fast as possible, and if you notice the butter becoming soft at any point, wrap it right up and chill it until it’s stiff again.
How to Shape Croissants?
Firstly, divide the dough in half to make it easier to work with, and roll it out into a large, long rectangle. Ideally, it measures about 10 inches wide, 22 inches long, and about 1/8 inch thick.
Secondly, use a sharp knife to trim off the edges and cut the dough into long, skinny triangles. The target width is about 5 inches.
Next, cut a small notch in the wide end, which will help the croissant bend more easily and keep its curved shape.
Finally, start at the wide end of the triangle, and roll it all the way away from you. Be sure the point is hidden under the croissant, then bend the croissant into a curved crescent shape. Then pinch the ends together.
What Are the Tips for Success?
Here are some tips to make croissant success easier.
- The butter needs to be chilled all the time.
- Keep the sides of the dough as straight as possible while rolling.
- Remove excess flour before folding.
- If each step takes more than a few minutes, return the dough to the freezer for 10 minutes.
- Pinch out the square corners before folding the dough.
- Just rolling lengthwise stretches the dough instead of widening it.
- Be careful with the dough and be patient with yourself.
FAQs
What Tastes Good on a Croissant?
Croissants can be spread with a variety of delicious toppings. Croissants are also delicious with a little honey, a bit of strawberry jam, clotted cream, lemon curd, or a smear of butter. You can even stuff them before baking. For instance, you can place a few pinches of chopped dark chocolate on the wide side of the triangle before rolling it up.
Why Are Croissants Shaped Like a Moon?
“Croissant” comes from the word for “crescent”. A crescent moon shape was a symbol on the flag of the Ottoman Empire. These delicious crescent-shaped pastries are made to celebrate the defeat of the Ottoman Empire.
How Do People Celebrate National Croissant Day?
Here are some ways to celebrate National Croissant Day.
- Bake your own croissants.
- Treat your friends and coworkers to fresh-baked, warm croissants.
- Make a soup or salad to serve with croissants.
- Teach others who want to learn how to make croissants.
- Use #NationalCroissantDay to post on social media.
